Inside or Outside Investigations of Employee Conduct or Complaints?

It almost goes without saying that it is imperative in these times that businesses conduct impartial, timely and thorough investigations of workplace misconduct, including employee complaints.  Doing so gives businesses better chances to resolve issues, salvage employees, avoid litigation or at least better defend against liability.

Employment practices liability insurance (EPLI) is a popular product for employers of all sizes. Many companies obtain EPLI coverage by purchasing a package of insurance policies covering a variety of management risks, such as directors and officers liability, professional liability, and cyber security. Once the policies are in hand, reviewing your company’s voluminous insurance terms

The Fair Labor Standards Act (“FLSA”) defines certain employees as exempt and others as nonexempt.  Nonexempt employees are generally entitled to receive overtime pay at a rate of at least one and one-half times the employee’s regular rate of pay.  Overtime is often easy to calculate on straight weekly earnings, but what happens when employees

Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison is leading the fight with 18 States’ Attorney Generals (AGs) to ask the federal government to ban employers from utilizing non-competition provisions with most employees. According to Ellison and the other AGs, such provisions constitute an “abusive practice,” especially with respect to “low wage” employees. In their opinion, such provisions

What is the deal with tipping in Minnesota? Although there are many legal considerations which must be taken into account when running a service business where customers tip your employees, there is one cardinal sin that comes up the most in service-industry conversations and can get businesses in big trouble: tip-sharing. There are many cautionary

Whether a business’s employees are represented by a union or not, all employers should be concerned about the pending Protecting the Right to Organize Act (“PRO Act”) being considered by Congress.  If enacted, the PRO Act will alter fundamental principles of labor law and significantly prejudice the rights of employers. Supporters of the PRO Act

For several years, employers have been uncertain whether discrimination based upon sexual orientation is illegal under federal law.  Although many states, including Minnesota, have enacted laws prohibiting such discrimination by employers located within their jurisdiction, many have not, leaving federal law as the only source for potential protection in such states. In three cases argued

Whether or not two or more employers are joint employers, thereby making them liable for each other’s violations of the law, has been a very hot topic of late.  The NLRB, in Browning-Ferris, found a staffing agency to be a joint employer with its client Browning-Ferris, because Browning-Ferris had the right to exercise control

The U.S. Department of Labor announced this week a final rule making an additional estimated 1.2 million workers eligible for overtime pay.  The final rule, effective January 1, 2020, marks the first update to the Fair Labor Standards Act’s (“FLSA”) minimum wage and overtime pay thresholds in 15 years.

The final rule updates the “white