The Emplawyerologist focuses on one of the sub-topics, employment-at-will– specifically how employers can avoid creating implied contractsand preserve employment-at-will status. Remember: Employment-at-will allows both employer and employee to end the employment relationship any time for any lawful reason or no reason at all. Every state except Montana presumes employment-at-will. An employee can, however, rebut this presumption by showing, a) clear written statements in a contract, (e.g. a two-year term of employment, or firing for “just cause”; or b) proving existence of an implied contract, which is created by oral or vague written statements and behavior that lead the average person to  [ Read More ]

You’ve got an anti-harassment policy. All managers and employees have copies and you just completed training on the policy for your entire workforce. Sweet! But is your policy bulletproof? I mean really bulletproof? And if an employee claims that a harasser lurks in your workplace, if sued, will a court agree that the steps you have taken were reasonably designed to end the harassment? Just how confident are you? After the jump, some not so obvious pitfalls from a recent federal-appellate-court decision and six ways (5 from the court; 1 from me) to help you stay legal and out of  [ Read More ]

By: Nolo Law for All Use a noncompete agreement to prevent losing valuable trade secrets and employees. After losing scores of valuable employees (and trade secrets) to competitors, a growing number of employers are asking, or requiring, employees to sign noncompete agreements. By signing a noncompete agreement, an employee promises not to work for a direct competitor for a specified period of time after he leaves the company. Here’s the lowdown on whether it’s worth asking your employees to sign one, and how to create an agreement that will pass muster with a judge. How Noncompete Agreements Protect Your Business  [ Read More ]

As the popularity of social media sites such as Facebook and Twitter continues to grow, so too do employers continue to struggle with addressing social media issues in an effective, yet legal, way. A byproduct of this struggle is a social media report released by the National Labor Relations Board’s Acting General Counsel in late January. It provides a summary of all social media cases reviewed by the NLRB within the last year. The NLRB considered fourteen cases in 2011, with those cases involving two primary categories. One category of cases involved whether the written policy of an employer was  [ Read More ]

By: Laura Basset @Huffington Post First Posted: 04/25/11 06:19 PM ET Updated: 06/25/11 06:12 AM ET In New Jersey, it is no longer legal for employers to specify in their job ads that unemployed persons will not be considered. Gov. Chris Christie (R) recently signed a bill that bans overt discrimination against the jobless in print or online — the first legislation of its kind in the United States. Employers would face a penalty of $1,000 for the first offense and $5,000 for subsequent offenses. New Jersey state Rep. Celeste Riley (D-Cumberland), a primary sponsor of the bill, said she became  [ Read More ]