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The Employer E-Letter: Labor and Employment Law News from the Duluth, Minnesota law firm of
Hanft Fride, A Professional Association.
Editor, Richard R. Burns, rrb@hanftlaw.com or 218.529.2433.
Please feel free to forward this e-mail or share it with others. If there are other topics of interest to you or any other suggestions concerning this newsletter, please let us know.
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THIS MONTH'S TOPICS:
- SAVE THE DATE! ANNUAL EMPLOYMENT LAW SEMINAR
- FAMILY MEDICAL LEAVE BENEFITS EXPANDED
- 18-MONTH NON-COMPETE CONTRACT ENFORCED
- EMPLOYER CAN FORCE FMLA LEAVE RATHER THAN PROVIDE ACCOMMODATION
- TIP OF THE MONTH
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SAVE THE DATE!
14th ANNUAL EMPLOYMENT AND LABOR LAW SEMINAR
WEDNESDAY, MARCH 19, 2008
HOLIDAY INN DOWNTOWN, DULUTH
We are planning another interesting and informative day for seminar attendees in March Contact Debi Persson, dap@hanftlaw.com or 218.722.4766 with questions.
Some of the issues that will be covered at this year's seminar include:
- Exempt and Non-exempt Employees
- Military Leave
- Disability Accommodation
- Workers' Compensation Overview
- Employee Competitive Restrictions
Schedule and registration materials will be mailed shortly.
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FAMILY MEDICAL LEAVE BENEFITS EXPANDED
Last month, President Bush signed into law the first expansion of the FMLA since it was passed in 1993. The expansion relates to military families, and is as follows:
- Employers must offer up to 26 weeks unpaid FMLA leave during a single 12 month period to employees caring for family members, expanded to include next of kin, who are wounded in the course of military duty. "Next of kin" is defined as nearest blood relative of the wounded. This may or may not be the same as a serious health condition, as it applies when the person is unfit for military duty.
- Employers also must grant up to 12 weeks unpaid leave to immediate family members of reservists and members of the National Guard who are called back to duty or have been notified of a contingency call. It does not require any sort of health issue, but must be because of a "qualifying exigency," a term to be defined by the Secretary of Labor.
We will report more on this when more clarity is created by regulation.
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18-MONTH NON-COMPETE CONTRACT ENFORCED
A Minnesota District Court recently found that restrictions on an employee's activities for 18 months may be a reasonable time limitation. In the case at hand, however, there was a lack of a geographic limitation, which the Court found unreasonable, even though the employer argued that there was a limitation on markets that should have made the lack of a geographical limitation permissible. In this proceeding for a temporary restraining order, the Court went on to limit geographically the covenant to the employee's former territory. Vital Images, Inc. v. Martell, et al. (DC Minn. 2007). Courts in Minnesota, but not Wisconsin, will rewrite time limit or geographic limitations to make them reasonable.
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EMPLOYER CAN FORCE FMLA LEAVE RATHER THAN PROVIDE ACCOMMODATION
The Eleventh Circuit recently held that an employee who was required to avoid dust because of a high-risk pregnancy could be forced to take FMLA leave rather than the employer being required to find a position of employment away from the dust. Nichols v. CSG Systems (11th Cir. 2007).
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TIP OF THE MONTH: A company with a progressive discipline policy often will include suspensions for personal violations, such as tardiness. Federal and state laws, however, prohibit partial day suspensions and deductions from pay for violations of non-safety related rules in the case of salaried, exempt employees. Employers may lose exemptions for similarly situated employees, even if the employee whose pay was docked is not the complaining employee. Allowable deductions from pay of exempt employees may include:
- Penalties enforced in good faith for a violation of major safety rules.
- Absences of one or more full days for personal reasons, other than sickness or disability. This could include, for example, taking personal snow days when an office is actually open.
- Absences of one or more full days due to sickness or disability, which exceed acceptable levels under a bona fide paid sick leave plan, policy or practice.
- Amounts necessary to offset jury or witness fees, or for military pay received by employees.
- Unpaid disciplinary suspensions for one or more days imposed in good faith for infractions of workplace conduct rules.
In other cases, the suspension should be one week or more. Please recall, however, that you can still require working a minimum number of hours or being available during certain hours, but suspensions must then be for a week or more.
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Hanft Fride's business and trial lawyers are located at 1000 U.S. Bank Place, in Duluth Minnesota. Visit our website at www.hanftlaw.com. In addition to general information on the firm and our attorneys, you can find past issues of this newsletter. Keep checking back for new information, and let us know if there is anything you would like to see added to the site that would help you and your organization. Our employment lawyers include Richard Burns, Tom Torgerson and Rob Merritt.
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The information provided in this E-letter is general in nature and should not be used as a substitute for professional services and advice. The communication and receipt of this information is not intended to create an attorney-client relationship. Readers should consult with their legal counsel before taking any action on matters covered in this E letter.
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To subscribe or unsubscribe to Employer E-Letter, e-mail your request to Richard R. Burns, rrb@hanftlaw.com or call 218.529.2433.
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Copyright 2008 by Hanft Fride, P.A. All rights reserved. Hanft Fride, A Professional Association, 1000 U.S. Bank Place, 130 W. Superior Street, Duluth, MN 55802. Phone 218.722.4766; fax 218.529.2401.
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