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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:
- HOURS WORKED BY EXEMPT EMPLOYEES
- FEWER LAWSUITS FROM A COLLABORATIVE WORKPLACE
- FAMILY MEDICAL LEAVE
- TIP OF THE MONTH
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HOURS WORKED BY EXEMPT EMPLOYEES
Exempt employees should keep a time record, except for highly compensated executive employees. It is best to require all employees (exempt and nonexempt) to record their hours by punching a time clock or maintaining timesheets. Often times an employee is improperly classified or may, by a change in duties, become nonexempt, so time records are necessary for a determination of overtime obligations. Sprint Corporation learned this lesson the hard way when they decided a customer representative handling technical computer problems performed both exempt and non-exempt work and should be reclassified. Sprint offered a check, based on its estimate of overtime hours, but the employee balked claiming that he worked normally four to six hours of overtime daily. The Court concluded it was Sprint's burden to prove how many hours had been worked and accepted the employees estimate. Hunter v. Sprint (DCDC 2006).
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FEWER LAWSUITS FROM A COLLABORATIVE WORKPLACE
Common sense suggests that happier employees are far less likely to sue. A recent Florida State University College of Business Survey found:
- 39% of employees say their supervisors failed to keep promises;
- 37% say their employers fail to give credit when it is due;
- 27% say their supervisors make negative comments about them or other employees;
- 23% say that their supervisors blame others to cover up his/her mistake.
These results suggest that a refresher course on ethics and civility should be part of employee training, which logically could be included in any anti-harassment training.
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FAMILY MEDICAL LEAVE
Under Minnesota and Wisconsin law, an employer, generally, cannot require an employee to use paid leave, such as vacation or sick leave, against their 12 weeks of FMLA. This can cause an employer great hardship to have an employee still have available sick leave or vacation. However, in the case of parental leave in Minnesota, the employer may substitute short-term disability leave and can require the use of sick leave or vacation leave after six weeks of parental leave.
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TIP OF THE MONTH: Performance appraisal reviews are often felt to be too time consuming and tedious. If you, however, have done a good job as a manager, it should be a summary with no surprises of what you have done all year. Kevin Bing, a Texas television news director, has suggested six poignant questions to ask that I believe are very helpful:
- If you had the magic wand, what one thing would you change in your department?
- What will keep you here or entice you to leave?
- What most energizes you about your work?
- Are we fully using your talents?
- What is inhibiting your success?
- As your supervisor, what can I do differently to assist you?
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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, Rob Merritt and Gabe Johnson.
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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 2007 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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