The Employer Handbook Blog

If you employ progressive discipline, don’t slap your employees with a bearded dragon

January 7, 2015 | by Eric B. Meyer

And by bearded dragon, I mean, well, bearded dragon.

This warning holds true even if you operate a reptile store. Chris Joseph of the Broward/Palm Beach New Times reports (here) that a Florida reptile store owner was “arrested on battery and cruelty to animal charges on Friday after he allegedly hit some of his employees with a live lizard multiple times.”

It’s all in this police report. Additionally, according to Joseph article, the same store previously had “hosted a roach-eating contest that ended up killing contestant after he choked on the dozens of roaches and worms during the contest.”

SHRM, US Chamber, NAM, and other business groups sue to block new NLRB election rules

January 6, 2015 | by Eric B. Meyer

It’s on now!

Late yesterday afternoon, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce issued a press release in which it announced that it had filed this complaint in federal court against the National Labor Relations Board to strike the Board’s election rules, passed last month, which would create faster union elections.

More on this lawsuit, after the jump…

* * *

It’s prolly not retaliation when you fire an employee who masturbates in your parking lot

January 5, 2015 | by Eric B. Meyer

Or, at least, when you honestly believe that one of your employees is masturbating in the parking lot.

(Unless, of course, you’re like by buddy Fred, who operates Parking Lot Self-Gratification, LLC).

Let’s just pretend that parenthetical remained in my head, ok?

After the jump, it’s a lesson on the law of retaliation involving the case of a school district employee who was fired for allegedly masturbating in a car…in the school parking lot…during school hours. And he claimed that his firing was retaliatory in violation of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.

Allow that to sink in for a sec, then hit jump while I kiss the head of my golden blogging statuette and rub her belly…

* * *

“Your Asperger’s got in the way of your ability to interact with your boss, and we are tired of it.”

January 2, 2015 | by Eric B. Meyer

I tell you, folks.

When a school janitor, the plaintiff in this case, claimed that the school principal uttered the words in the lede above, I felt a stirring within.

Literally, the second those words (allegedly) formed on the principal’s lips, my ~~Spidey~~ Bloggy-senses told me that I’d be able to usher in the new year with a fine blog post.

Comin’ atcha after the jump…

* * *

Connect with @DilworthSocial on Twitter for 2015

December 31, 2014 | by Eric B. Meyer

Happy New Year’s Eve everyone.

I’m going to end the year with a ~~bathtub mint julep~~ quick plug. Because I’m not at all subtle — ~~bow before BlogStar!~~ — I may have mentioned my firm’s new #SocialMedia Practice Group. And, as of last week, we now have a Twitter feed too.

If you follow me (@Eric_B_Meyer) on Twitter — and if you don’t, I will hunt you down and claw out your… — you’ve probably seen me retweeting a lot of great #socialmedia and #cyber news and nuggets coming from @DilworthSocial. So, if you want to cut out the middleman and follow @DilworthSocial on Twitter, well then, by all means…

If you have salespeople who take FMLA leave, drop everything and read this

December 30, 2014 | by Eric B. Meyer

You know it’s not that often that you read about a worker who prevails — before trial — on her claim that her former employer interfered with her ability to take leave under the Family and Medical Leave Act.

But, I’ve got one for you after the jump.

* * *

The 5 compliance posts that grabbed HR’s attention in 2014

December 29, 2014 | by Eric B. Meyer

Translation: Three days left in 2014 and Meyer doesn’t have it in him to put together an original post for you.

Fortunately, you guys continue to dig the other bazillion days of original content. As The Employer Handbook approaches its 4th birthday — if you’re thinking of a proper gift, find the one that blogs for me too and I’ll dedicate a week’s worth of posts to you — our 2014 numbers were staggering! The site had almost 150,000 users (up 30% from 2013). Those folks viewed 289,560 pages.

Here were the most clicked posts of 2014:

Does the Americans with Disabilities Act require a transfer away from a jerk boss?

December 26, 2014 | by Eric B. Meyer

Whether you have a disability under the Americans with Disabilities Act — so, like, all of us — or not, work can suck. Bosses can be jerks.

But, if an employee with a disability requests a transfer away from a jerk boss, must the company provide it?

Find out after the jump…

* * *

Next year, best to skip the office holiday party eggnog chug-off

December 24, 2014 | by Eric B. Meyer

Take it from the employment lawyers. Maybe, not the best idea…

Man rushed to hospital, put in ICU after winning office holiday party eggnog-chugging contest: http://t.co/mnEJ8IZHQ7 pic.twitter.com/RdtauVglFv

— ABC News (@ABC) December 23, 2014

Will the PA Supreme Court revolutionize non-compete agreements?

December 23, 2014 | by Eric B. Meyer

I meant to write about this a week or so ago after I saw Dan Packel’s article at Law360. But, then, I got sidetracked with a bunch of NLRB stuff. Until, yesterday, Lizzy McLellan’s article at The Legal Intelligencer brought me back.

So, here’s the deal. The basic rule in PA has always been that, for a non-compete to be enforceable, it needs to be entered into when employment begins (i.e., as consideration for offering employment), or there needs to be some independent consideration to support it (e.g., a raise, bonus, promotion, etc.).

However, some outlier judicial decisions in PA have concluded that PA’s Uniform Written Obligations Act magically adds consideration to any agreement with the words “intending to be legally bound.”