The Employer Handbook Blog

Sign up! It’s The Employer Handbook free NFL Survivor Pool

August 26, 2011 | by Eric B. Meyer

Are you ready for some football?

Better question: do you think you have what it takes to defeat me, a former 610 WIP SportsRadio Midday Show Survivor Pool Champion?

Now you’ll have your chance. The Employer Handbook is hosting a free NFL Survivor Pool, where the winner will take home the picture of Julius Erving and Larry Bird that now hangs in my office — to the right of Allen Iverson’s head. (Yes, that’s my office). Here’s a close up.

More on how this free contest works — you needn’t be a football fan or know anything about football — and how you can sign up, after the jump.

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Feds force private businesses to tell employees its ok to unionize

August 26, 2011 | by Eric B. Meyer

Good times, huh?

The National Labor Relations Board has issued a Final Rule requiring most private-sector employers to post a notice informing employees of their rights under the National Labor Relations Act, which includes — you guessed it — the right to form a union.

This rule goes into effect on November 14, 2011 and I’ve got the dirty details after the jump.

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The Employer Handbook seeks your feedback

August 25, 2011 | by Eric B. Meyer

'Forbidden Planet customer suggestions box' photo (c) 2010, Ged Carroll - license: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/

The Employer Handbook is fast approaching its ninth month. I’ve had a blast blogging for my readers. And things appear to be running smoothly. But what do I know? I only write this stuff. I don’t have to read it. That’s up to you. We make great a team, don’t we?

So, let me know…

What do you like so far?

16 best practices for conquering the next natural disaster

August 24, 2011 | by Eric B. Meyer

Raise your hand if your east-coast business was prepared for yesterday’s earthquake.

After the jump, I’ll tell you why you may not have been ready and offer your business 16 ways to prepare for when the next disaster strikes.

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LexisNexis deems The Employer Handbook the best blog ever

August 23, 2011 | by Eric B. Meyer

(Maybe, I’m reading a little too much into an email I received from them yesterday).

Actually, The Employer Handbook has been nominated as one of the LexisNexis Top 25 Labor and Employment Law Blogs of 2011. If Because you want to vote for The Employer Handbook, click here. Seriously, if you like what you read, please stuff the ballot box. (You’ll need to register first with LexisNexis. But that takes 20 seconds and you can do that here.) Thank you!

The federal labor law guide to social media (non)compliance

August 22, 2011 | by Eric B. Meyer

On Friday night, I read the just-released National Labor Relations Board’s Acting General Counsel report on social media investigations. In fact, I read it twice cover-to-cover. (No, I won’t be winning the “Coolest Person ~~In America~~ ~~In Philly~~ ~~On My Block~~ In My House” Award this year).

Dorkiness aside, I was able to distill the report down to the points that employers will need to know if they hope to avoid federal scrutiny. Those details follow after the jump…

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Final score: Pregnant bartender 45,000 – Wild Beaver Saloon 0

August 19, 2011 | by Eric B. Meyer

I can pinpoint the exact moment that this blog transcended to the next level of internet excellence.

It was back in late March, when I blogged here about a female bartender/server who had sued her employer, the Wild Beaver Saloon, for pregnancy discrimination. The retweets that day were off the heezy fo sheezy, yo. (The hyperlink is a courtesy to my NPR listeners).

***Wait. Hold on one sec. I have to take this call from “1993”. They say they want their dated hip-hop lingo back. OK, I’m back.***

When I first wrote about the Wild Beaver Saloon, the question was whether a business could make an employment decision based on the preferences of co-workers, the employer, clients or customers. I concluded, in this instance, that the Beave could not get away with it.

Well, the case ended last week. So was I right? Click past the jump to find out if I know my stuff…

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Third Circuit delivers a cat’s paw gouging to employers

August 18, 2011 | by Eric B. Meyer

Note: The original working title for this post was “Yo! A-Yo! Federal courts in Philly and NYC get all catty and stuff”. I mention this not because it’s a recycled New Yorker headline, but because it puts into context the gratuitous shots I take at NY sports teams sprinkled into this post.

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Back in March of this year, the United States Supreme Court in Staub v. Proctor Hospital recognized that an employee may have a tenable claim for discrimination under USERRA even if the person who fired him did not discriminate. That is, if a supervisor’s bias motivates a firing — even if the firing is carried out by someone else who is both squeaky-clean and higher up in the food chain — then the firing is discriminatory. This is known as the “cat’s paw” theory.

Same goes for the MetsSince March, other courts have weighed in. As you know from reading this blog, on June, the Tenth Circuit held that the Staub decision applies to claims of age bias.

And, this month, we get cat’s paw decisions from the United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York and the Third Circuit Court of Appeals. One of ’em is good for employers. The other, not so much. More on these decisions and what they will mean for local businesses after the jump…

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For employers that don’t document properly, the jury awaits

August 17, 2011 | by Eric B. Meyer

In yesterday’s post at The Employer Handbook, I discussed a recent federal-court decision to demonstrate why it is crucial for employers to document workplace performance and misconduct.

Today, after the jump, I have another federal-court decision — one in which an employer’s failure to properly paper an employee’s leave under the Family and Medical Leave Act, translates into big-time headaches.

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This is why you document employee workplace issues

August 16, 2011 | by Eric B. Meyer

Management-side employment lawyers preach it until they are blue in the face: companies should always document employee performance and disciplinary issues.

Why is this so important? A real-world example follows after the jump…

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