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Tag: employee handbook

Storm Surges and Flash Flooding: A Few Employment Law Issues During Natural Disasters

September 17, 2018

You are an employer with a a goal set of each hour, day, week, month, quarter and year, maybe 5, 10, 50 years. But natural disasters such as hurricanes do not respect your goals; they are unpredictable and disruptive even to the most efficient workplaces. To minimize the havoc wreaked on your business by the strong storm, a well drafted human resource policy on issues relevant to bad weather is critical. This article addresses two key considerations to remain compliant with the law and to get back to business as soon as possible.

Wage and Hour

A natural disaster often forces a halt in business operations. However, the Federal Labor Standards Act (FLSA) does not relax or waive its rules during such a period. It requires employers to pay salaried exempt employees during a such a business closure if the employee worked at all during the relevant work week, no matter how briefly. To alleviate the cost to employers, the FLSA permits the employer to require employees to use their accrued and unused paid time off (PTO) during the shutdown. Non-exempt hourly employees on the other hand, may be paid for only the hours actually worked during a business shut down. The FLSA also expects that accurate records of employees’ time worked be persevered in a hurricane-proof format and continue to be kept as employees work through the event.

Employers should prepare clear policies governing this issue well in advance of having to apply its rules

Occupational Safety and Health

The Occupational Safety and Health Act requires employers to provide a safe workplace for their employees. Thus, employers must carefully assess the work space during and after natural disasters to ensure that buildings are structurally sound, hazardous materials are not exposed, amenities such a washrooms, air heating and cooling, first aid are fully functional, electrical wires are not damaged or exposed, mosquitoes and other pathogens are under control, among several other considerations.

OSHA permits employees to refuse dangerous work and to report dangerous working conditions. Dangerous conditions must be reported within thirty (30) days of its discovery and can be made via the OSHA website or over the telephone. Likewise an employee refusing dangerous work must do so promptly, and because OSHA does not recommend abandoning the worksite, the employee must work with management to address her concerns. 

Once again, clear policies on the issue drafted and provided to employees and managers in advance of a natural disaster is preferred.

Employee Handbooks Doing More Harm Than Good in Your Workplace?

June 25, 2018

National Labor Relations Board has issued a Guidance for employers to follow to determine which policies included in its employee handbook or Human Resources manual could trigger an unfair labor practice (ULP) complaint. The NLRB categorizes these illegal policies as follows:

  •  Confidentiality rules specifically against wages, benefits, or working conditions—such as rules prohibiting employees discussing their wages.
  • Rules against joining outside organizations or voting on matters concerning employers

Employers, review your HR manual and employee handbook to ensure the following policies are absent!

Advance Notice of Resignation – Do’s and Don’ts

April 16, 2017

Joe Blow quit his job this morning. His employer did not see it coming and though Joe knew he was going to leave sooner or later, he just did not get around to providing notice of resignation.

Employers, here are a few do’s to minimize the frequency of this occurrence:

  1. enter into an employment contract or provide an employee handbook requiring the employee to provide a certain amount of advance notice of resignation, on the penalty of a breach of contract lawsuit
  2. incentivize the employee by providing a bonus pay at resignation if adequate notice of resignation is provided
  3. if the employee is otherwise deserving, the employer can contract to provide an excellent written employment recommendation for the departing employee if adequate notice of resignation is provided
  4. include a stipulation in the employment contract or employee handbook making employees who leave without the required notice ineligible for re-hire by the employer

Also for employers, here are a few do nots, regardless how frustrating it is to have employees constantly leave you understaffed:

  1. withholding pay for hours already worked as penalty for lack of notice of resignation contravenes the FLSA
  2. contracting out of or convincing the employee to waive FLSA rights will not be enforceable before the Wage and Hour Division of the Department of Labor

While advance notice of resignation of employment is not required by law in the state of Georgia, it appears employers through their conduct and workplace policies have the power to ensure that in more cases than not, it is provided.