Business is tough enough for everyone these days without having to shoulder the expense of a completely avoidable lawsuit. To minimize your risk of employment-related litigation, take heed of the following tips from Susan K. Lessack, a labor and employment law partner with Pepper Hamilton LLP:
1. As the H1N1 furor of the past year made clear, having a corporate pandemic plan in place isn’t such a bad idea. By maintaining up-to-date information on the disease from authoritative sources—including how-to information for reducing risk—you’ll go a long way toward defusing employee anxiety and avoiding business disruptions.
2. Ensure your policies are compliant with the Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act (GINA), instituted to protect Americans against health insurance- and employment-related discrimination based on genetic information.
3. If you’re a Federal government contractor, make sure you’re in compliance with the Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs. The OFCCP’s regulations require contractors with $50,000 or more in government contracts and 50 or more employees to have an affirmative action plan in place.
4. Make sure your company’s disability leave policies don’t contain inflexible provisions—i.e., automatic termination of an employee who’s been out for a certain period of time—as such policies have led to recent court challenges.
5. Are your wage-and-hour practices up to snuff? Make certain your employees are being paid for all time worked and overtime, and that exempt employees are classified properly.
6. By the same token, you’d best make sure any independent contractors in your employ are properly classified as such.
7. In light of recent amendments to the Americans with Disabilities Act, it behooves you to have a policy in place informing employees how to request a reasonable accommodation.
8. Do you have an effective system in place for employees to raise workplace concerns? If not, then get one—and make sure managers are fully trained in it.
9. Don’t allow employee social media usage to occupy a grey area. Draft a comprehensive policy addressing: a. whether using such Websites is permissible at work or on company computers; and b. if so, what content employees are prohibited from posting.
10. Document any employee performance problems, and make certain the individual in question is aware of them—as well as given the opportunity to improve them. Should continued poor performance subsequently lead to termination, such documentation is often the best defense against a lawsuit.
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Posted by: Business Litigation Sacramento | January 16, 2010 at 04:47 AM