Effective the start of this year, a new gag rule prohibits Oregon employers of all sizes from requiring employees to attend meetings where you share your religious or political opinions (code phrase for anti-union opinions). As will be discussed in a future LegalBrief, this law can cause more problems than you may realize.

New Poster Required

This new law, S.B. 519, also requires all Oregon employers to post a new notice for employees. The State of Oregon, for whatever reason, has chosen not to publish this new poster. This however does not absolve you from the statute’s notice requirements. You must still display a notice.

We are looking out for you and created our own gag rule poster you can download and use at no charge.

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With the new year comes new and revised employment poster requirements. Are your posters up-to-date? Are you properly displaying each and every poster you are required to display? Are you sure?

Maybe you purchased an all-in-one poster. Is it up-to-date? Hint: If it was printed more than just a few weeks ago, the answer is probably not.

For 8 years in a row, we are helping employers comply with your employment poster requirements at no charge.

You will find all 25 possible state and federal employment posters (English & Spanish) assembled in one place. You will also find detailed instructions so you can determine which posters apply to your organization. Download and display our free posters and you are done. It is that easy.

Simply go to our 2010 Employment Posters report to comply with your employment poster requirements in five minutes or less.

Last week’s LegalBrief suggested there is no need to fire an employee under investigation for criminal or professional misconduct if law enforcement or a state licensing board is going to solve the problem for you. The question was asked, however, why not fire an employee charged with a felony?

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An employee is under investigation for unprofessional or criminal conduct. Do you fire him?

As three clients have recently discovered, this question is not as easy as it seems.

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We all have received them, emails wanting to be your “friend” on a social networking site. Someone you know, someone you barely know, someone you have never heard of … Rarely is a long lost friend renewing contact after many years.

What do you do when the friend request comes from an employee that works for you? What should you do?

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Articles published in The National Law Journal yesterday morning and two days before highlight new laws, new enforcement activities and new employee lawsuit risks faced by American employers.

A just released U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) report concludes that workers lose more than $56.4 million per week as a result of employment and labor law violations.

This has the attention of the current administration. Now that it has been published in a national publication for lawyers, it also has the attention of plaintiff’s employment attorneys. Soon, through the efforts of the mass media and plaintiff’s attorneys, it will have the attention of your employees as well.

With four pro-labor executive orders from the new White House, a dramatic increase in the DOL’s compliance and enforcement activities, a substantial increase in DOL wage and hour investigations and changes in the National Labor Relations Board, the rules you must comply with and the risk for mistakes are increasing dramatically.

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While driving down a major arterial, it was surprising to see a middle aged man in the car next to me looking at a cell phone with his arm at maximum extension trying to read the screen without glasses, texting a response and driving at the same time. Although much has been written about the dangers of teenagers texting while driving, evidently middle-aged people do the same, even without their reading glasses.

As an employer, there are steps you must take to prevent employee accidents while driving for your business and to prevent liability claims.

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The Stimulus Bill, The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, is now law. That law does a lot of things, including creating new COBRA requirements. These new requirements apply to every employee you have involuntarily terminated since September 1, 2008 or may terminate between now and December 31, 2009.

Five things you should do to comply with these new requirements are set out below. You should begin to prepare now.

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Smart employers take charge of their workplace and take steps to prevent employee lawsuits.

This includes continually updating their employee handbooks. Technology, business practices, employment laws and even society itself are changing at a staggering pace. The policies set out in your employee handbook must keep up. Otherwise, your handbook could go from a legal shield that protects you to a legal sword plaintiff’s attorneys can use against you.

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Yesterday one of our favorite clients reported the Oregon Worker’s Compensation Board just ruled in their favor. The key to their ruling was a provision added to their employee handbook.

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The other day I was having lunch at one of my favorite local establishments. A person came in and asked the young woman behind the counter if they were taking applications.

The woman said “we don’t use job applications, just bring in a resume.”

Big mistake.

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An employee “fails” a drug test. What does this really mean?

There are at least seven ways an employee might “fail” a drug test. Whether you may discipline or terminate the employee, however, depends upon how carefully you word your drug policy.

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Warnings are an important part of any progressive discipline system. When delivering warnings, remember the two vital elements of any warning, the six tips for effective warnings and the three musts for managing behavior.

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