Failure To Pay Lawsuit For Super Market Chain

A super market chain most popular in the southern regions such as Florida, Alabama, and Georgia has been slapped with a failure to pay lawsuit by four former employees.  They claim that Publix Super Markets, which has more than 1,000 hourly workers statewide, has failed to pay overtime.

The Sun-Sentinel reports that "the lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court in Panama City earlier this week, claims that managers should have been paid a rate of "time and a half" for overtime hours instead of the "half time."

The statement made by Publix at this time is that they have complied with the overtime pay employee labor laws. "We are confident that we're doing the right thing by our associates," said spokeswoman Maria Brous.

The lawyers representing the plaintiffs on the case, Sean Culliton and John Davis in Tallahassee are seeking a class action status for the lawsuit.   All the former employees at Publix were assigned to either the deli or bakery assistant managers for stores, according to the lawsuit.

If the former employees were actually getting paid half time and not time and a half, then the employer could very well be in violation.  Again, whether Publix willfully violated the labor law in their state is up for determination.  The lawsuit is was filed from employees who are spread across multiple store locations.  The Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) states there are instances where an employee would be not be required to receive overtime pay for extended hours.  

-Seasonal workers

-Seamen employed on foreign vessels

-Employees engaged in fishing operations

-Employees engaged in newspaper delivery

-Employees who lack a high school diploma, or who have not completed the eighth grade, who spend part of their workweeks in remedial reading or training in other basic skills that are not job specific.

At any rate, the burden does fall on the employer and management to be fully versed in The Fair Labor Standards for themselves.  There are more laws that pertain to what an employer should not be doing as opposed to what they should be.  If you are an employer it is very important to stay compliant and knowledgeable and make sure that your management staff is equally as informed.

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The Key to Healthy Employee-Employer Relationship is...

Have you heard this line lately in business corporate circles: It is only a matter of trust? The line contains
a few words but a wealth of meaning. It simply refers to the fact that without trust, the business world
would come to a standstill. It is trust that lubricates the wheels of business. Even more so, the trust that
must exist between employee and employer.

When employees fail to trust their CEO, the company will suffer in terms of transmission breakdown,
high attrition rates and wasted creativity and innovation. In the long run, it will lose out to its more
robust competitors. After all, to paraphrase Thomas Watson: The great accomplishments of man have
resulted from the transmission of ideas of enthusiasm.

The good news is that this trust deficit haunting employee and employer ties is still manageable.
A recent Blessing White survey found out that 52 percent of employees trust their top brass. The
downside is that nearly half of employees don’t trust their boss.

Top management in such a downside situation needs to urgently repair the trust fabric that binds an
organization. If not, things can get progressively worse for there has been poor understanding of the
people side of innovation.

And a little understanding is a very dangerous thing. The top management of the organization will be
unable to explain why it cannot produce innovative ideas and put them into successful operation. Here
then is the stonewall the management can break its head on and yet come no closer to any worthwhile
way forward.

If the organization cannot innovate, it is going to die. There is no other way but to comprehend the
invisible human part of the innovation process, aside from the tangible business and technical elements.

Failure to comprehend that innovation needs people is due to the hardwired preference of our brain
which rejects a change in outlook. We all know that bringing about change is difficult as we like our
brain to function on auto pilot. That’s neuroscience for you, understanding of which can lead to better
employee-employer relationship.

So what is neuroscience? It deals with the natural process of the functioning of the brain. Our brain is
designed to be driven by one of its frontal parts, basal ganglia which is governed by habits and patterns.
Consequently, it requires a great deal less energy to function than working memory.

Now if we are faced by some kind of change from our routine schedule, our prefrontal cortex will resist
the necessary shift to working memory. When we come to realize that it is working memory which is
capable of adjusting to change, we can fully appreciate the effort needed to overcome hardwired habits.

Meeting change head on is possible then if top management comes out of its comfort zone and starts
using working memory. It will then restore the trust quotient in employee-employer relationship. In
return, employees will allow their innovative juices to flow.

Author Bio-

Aimee is a writer and design consultant and writes on a variety of subjects ranging from
interior designs, bathroom products, and social issues and also gives tips on buying products
such as bathroom suites, cabinets and the likes.

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Redundancy Employment Law In The UK

UK employment law covers various topics to do with the rights of employees and the obligations
of employers, from minimum wages, working hours regulation, anti-discrimination provisions,
fair-pay requirements and unfair dismissal rules. One of the major areas of the employment
relationship that is regulated is redundancy. Employment law on redundancy covers the entire
process of redundancy, including the notice given to employees, the process for selecting
employees for redundancy, and the redundancy pay due to employees.

Redundancy employment law regarding the process of redundancy requires employers to give
affected employees sufficient notice regarding the redundancy process. Employees must be
consulted about the redundancy process and the alternatives to widespread redundancies. For
example, methods of reducing the number of redundancies may be considered, such as ways of
implementing budget cuts.

If an employee is selected for redundancy, the employer must give them at least their
minimum statutory notice period, which is at least one week’s notice if they have been
employed between one month and two years; one week’s notice for each year if they are
employed between two and 12 years; and 12 weeks’ notice if they are employed for 12
years or more. It is important to check the individual employment contract to see if a notice
period different to the statutory minimum was agreed. And, in some cases the employer may
have included a payment in lieu of notice clause, in which case the employer can end the
employment contract without any notice but must pay the employee for the notice period
instead.

Employment redundancy law also requires the employer to provide the employee with a
written notice of the redundancy which includes the reasons for redundancy. Alternatively, this
may be included within a compromise agreement which includes various clauses, generally
including a clause which bars further legal action once the compromise agreement is signed.

It is crucial that employees get legal advice from an employment solicitor before signing
a compromise agreement. If the employee is dissatisfied with any of the clauses in the
compromise agreement, they may be able to negotiate them with their employer.

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More Employment Law Changes 2012

More Changes To Employment Law

There are a two more I thought were noteworthy.  These changes are geared toward employee electronic verifications and worker's compensation.  Also cancer now qualifies as worker's compensation if obtained during the course of employment due to exposure for active firefighters.

First let's look at AB 1236.  This refers to the E-Verify program in accordance with US Homeland Security partnership.  This enables participating employers to use the program, on a voluntary basis, to verify that the employees they hire are authorized to work in the United States.  However, it is prohibited to require an employer except for government entities to be required an electronic employment verification system except when required by federal law or as a condition of receiving federal funds.

AB 1168
Changes have been made to vocational expert fees in relation to workers' comp.
While there are already workers' compensation systems in place, current law now requires the 'administrative director, after public hearings, to adopt and revise periodically official fee schedules that establish reasonable maximum fees paid for, among other things, medical services, medicines, and medical supplies. Existing law authorizes the Workers' Compensation Appeals Board to determine and allow certain expenses as liens against any award of compensation'.  On or after January 1, 2013, after public hearings,  the administrative director would have to adopt a fee schedule that establishes reasonable hourly fees paid for services provided by vocational experts.  That means a vocational expert would no longer be allowed to be paid anything in excess of fees that are reasonable and necessary. The appeals board would be prevented from allowing these expert fees.

AB 585 Workers' compensation: cancer presumption.
Firefighters or peace officers who develop cancer or manifest such during the period when the firefighter or peace officer demonstrates that he/she was exposed to a known carcinogen during public service are eligible for compensation. This bill would extend this presumption to active firefighting members of a fire department serving a National Aeronautics and Space Administration installation who adhere to specified training standards.

These are a few more changes that I have noted concerning California employment law. Small business owners and employees alike should make sure they know their rights in every case.  Seeking advice from an general counsel attorney would be best to ensure full compliance and to get proper direction, updating forms and to get sound legal answers for all of your business concerns.

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What 2012 Brings To Employment Law

So today I just read a post published from a couple of months ago that the San Francisco Chronicle did on the changes being made to employment law in California.  I also noted some other employment law changes you can read more about below.  Employment law is something all employers and employees should thoroughly familiarize themselves with.  The law seems pretty basic looking at it from the a wide scope lens but, it is important to look a little closer into what these law actually mean for both sides.  

At any rate, the article I mentioned above pointed out a couple of points employers may want to keep abreast of.   I've aded a few more employment law changes that the post didn't.  I'll summarize a few employers and employees will want to take special note of here: AB 469,  AB 22, SB 299, and SB 459.

At-Will
For the most part, the at will employment law has not changed much.  The exception is that is it now mandatory for employers to ensure that the employee thoroughly understands what an 'at-will' agreement means.  Many employers have already begun outlining this at the initial process of hiring and require your signature acknowledging such at the start of employment as standard practice. For those who have not included this information in the offer/hire agreements, it is no longer an option, it is a must.

AB 469
This refers to the option of employee overtime.  What does it say? In brief, it states that employers must give workers who are 'not exempt from overtime a "notice of such at the time of hire that includes certain pay details including their rate of pay and whether it's hourly, salary, commission-based or otherwise; any allowances claimed as part of the minimum wage including meal and lodging allowances; the regular payday; and name, address and phone number of the employer and of the employer's workers' comp insurance".  This particular law should not worry any employers already stating this information in their hire/offer letters, which is pretty much standard practice today.  Just make sure you properly phrase your hiring documents so that you comply with this law.  This will also help you, the employer, in the long run should there be any future problems with an employee.

AB 22
This refers to your use of credit checks on potential employees.  California employers are NO longer allowed to use credit reports to screen applicants or employers.  Also, employers must understand the difference between a credit report,  a background check and a credit check are which are very different things. There a few exceptions where this is allowed.  Employers may use a credit report only under these circumstances:

a)if the position is in management
b) if job requires regular access to bank, credit card info, social security numbers, and/or dates of birth [not required if job involves solicitation and processing of credit card applications]
c) if job requires regular access to employer's or client's cash, at least $10k or
d) if position is in law enforcement, a sworn peace officer or State Department of Justice

Get to know these and the other changes to the 2012 employment law. There are penalties for non-compliance of any of these rules so it's important to check them out and maybe re-evaluate your company/employee policies in this matter.  Don't forget to update your authorization forms to comply with these new laws.

SB 299
This has to do with the health coverage you provide.  SB 299 requires that any employer with five or more employees provide health coverage under a group health plan for eligible female employees who take pregnancy disability leave for up to four months.  It should not be any different than the typ of insurance that was provided prior to the leave period.


SB 459

Here's one you really want to pay attention to.  I have seen this happen to many employers and employees ignorant to this law.  SB 459 says that there is joint liability for both sides if anyone "knowingly advises an employer to treat an individual as an independent contractor to avoid employee status".  This of course doesn't apply to attorneys authorized to practice law in California.  There are some pretty steep penalties for those found in violation.  A person or employer found in violation could be hit with penalties from $5k to $15k for each violation.  An established pattern of these practices could ring up a $25k violation per violation.


See dir.ca.gov or read my next post on the others here


In summary employers in 2012 must comply to these California employment law changes:

-State if employee is eligible for overtime at time of hire and include pay details (ie hourly; salary; commission or other)

-Maintain  health coverage under a group health plan for eligible female employees who take pregnancy leave up to four months which must be at same level attained prior to leave for business with  five employees or more

-Do not classify employees as 'independent contractors' if they are not! Be ready to pay up to $25k in fines if you do

-Employers not allowed to do credit checks on employees at whim. Background checks are fine such as criminal etc, but obtaining one's credit report must have good reason other than simply for hire.

-Employees and Employers not allowed to enter an employee as an independent contractor just to escape employee status.

-Employers with five employees or more must provide health coverage for eligible female employees who take pregnancy leave up to four months.

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At Will Employment -What Does It Mean?

 Who Does At-Will Apply To?

At-will employment is applied to any employee who does not have a clearly defined contractual employment agreement. Essentially it means that an employer can dismiss an employee at any time, without cause.

For employers, this can be a sense of relief because the employer does not have to deal with a difficult or troubled employee, should the situation present itself in the workplace. Employers and employees often misunderstand the implications of this law.

What is California at-will employment law exactly? It's defined as any employment arrangement where there is no contract and either party - that is, the employee or employer - can terminate the employment any time with proper notice.

How Can California At Will Employment Help Employers

Having at-will employees does not protect you from lawsuits or any other attempts that can be made by a disgruntled employee to get their job back or receive compensation. There are a good number of measures that a company can take to protect the company to mitigate the number of lawsuits sustained by former employees.

Here are some quick tips to keep note of:

-Know the do's & don'ts of the at-will employment law.

Remember that employer's rights refers less of what the law allows the employer to do, and more to what they should avoid doing.

-Have a clear agreement which spells out the statutes for the employee and have him/her sign.

This will ensure that the employee understands the at-will agreement and minimizes this being raised later should you be brought in to court by a former employee.

-California at-will employment is just that - at-will. 

Unless there is a contract spelling out why and how an employee can be terminated, there is no agreement to that effect. You can let an employee go at any time.

-Educate your managers about California at-will employment. 

Your business depends on this. Their understanding that at no time should they ever make any promises about employment to any employees will also lessen the chances of lawsuits.

Any signed agreement with any employee should also be sure to include their at-will status under the California at-will employment law, and should not guarantee future employment with the company. You must be sure that the employee understands that they are not protected from at-will firings.  The employment agreement should also state this clearly.

  

 Knowing your rights as a California employer will lessen the number of legal disputes that may occur from a disgruntled employee.  It is best to contact a general counsel attorney or one well versed in employment law for further questions or questions not covered in this article.

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