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McBrayer Blogs

Showing 59 posts from 2015.

Employment at Will Comes with Many Exceptions

Kentucky employment law generally recognizes that most employment is “at-will” – meaning, employees serve at the pleasure of the employer, and termination of an employee does not require “just cause.” There are several circumstances, however, where laws and other factors prohibit employers from terminating an employee without a well-documented showing of cause. Employers should be aware of the circumstances under which they may not terminate an employee without just cause. More >

Making Sure Your FMLA Policy Covers the Basics

Too often, employers assume that their policies comply with the basic tenets of regulatory provisions and proceed to other details without regular, careful review. This complacency, however, is where mistakes multiply, which can result in costly outcomes. In the case of Tilley v. Kalamazoo County Road Commission, for instance, the court reiterated that failure to review basic FMLA rules and train employees accordingly could lead to an unwelcome result. More >

Employees vs. Independent Contractors: The Consequences of Misclassification

The distinction between independent contractors and employees carries more burdens, consequences, and decisions than ever before. In addition to the tax consequences, there are health care compliance consequences, workers’ compensation consequences, and even intellectual property consequences. Understanding the consequences of misclassification is paramount to properly structure an employer’s workforce. More >

When is a Lunch Break Not a Lunch Break? The Sixth Circuit and Ruffin v. MotorCity Casino

Hopefully you aren’t reading this on your lunch break, hoping that you can then count the time spent as compensable work time, especially if you’re in the Sixth Circuit. In the case of Ruffin v. MotorCity Casino, the Sixth Circuit held that casino security guards tasked with monitoring their radios over their lunch break were not engaged in compensable work for purposes of the Fair Labor Standards Act. This may be less than good news for employees, but it might provide some leeway in the future as to what employers may permissibly ask employees for on their lunch breaks. More >

Who Owns What When a Copyrighted Work is Created in the Workplace

Something employers, employees and contractors don’t often consider is the ownership and attribution of copyrighted property created for an employer on behalf of an employee. Copyright has value, so the ownership of it might sometimes come into dispute. Clear agreements as to the ownership and attribution of intellectual property provide insight – i.e., any works created by an author as a result of the course and scope of that author’s employment with a company are company property. What happens, however, when a clear agreement isn’t in place? Who owns the intellectual property then? More >

Hair Trigger: When are Employee Notice Provisions Triggered under the FMLA?

It can be hard to know when an employee is invoking rights under the Family and Medical Leave Act (“FMLA”). Every employer wants FMLA-requested leave to come in the form of 30 days advance notice, filed in the appropriate manner pursuant to company policy. However, a triggering event for FMLA leave can come from something as simple as an employee asking for a day off for medical reasons. It’s important to understand what the FMLA requires of employers in that instance to fulfill their responsibilities. More >

What Employers Can (Probably) Expect from the FLSA Overtime Exemption (Yet to Be) Proposed Rules

With apologies to Tom Petty, with regard to upcoming proposed regulations under the Fair Labor Standards Act set to increase the overtime exemption salary, the waiting is the hardest part. Employers everywhere will likely experience some budgetary change to comply, but it’s hard to know exactly what that change will be. At the same time, knowing what may be coming down the pike can only prepare employers more for how to handle the final regulations when they come into effect. More >

This Party is BYOD, Part Two

The discussion in the last post focused on reasons for allowing BYOD in the work place and some traps to watch out for, which continues below. More >

This Party is BYOD, Part One

The word you’re looking for is “ubiquity.” It describes the near-total assimilation of technology into every aspect of our lives. The words “cell phone” are falling by the wayside as the words “smart phone” take their place, and soon enough the word “phone” might be dropped altogether as a relic of a time when people used them primarily (and ever so quaintly) for actually talking to each other. These relatively recent smart devices are upending the traditional separations between work and home, with uncertain results. For some employers, “bring your own device” (“BYOD”) is considered a boon, allowing employees to stay connected to the workplace at all times through the comfort and convenience of their personal devices. For others, BYOD could be a nightmare, with IT advisory company Gartner calling it, cheekily, “a disruptive phenomenon where employees bring non-company IT into the organization and demand to be connected to everything – without proper accountability or oversight.”[1] Chances are good that the true answer might be a little bit of both as lines continue to blur across the wirelessly-connected workforce. Gartner estimates that as many as 90% of workplaces will have some aspect of BYOD in place by 2017. We’ll explore the reasoning behind BYOD and the pitfalls that can accompany it before delving into what makes for a strong BYOD policy. More >

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