This week’s tip-of-the-week is courtesy of Rush Nigut’s Rush on Business – get it in writing. A handshake or an oral promise is only as good as the relationship that supports it. The problem, however, is that by the time that handshake ends up in court, the relationship that underlies is has deteriorated to the point that, well, you’ve ended up in court. And it’s amazing how bad memories become once a relationship has deteriorated into litigation.
Mark Toth’s Manpower Employment Blawg draws some lessons on how not end up in court based on some recently reported EEOC settlements and verdicts.
Anthony Zaller at the California Employment Law Report offers the top 10 mistakes in drafting job descriptions. I’ll add number 11 (which should really be number 1) – not having written job descriptions at all.
Dennis Westlind at World of Work shares his opinion on Title VII and body piercings.
Jeffrey Hirsch at the Workplace Prof Blog discusses yet another employee fired for something posted on her Facebook page – in this case, expletive complaints about her boss.
Staying on the topic of social networking, Patrick Smith’s Iowa Employment Law Blog thinks that employers should act cautiously when performing internet searches on job applicants.
William Bowser at the Delaware Employment Law Blog tells when an employer should consider offering severance.
Dan Schwartz at the Connecticut Employment Law Blog helps employers brace for this fall’s return of the swine flu.
Finally, I end this week’s review with some wage and hour topics.
Jennifer Hays at the Warren & Hays Blog has an important bit of information for officers and managers – they can be held independently liable for unpaid wages under the FLSA.
Wage & Hour Counsel talks about when employers are and are not liable for employees’ time spent changing into and out of company-issued gear.
Fair Labor Standards Act Law discusses retaliation under the wage and hour laws.
Finally, Jay Shepherd’s Gruntled Employees reports on a ruling by a Massachusetts court that a strip club had misclassified its dancers as independent contractors. Jay’s advice if you mess up an employee’s pay:
There’s no defense if you got it wrong. Our advice to employers: make sure you get the pay right. Or be prepared to settle if you don’t.
And bring plenty of singles.
Presented by Kohrman Jackson & Krantz, with offices in Cleveland and Columbus.
For more information, contact Jon Hyman, a partner in our Labor & Employment group, at (216) 736-7226 or jth@kjk.com.