Be Informed.

Quid pro quo harassment occurs in situations where any of the terms and conditions of your job are conditioned upon agreeing to sexual favors or sexual behaviors.  In some cases, it is easy to provide quid pro quo harassment occurred if an overt offer of job benefits or job advancement is made. In other circumstances, bosses or managers may be more subtle in their suggestions that sexual behavior can help you to advance.

When an employee leaves your company, you may consider offering severance pay in exchange for an employee signing a severance contract or exit agreement. The severance pay could be a benefit that the employee is provided in order to create a legally valid and binding contract wherein the employee agrees to certain important contractual terms.

The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission defines sexual harassment as a “ form of sex discrimination that violates Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.” Behaviors of an alleged harasser must meet certain criteria in order to be considered unlawful harassment. If a co-worker or supervisor simply asks you on a date, for example, this may not be considered harassing behavior that is actionable. Sometimes harassment is clearly occurring, but in other situations it is a more difficult judgement call to determine whether harassment happened or not.

It can be difficult to determine why you were not hired, as there may be many reasons why someone would be passed over for a job. However, if discrimination of any type played a role in you not being hired for a position you were qualified for, it becomes very important to understand whether the potential employer violated anti-discrimination laws.

In May, the Department of Labor instituted new overtime rules by making a change to the definition of “exempt.” Exempt workers are employees who generally are not entitled to receive overtime time. If a worker is classified as an exempt employee, he does not get paid any extra money for hours over 40 per hour. If a worker is not exempt, on the other hand, he generally can get paid time-and-a-half for the extra hours that he works over normal business hours.

The creation of an unreasonably unpleasant working environment on the basis of any unwanted sexual behaviors, including by co-workers and peers, could potentially be unlawful and the company could be held responsible if there were no policies in place to prevent the behavior and if no system was set up to make certain that this type of behavior could be reported.

In general, employers have wide leeway to act in accordance with their own beliefs and theories and to hire and fire anyone for any reason or no reason at all. However, certain groups of people are protected from being fired because of who they are, because these groups of people have historically been discriminated against and treated unfairly by employers. 

There are strict rules for restraints on trade that can affect whether or not an employment contract, or specific clauses within that contract, are going to be enforceable or not. An attorney can help you to draft an agreement that will be enforced if you are an employer, and can provide assistance to employers in trying to enforce contract provisions.

One of the most important employment laws that an attorney provides assistance with is the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). The Fair Labor Standards Act was enacted in 1938 to prohibit child labor, to establish a minimum wage, and to establish requirements for overtime.

Employment law lawyers can help companies to establish policies prohibiting harassment and protocols responding to harassment so they can reduce the chance that a lawsuit will happen. Attorneys also provide assistance to employees who have been victimized by harassing behavior and who wish to pursue a claim against an employer who is held liable for the unlawful workplace actions. 

Non-compete agreements are necessary across many industries to prevent employees from taking client information or trade secrets and using their knowledge to hurt the business of their former employer. However, a non-compete is also a restraint on trade and can impact the ability of an employee to make a living, so enforcement of these contracts is not always guaranteed.