Employment Law Information

Archive for the ‘Tips & Tactics’ Category

Workplace romances have become the hot topic since David Letterman’s recent announcement that someone attempted to disclose his affairs with women working on his show. Workplace romances are fairly commonplace. Between 41% to 58% of employees state that they have dated a coworker. And, according to careerbuilder.com, 14% of employees state that they have engaged in a supervisor/subordinate relationship. You should know that a workplace romance can cause problems for you, your partner, and your company. There are some things you should do before beginning a workplace romance:

1. You should consult your companies employee handbook. Vault.com reports that 70% of companies do not have a formal policy banning workplace romances. That means that 30% of companies have such a policy. You need to know what your company thinks about workplace romances before you begin the relationship, because you can be given a formal reprimand, counseling or even terminated if your company prohibits workplace romances. Some companies handle workplace romances by separating the couple, i.e., placing them in different departments or work areas. You should not be the one who is moved if your romance is with your supervisor or someone higher than you in the corporate structure. That could be viewed as retaliation.

2. You should consider requesting that the reporting relationship be changed if your workplace romance is with your supervisor. There are many pitfalls in workplace romances between a supervisor and subordinate. You should think about how to protect yourself and your career before beginning the romance with a supervisor. One way to protect yourself is to ask that the reporting relationship be changed so that you do not report to the person you are dating. Changing the reporting relationship will protect you in two ways. One, the person you are dating will not have the power to discipline you or damage your employment if the relationship ends badly. Two, your achievements will not be discounted by your workplace romance because your achievements cannot be attributed to your workplace romance.

3. You should keep your romance out of the workplace. You may be dating someone in your workplace, but your romance should not be part of your workplace. You should maintain the same level of professionalism as you did before you began dating your coworker. You should not email each other on company computers or text each other on company telephones. You certainly should not engage in any displays of affection in the workplace. You should keep your personal life and your professional life very separate when you are dating a coworker.

4. You should discuss the details of your relationship with your partner before you begin the relationship Communication is the key to any lasting relationship. That is especially true of a workplace relationship. You should discuss with your partner who you want to tell about the relationship and how public you want the relationship. You should discuss whether one of you should leave the department or the company. You should realize that the decision may not be yours because your company may have rules that resolve this issue. Also, it is not exciting or sexy to think about a possible break up at the beginning of a relationship. Surely, at this point in your life you are aware that not all relationships work out. You should consider that this relationship may not be forever and discuss how you would handle a possible breakup, especially since your career and financial livelihood may be affected by this relationship. We also know that your feelings will be different after a breakup. So, you should commit any breakup rules you decide upon to writing.

Finally, the individuals who are involved in a workplace romance are not the only individuals who are affected by the romance. The romance can affect coworker’s employment in the form of lost promotions, lost work assignments, increased work assignments, reduced productivity etc. You should pay attention if you are an employee who works with individuals who are involved in a romance to make sure that your employment is not negatively impacted by the romance. If you are denied promotions, work assignments, or merit increases because of a workplace romance, you should consider raising the issue with Human Resources.

With 50% of employees saying that they have engaged in a workplace romance, it is probably safe to assume that workplace romances are here to stay. The question is what will your career be like after your workplace romance. Your career need not be lost if you follow a few simple rules before you start your romance.

Shalanda Ballard is an employment defense attorney who has practiced in all facets of employment litigation. Ms. Ballard was named in the National Register’s Who’s Who and in Law & Politics Magazine as a Rising Star. She has spoken at continuing legal education conferences and employment law seminars. Ms. Ballard writes an Employee Rights blog at http://www.employeerightsblog.net.

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Most of us have worked for a dickhead boss at one time or another.  You can be a good employee and follow the rules, but short of duct taping him to a desk and getting all Dick Cheney on his fat ass with a rubber hose, there isn’t anything you can do about his nasty personality…until now.

You can get total and complete legal revenge on him if you arm yourself with something he and the HR department hopes you never learn – employment law.  I’m not talking about taking night classes to become a lawyer.  I’m talking about arming yourself with tips and tricks to legally land his ass in hot water and there won’t be a damn thing he can do about it.

As an employee, state and federal employment laws protect you from discrimination, harassment, retaliation and more.  Remember that boring crap you skipped over in the employee manual?  The stuff about sexual harassment, racial and disability discrimination, religious beliefs, etc.  Yea, that stuff.  Well, it all works in your favor because what’s in that employee manual also applies to management.  And it’s super sweet when his fat ass is parked in the hot seat just to the right of the judge’s bench while the jury listens to your attorney explain how your boss not only violated federal law, but disregarded his own company’s policies and ethical standards.  Juries LOVE getting their hands on guys like him.

I worked for a Fortune 500 company that back in the day had 120,000 employees.  They were adamant about following the book with regards to all that legal stuff.  They shoved it down our throats with mandatory training on the stuff.  Funny thing is, management had a way of feeling a wee bit superior to all of it and got away with some pretty dirty treatment of the people under them.

Long story short, I got laid off over two years ago and after the fact, I ran across an ebook called Work Laws Exposed.  It’s written by an employment law attorney who all too well understands how management and your very co-workers try to skirt the laws and hope the don’t get caught.  If I had that book while I was still employed, oh my GOD!  Heads would have rolled.  I read that book non-stop from cover to cover because I couldn’t believe what I was reading.  Every chapter I read was like “Oh man!  They did that to me!”  Or, “I can’t believe that’s illegal.  I never knew that.”  It was a eye opening read.

Ever single employee in the U.S. NEEDS a copy of Work Laws Exposed and they need it before trouble begins so you can position yourself to strike back when the crap hits the fan at work.  It’s imperative that you start right now when the workplace seas are calm, especially if you’re getting good performance reviews.  You need to establish that baseline because when things go south, you’ll have proof that you were the model employee.

Work Laws Exposed will teach you how to postition yourself so you can’t be fired.  You’ll be a bulletproof employee.  Get Work Laws Exposed here.  It’s an instant download so you’ll have it in just a few minutes.  Then print it out and read it as soon as you can.  It will be a revelation.  Trust me.

Getting Even With Your Boss For Not Following The Rules

This is one of my favorite, sneakiest ways to get even with a pissy boss – the company’s own employee manual.  It can be used as ammunition against your boss because even the boss man — or boss bitch — must follow the rules.

Chances are better than none if you were given a company employee manual when you were hired, you stuffed it in the bottom drawer of your desk and never looked at it again.  Well, it’s time to get it out.  If you don’t have one, go to HR and get it.  Then take it home and read it.  I know.  It’s boring as hell and the rules are unfair and a bit Gestapo-like.  Often times employee manuals overstate what’s required by law, sort of a “we really mean it so you better not try doing any of this crap”.  In being “so complete” they may be hanging themselves.  Cool!  Embrace it because you may be able to spin them around to work in your favor. 

The key to reading and enjoying it — yes, I did say enjoying it — is to pretend your going on an Easter egg hunt.  Many bosses don’t know their own company policies and procedures and you’re going to make turn that disadvantage into your advantage.  If the manager fails to follow what is outlined in those company rules, it can be held against him.  Hunt down as many of those violations as you can.  Your goal is to turn the rules around and to one day use them against your manager to prove he’s vindictive and out to get you and violated company policy to do it.

Here’s an example:  Your manager says “you have to clock in my 7:00 am or you’ll be fired, but there is no such thing listed in the employee manual.  Even though company policy is not employment law, in court it will make your manager look like he’s out to get you and can show purposeful, discriminatory intent. 

If the manager takes some sort of action and it violates company policy, make sure you document what happened.  Keep records of his violations with the who, what, where, when, and why.  Keep a diary and keep it off site and at home.  Do it on your computer if you have one.  Just open up a Word document and make your entry.  Then print out a hard copy and stick it in a binder.  Wouldn’t hurt to back it up on an SD card or USB thumb drive, too.

Back in the day when I was working, my company manual said we were all part of the same team.  We were required to work together as such and to treat each other with respect.  One day I was starting a new project.  It was a massive software conversion from client/server applications to web based.  I received an email from my boss saying to give it my best shot.  He had confidence in me because I’ve done conversions twice before, but never to web based.  So he said if I ever need help with some of the web stuff to go ask “Skank”.  Obviously, that’s not her real name, but she was one.

So nearing the very end of the project that had gone on for about a year, in my annual evaluation my boss said that I was pawning off work on her.  I was livid.  I had single handedly completed that project by myself and only went to her when I was truly having problems with the web stuff, but never to do the work, only to get guidance. 

I had years and years of excellent reviews with large raises and bonuses, then suddenly I got a “needs improvement”.  Funny thing is, it was also after having a new director who didn’t like me.  There was also a pattern of laying off the women in the company.  I was being squeezed out.  They were looking for a way to get rid of me.  It was just one of many, many incidences.

Had I known all I know today from reading Work Laws Exposed, I would NOT have signed on the dotted line for that enhanced severance package when I got laid off.  Instead, I would have gone straight to the EEOC and filed discrimination, disability harassment, and retaliation complaints.  But I didn’t know.  I had no idea I could get even.  When I read Work Laws Exposed it was like reading my own employment history.  The things my company got away with for all those years were illegal and they knew it.  That’s why they made me agree not to sue them if they gave me that severance package.

Even if you have the slightest gut feeling that something’s going down at work, but you don’t know what to do about it, I urge you to get Work Laws Exposed.

Disclaimer: I am not an attorney and I am not providing legal advice. This article is being provided for information and should not be relied on.

The time to start building a case against your boss is before trouble happens. One of the best ways to do this is with documentation. It can give you a gold mine of hard, cold, physical proof of wrong doing.

I’m sure you’ve heard it before, never say anything in an email that you wouldn’t say in public. Bosses are no exception and they get sloppy with what they put in writing. Often times your boss is pissed off and makes threats without first thinking it through. Emails can be full of knee-jerk reactions and bad blood when tempers are flaring — illegal, discriminating things. The types of things that make the company attorneys cringe.

The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly…

…but not necessarily in that order.

The Ugly

I say let those bosses have their rants like the sissy little girls they are, but never stoop down to their level by replying back with something you shouldn’t be saying in an email. Keep your cool because it can come back to bite you or hopefully your boss, in this case. Why? Because you’re going to save that vile email for future use as an email can show criminal intent in court. Forward the email off-site to your own private email account, not your work email.

Before hastily replying to one of these emails with a knee-jerk reaction of your own, take some time to think your response through, overnight if necessary. Play nice. Always write as if it will be publicly viewed. When you do reply, bcc your private email account so you have a record of it.

The Good

However, there is also a very important flip side to this. You must also document the good emails, the ones that praise you and pat you on the back for a job well done. You want to establish that you are a good employee. It’s also going to be critical in helping to pinpoint where the wheels fell off the cart.

The Bad

Even the bad emails need to be saved. The ones that show where your boss chastised you for screwing up. Your boss may bring it up in court in an attempt to show that you can’t do your job. Not to worry because you’re also going to document where you fixed the problem and show that it was a one-time occurrence, rather than a pattern of neglect and incompetence.