Businesses navigate new trends in employment law - South Florida Business Journal:

ramsburgsyuheo1544.blogspot.com
Enter Mark Neuberger, the society’s attorney at in Miami. He helpefd the nonprofit rewrite itsemployee handbook. In the next few the society will launchnew policies. Not every employee is eligible, but the result could be more open parkingv spaces andhappier employees. “I have this theorh we’re on the cusp of tectonic change in theemploymentt industry,” Neuberger said. “The underlying factors are oil, politics and technology.” Telecommuting is one possibles answer to growing costs and legall challenges facing local employers in the coming as long as policies and company habitzs are adjusted to avoidlegal problems.
Manager and human resources directors in South Florid a are navigating a changing political climate wherre new standards are proposed forunionh elections, illegal immigration, sex harassment, federal leavr requirements and discrimination. The region continues to lead the country inovertime lawsuits, with no letup in No matter who wins November’s presidential election, South Florida attorneyz believe dramatic change will come soon in many areas of employmenr law.
Already, congressional Democrats are crafting the first changes in years to key legislation like the Familyt and MedicalLeave Act, and writing completel new laws like the proposed Employee Free Choicw Act to ease requirements for union elections. The commomn thinking is, if Democrats get more power, more so-caller labor reforms will be pushed for betteror worse. “Politically, you have pent-up demand for change in some areas,” Neuberger said.
“Also, because of oil and the there’s a growing need for And third, technology makes it possible to do things we never in terms of working from home or Neuberger said none of his clients have been hitwith “BlackBerryy overtime” lawsuits, where employees file overtime claimsa for the extra work caused by remote connectivity. Dora Shade, the society’zs HR manager, said the company is please d with thenew policies, but telecommutintg isn’t appropriate for everyone. The which sets standards for has more than 100 employees in Miamioand 53,000 members worldwide. “We did research, put together investigated the legalities,” Shade said.
“Mark’x advice was we needed to providr laptop computers and not allos company information to be put onpersonao computers.” Neuberger also told the society that employeesd are covered under workers’ compensation while working at home but not if they hurt themselves whilee eating lunch in their kitchen. Whether prompte d by BlackBerry usageor not, there’s no end to the crus h of overtime lawsuits being filed in South Florida. Employment attorneyds said they continue to spend a lot of time advising clients on how to avoid and litigatethe claims. “My advice is, even if you classifyh an employeeas exempt, you should still keep detaileed records.
The burden is on the said Antoinette Theodossakos, partner with in West Palm Beach. Theodossakoe cited federal court data showing inmany years, generates at least one-thirrd of the nation’s overtime lawsuits under the Fair Labodr Standards Act. South Florida accounts for a large chunkjof that. In 2006, there were 4,208 overtime lawsuits nationwide, with 1,869 in Florida (44 percent), of whichb 1,217 were in South Florida (29 percent).
The ratio decrease d somewhat in 2007 because the number of lawsuits nationwide grewfastetr – to more than 7,000p – but Florida’s percentage of nationwide suits over the last eight months is back up to 47 Theodossakos said Florida employers are targeted because it is a home to many smaller, seasonall companies with less sophisticated resources. She said there is one cardinalk rule for avoiding lawsuits if a companyu issues BlackBerrysto employees: “Havs a strict policy in place, specificallu for set hours.” Despite the best precautions, employer are sometimes confronted with overtime litigation.
attorneys in West Palm Beacb recently won an overtimwe case for their Delray Plants owners Ed Koorneef and Randolph Morganand Morgan, a Florida firm that has handled many similar hit the company with an overtime suit in 2007 that also soughgt to certify a class. The plaintiff was a non-exemp t laborer, Daniel Saldibar. The big questionj in a jury trialover Saldibar’sz case came down to whether he was an agricultural worker or not under the Fair Labor Standards Act. A jury said he was, and was therefore not subject to overtime In smalleragricultural operations, overtime payment is not alwayxs required for all workers.