Rise in EEOC Charges
by Sharon P. Morgan and Sean M. Libby
While the number of private sector charges of discrimination filed with the EEOC dipped slightly last year, the recent trend has been overwhelmingly up. The 93,277 charges filed in FY 2009 was the second most in 20 years, trailing only 2008. In an effort to curtail the growing inventory of charges, the EEOC hired 125 new investigators in FY 2009, most of whom are already in the field. This new crop of investigators can mean only one thing: more investigations.
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Possible Changes with Restrictive Covenants
by Adriana R. Midence
On April 29, 2009, Governor Sonny Perdue signed House Bill 173 ("HB 173"), which would amend Georgia law regarding the enforcement of restrictive covenants. As most employers know, Georgia law is notoriously hostile to restrictive covenants. In particular, Georgia law prohibits the enforcement of any restrictive covenant lacking a strict limitation as to duration, territory and scope, yet offers conflicting guidance as to how strict is strict enough. Further compounding the issue for employers, Georgia law prohibits Courts from "blue-penciling" or modifying overbroad restrictive covenants to make them enforceable. As a result, employers are left in the unenviable position of having to predict whether a Court will view their restrictive covenant as sufficiently narrow and reasonable, knowing that, if their prediction is wrong, a Court will completely invalidate their restrictive covenants.
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Is That an Employee or an Independent Contractor?
Why It Matters and Why You Should Care
by David C. Whitlock
Worker misclassification is an all too frequent problem and can have grave consequences. Because the worker classification issue has genuine tax ramifications, federal and state regulators view misclassification liability as an important revenue source in a down economy.
What is misclassification? In simple terms, misclassification occurs when an employer deems a worker to be an independent contractor despite the fact that the worker meets common law or statutory definitions of “employee.” Unscrupulous employers may knowingly make this error in order to save money otherwise remitted to the government as taxes. Unfortunately, because employment in the construction industry is often transient and temporary, many employers unwittingly misclassify workers.
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Building Your Network: Social Networking Tips
by Douglas J. Miller
1. Be sure to include electronic communication policies in your employee handbooks and training materials. Such policies should address, at a minimum, postings on company-sponsored websites, blogs and social media networks both at and away from work. Employers must be careful that such policies are drafted so as not to limit expression that could be considered protected under the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA), a statute many non-union employers fail to realize requires their compliance.
2. Revise your harassment policy to include social networking communications and actions that are prohibited by your company.
3. Managers should not send “friend” requests to subordinates. Additionally, any employee should be allowed to reject a friend request from any other employee without repercussion.
4. Instruct employees not to use the company’s logo, trademark or proprietary graphics, or photographs of the company’s premises or products on social networking sites without prior approval.
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Elarbee Thompson Welcomes New Associates
Jaime L. Duguay
Jaime earned her B.A. from Emory University and her J.D. from New York Law School. She focuses on employment law and specialty lines of insurance defense. In her spare time, Jaime volunteers with the Juvenile Diabetes Research Association (JDRA) and the United Mitochondrial Disease Foundation (UMDF).
Sean M. Libby
Sean is a graduate of University of Georgia, and an Emory Law School graduate, where he was the Notes & Comments Editor of the Emory University Law Review. He represents public and private employers in the area of employment law.
Frederica Joy White
Joy joins Elarbee Thompson with several years of experience in complex litigation as well as employment law. She is a graduate of Vanderbilt University Law School and earned her undergraduate from Spelman College. She is very active in her community, where she has won several Pro Bono Service Awards.
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