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Minnesota Client Alert
Legal News for Minnesota Employers
January 2016
ProposedFive Essential New Year Resolutions Every Employer Should Have for 2016
With the new year underway there are a number of resolutions employers of all sizes and industries should act on if they wish to avoid winding up in the crosshairs of governmental workplace watchdogs.  Here are 5 highly recommended areas deserving of employers' immediate attention:
 
1.   Avoiding "joint employer" status and liability under newly adopted federal agency standards -  Read more...

2.     Ensuring those regarded as "independent contractors" are not employees, again, under recent federal 
standards -  Read more...

3.  Thoroughly preparing for anticipated DOL changes to exempt vs. nonexempt status and the explosion of rest and meal break wage/hour claims -  Read more...

4.   Becoming politically active to oppose an onslaught of proposed anti-business legislation and regulation (2016 is, after all, an election year) -  Read more... 

5.  Updating employee handbooks or policies, especially any that are 2 years or older; chances are they are seriously outdated -  Read more...

Most employers know that questioning an applicant about being pregnant or refusing to hire an applicant because she is pregnant or planning a family, are unlawful practices.  Mindful of the law, employers sometimes feel hoodwinked when an applicant does not disclose her pregnancy until  after  receiving a job offer or shortly after she is hired.  Having just hired someone to fill a workplace need, hearing that the new hire is pregnant can raise concerns over whether she may soon be needing maternity leave, or a medical leave even sooner if there are any complications with the pregnancy. Yet these scenarios are fraught with legal perils these days.  Although a new employee would not be eligible for FMLA leave, state and federal pregnancy discrimination statutes apply, as well as disability laws and more.  Large employers may be better able to tolerate unanticipated absences of newly hired employees, but for smaller employers these situations can pose a real dilemma, as demonstrated by a recent Minnesota state court case. 

The Minnesota Supreme Court recently ruled, in  Ford v. Minneapolis Public Schools , that lawsuits under the Minnesota Whistleblower Act (MWA) are subject to a 6 year statute of limitations.  The MWA prohibits employers from discriminating against employees for engaging in a number of activities related to reporting, refusing to engage in, or participating in investigations of suspected violations of the law.  Accordingly, lawsuits claiming "whistleblower" violations often involve allegations that an employee reported, either internally or externally, to authorities, that her/his employer was violating the law and the employer retaliated against the employee for making the report.  The state legislature did not include any deadline for employees to bring claims under the MWA, so the courts were left to fashion one.  As a result of the Ford decision, whereas many claims for employment discrimination or retaliation must be brought within 300 days under federal law (Title VII, ADA, ADEA), and within one year under the Minnesota Human Rights Act (MHRA), employees have a full 6 years to bring whistleblower claims! What should employers do to protect themselves?    


To read Mr. Sherman's article, click on this link to the State Bar Association's Blog: Voices
Check out Fortune Magazine where Wessels Sherman is listed for a fourth straight year in the 2016 Martindale- Hubbell ®   Top Ranked Law Firms  in the country! The Fortune article notes: "The firms featured in this section vary in practice, but all share the distinction of being staffed with attorneys of the highest caliber." We are proud to say that our clients agree!