Legal Considerations for Managing Employees
Starting your own business is exciting and rewarding. After what might have been years of constantly conforming to someone else's schedule, someone else's values, and someone else's vision, you can finally create your own company culture and help it grow.
As a business owner, there will be a lot of different elements demanding your time, attention, and energy. They will all be important, but perhaps the most critical (and potentially challenging) component will be your employees. There are a lot of different factors that should be considered, both legal and interpersonal, when managing your employees. There are far too many different elements to explore in one single blog post, but the team at the Law Offices of Phillips, McElyea, Carpenter, & Welch, P.C. is here to help make you aware of some of the potential legal implications of managing employees.
U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission
This one may seem like common sense by this time, but you might be surprised how frequently issues relating to the EEOC still arise. Under the EEOC's laws, employers are strictly prohibiting from in any way discriminating against current or prospective employees based on any of the following characteristics:
As a business owner, there will be a lot of different elements demanding your time, attention, and energy. They will all be important, but perhaps the most critical (and potentially challenging) component will be your employees. There are a lot of different factors that should be considered, both legal and interpersonal, when managing your employees. There are far too many different elements to explore in one single blog post, but the team at the Law Offices of Phillips, McElyea, Carpenter, & Welch, P.C. is here to help make you aware of some of the potential legal implications of managing employees.
U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission
This one may seem like common sense by this time, but you might be surprised how frequently issues relating to the EEOC still arise. Under the EEOC's laws, employers are strictly prohibiting from in any way discriminating against current or prospective employees based on any of the following characteristics:
- Age
- Sex (this includes pregnancy)
- Race
- Disability
- Color
- Religion
- National Origin
The laws against discrimination apply to all aspects of employee management, including hiring/firing, wages, promotions, benefits, and more.
Privacy Issues
In most cases, employees have a non-negotiable right to privacy. Unfortunately, what is considered "private" varies based on a lot of different factors, and sometimes it can be hard to discern where the line should be drawn. Here are a two examples of the ways privacy issues can impact business owners and their employees:
- Off-Duty Actions & Behavior
- Even during off-duty hours, your employees are constantly representing your business. Most states allow employers to fire employees if they engage in illegal, inappropriate, or otherwise undesirable conduct while off work. However, these employers will be required to prove that they obtained the information about their employees' actions without violating their right to privacy.
- Personal Appearance & Hygiene
- Employers are typically allowed to set some basic standards for the dress code and the level of hygiene their employees are required to meet, but employers must be careful not to violate their employees' right to privacy.
Thanks to its many exceptions and contingencies, privacy law is as complex as it is vast.
Firing
Firing an employee comes with a lot of emotions, for obvious reasons. Firing an employee is often one of the hardest things business owners or managers ever have to do, as dealing with upset or angry employees can be incredibly challenging. While there are certainly a lot of reasons why employers may want to fire someone, there are some strict rules that limit the circumstances under which employment can legally be terminated. For example, it is illegal to fire someone in the following situations:
- When they have refused to take a lie detector test
- When you are retaliating against them for any reason
- When they complain that the company's standards to not meet OSHA regulations
- When you are discriminating against them in any way (remember the EEOC?)
While employers certainly have a right to remove bad or toxic employees from their company, they must go about it in such a way that does not violate any of these laws about firing.
A Business Attorney Will Be Able To Help You!
No matter what legal situation you may be facing with your employees, it never hurts to consult with an an experienced business attorney at the Lake of the Ozarks before making important decisions. Your attorney will be well-versed in business law in Camden County and will be able to help you avoid making any costly (or worse - illegal) mistakes. Give us a call to learn more!
The choice of a lawyer is an important decision and should not be based solely on advertising. When you need a knowledgeable attorney, we invite you to contact us to set up a consultation. Evening and weekend appointments are available. We have access to interpreters.
Law Offices of Phillips, McElyea, Carpenter, & Welch, P.C.
The choice of a lawyer is an important decision and should not be based solely on advertising. When you need a knowledgeable attorney, we invite you to contact us to set up a consultation. Evening and weekend appointments are available. We have access to interpreters.
We accept Visa, MasterCard, and Discover.
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