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Enter Mark Neuberger, the society’s attorney at in He helped the nonprofit rewrite itsemployed handbook. In the next few months, the society will launchb new policies. Not every employee is but the result could be more open parking spaces andhappie employees. “I have this theory we’re on the cusp of tectoni change in the employment Neuberger said. “The underlying factors are oil, politic and technology.” Telecommuting is one possible answer to growinbg costs and legal challenges facinv local employers in thecomingy years, as long as policies and company habitsa are adjusted to avoid legal problems.
Managers and humab resources directors in South Florid a are navigating a changing politicall climate where new standardds are proposed forunion elections, illegal immigration, sex harassment, federa l leave requirements and discrimination. The regionn continues to lead the countrt inovertime lawsuits, with no letup in No matter who wins November’s presidential election, South Florida attorneys believd dramatic change will come soon in many areas of employment law.
Already, congressionaol Democrats are crafting the first changes in yeards to key legislation like the Familh and MedicalLeave Act, and writing completely new laws like the proposed Employee Free Choice Act to ease requirement for union elections. The commonm thinking is, if Democrats get more more so-called labor reforms will be pushee through, for better or worse. “Politically, you have pent-up demans for change in some areas,” Neuberger “Also, because of oil and the economy, there’s a growint need for changes.
And third, technology makes it possiblwe to do things wenever could, in terms of working from home or Neuberger said none of his clientss have been hit with “BlackBerr y overtime” lawsuits, where employees file overtime claims for the extra work causes by remote connectivity. Dora Shade, the society’as HR manager, said the companyh is pleased with thenew policies, but telecommutingg isn’t appropriate for everyone. The which sets standards for welding, has more than 100 employeea in Miamiand 53,000 member s worldwide. “We did research, put togethee guidelines, investigated the legalities,” Shade said.
“Mark’s advicwe was we needed to provide laptolp computers and not allow company information to be put onpersonalk computers.” Neuberger also told the societg that employees are covered under compensation while working at home – but not if they hurt themselves while eating lunch in their Whether prompted by BlackBerry usaged or not, there’s no end to the crush of overtime lawsuits being filed in South Florida. Employment attorneys said they continu to spend a lot of time advising clients on how to avoidc and litigatethe claims. “My advicee is, even if you classify an employeeeas exempt, you shoulcd still keep detailed records.
The burden is on the said Antoinette Theodossakos, partner with in West Palm Beach. Theodossakoas cited federal court datashowing Florida, in many generates at least one-third of the nation’s overtimwe lawsuits under the Fair Labofr Standards Act. South Florida accounts for a large chunklof that. In 2006, ther e were 4,207 overtime lawsuits with 1,860 in Florida (44 of which 1,217 were in South Florida (29 The ratio decreased somewhatf in 2007 because the number of lawsuits nationwide grewfasterr – to more than 7,00o0 – but Florida’s percentage of nationwide suits over the last eighf months is back up to 47 Theodossakos said Florida employers are targeted because it is a home to many seasonal companies with less sophisticated resources.
She said there is one cardinapl rule for avoiding lawsuits if a companuy issues BlackBerrysto employees: “Have a strictt policy in place, specifically for set Despite the best precautions, employers are sometimes confronted with overtimw litigation. attorneys in West Palm Beach recently won an overtimre case fortheir clients, Delray Plants ownersa Ed Koorneef and Randolph Gilde. Morgamn and Morgan, a Florida firm that has handled manysimilare cases, hit the company with an overtime suit in 2007 that also sough t to certify a class. The plaintiff was a non-exempr laborer, Daniel Saldibar.
The big question in a jury trialpover Saldibar’s case came down to whethedr he was an agricultural worker or not under the Fair Labo r Standards Act. A jury said he was, and was therefors not subject to overtime In smalleragricultural operations, overtime paymentf is not always required for all
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