A Minnesota employer may require its employees, as a condition of employment, to submit to a drug and alcohol test under certain circumstances.242 All employees performing the same job must be subject to the drug and alcohol test. There must be a written policy which contains information required by the Minnesota drug testing statute. Each…
MINNESOTA LAW For more information, see When Can an Employer Give a Pre-Employment Physical? A Minnesota employer may require an applicant, as a condition of hire, to submit to a pre- employment physical exam, which may include a medical history, if: The applicant (except for certain peace officer applicants) has first received an offer of…
Is An Alcoholic Employee (or Drug Addicted Employee) Protected? An individual with alcoholism or a drug addiction is protected under the Minnesota Human Rights Act as a “qualified disabled person” if he or she can, with reasonable accommodation, perform the essential functions of the job in question and does not constitute a direct threat to…
Dealing With Alcoholic Employees Or Drug Abuse In The Workplace Do you have an employee with a substance abuse problem? Perhaps your employee is an alcoholic? Are you wondering what actions you can take? Dealing with employee drug abuse, an alcoholic employee, or other work-related substance abuse issues can be a tricky for employers. The…
This section discusses all pre-employment tests other than physical examinations and drug and alcohol tests. Under current law, a Minnesota employer may require an applicant to take a non- medical pre-employment test before the applicant receives a job offer. Such a pre-employment test must not be given for the purpose of discriminating against any protected…
Employers hiring certain types of employees are required by law to perform background checks. For example, employers hiring security guards are required to check their backgrounds with the Bureau of Criminal Apprehension, and employers hiring certain counselors are required to check their references for evidence of sexual contact with patients or former patients. (See footnote…
Before an individual is actually hired, a company that contracts with the government should consider what effect the hiring will have on its affirmative action obligations to recruit and advance qualified minorities, women, persons with disabilities and covered veterans. Federal, state and local laws each have different criteria for compliance with their respective affirmative action…
Employers should be especially careful in their representations when recruiting someone who must move or is not actively seeking a change of employment. Detrimental reliance on such representations by an applicant who moves or quits an existing job can form the basis of an implied contract. In addition, it is unlawful for an employer to…
When interviewing a prospective job applicant, the employer should only ask questions which reasonably relate to the job in question. The employer should not request information that is not job-related and must not ask questions that might reveal an applicant’s protected status. If discriminatory questions are asked or discussed during an interview, the employer may…
The employer must review the employment application carefully. In order to determine whether all the questions asked are appropriate, consider whether the information requested is reasonably related to the job for which the applicant is applying. For example, does the employer really need to know whether an applicant for a custodian position has a driver’s…
If the employer needs to advertise for a position, it should choose the wording it uses in an advertisement carefully. Employers should avoid ambiguous or misleading language which may imply an illegal bias toward any particular group of applicants. It is a violation of the Minnesota Human Rights Act to disclose a preference in an…
When an employee is hired in Minnesota, unless the employer and the employee enter into an oral or written employment agreement or a collective bargaining agreement specifying otherwise, that employee is employed “at-will,” which means the employer can discharge the employee at any time for any lawful reason and the employee can quit at any…
This and any related posts are designed to be an employment law resource for Minnesota business owners. Before delving into the law surrounding the employment relationship, however, the business owner must determine whether the individuals it has retained to perform services are employees or independent contractors. Business owners who use independent contractors may think they…
The following posts will cover the hiring process in Minnesota including: The Employment Relationship Hiring in General Advertising for Employment in Minnesota The Employment Application – The Application Process, Disclaimers Interviewing Out of Town and Recruited Candidates Affirmative Action in Minnesota Background Checks Pre-Employment Testing Pre-Employment Physical Examinations Drug and Alcohol Testing of Applicants Offer…
Independent Contractors In The Trucking And Messenger/Courier Industries This post is part of a series of posts on common issues Minnesota employers face. Minn. Stat. 176.043, effective August 1, 2009, lays out the criteria for when an operator in the trucking and messenger/courier industry is considered an employee or an independent contractor. There are seven…
This post is part of a series of posts on common issues Minnesota employers face. Independent Contractors In The Construction Industry Minn. Stat. 181.723, requires individuals (not corporations, LLCs or partnerships) who work as independent contractors in public or private commercial or residential building construction to obtain from the Minnesota Department of Labor and Industry…
Independent Contractors This post is part of a series of posts on common issues Minnesota employers face. Persons who follow an independent trade, business or profession in which they offer their services to the general public usually are considered independent contractors and not employees. However, whether such persons are employees or independent contractors depends on…
Statutory Employees This post is part of a series of posts on common issues Minnesota employers face. Even if a worker is not an employee under common law rules, he or she may be considered an employee for certain statutory purposes, such as FICA (Social Security and Medicare) tax, federal and state unemployment insurance taxes,…
Common Law Employees This post is part of a series of posts on common issues Minnesota employers face. Under common law rules, courts balance a number of factors to determine whether an employer- employee relationship exists. The employer‘s right to control the manner and means of performing the work is the most important factor distinguishing…
Issues for Minnesota Employers: Who Is An Employee in Minnesota? The next several posts will discuss different types of workers, including: Common Law Employees Statutory Employees Independent Contractors Independent Contractors In The Construction Industry Independent Contractors In The Trucking And Messenger/Courier Industries In General Many laws affecting the worker/employment relationship will require the business owner…
When an employee leaves to compete with an employer, employer’s have a number of legal rights and options. The Problem: Employees Leave and then Compete with Their Former Employer One problem many employers face is employees who leave the company and then compete with the employer. Typically, a valuable employee will think to herself, “I…
When a business starts hiring employees, business owners often become concerned about their employees’ online activity. Concerns may include some of these: illegal online conduct (such as copyright infringement by illegally downloading music and movies, which can result in legal consequences), online pornography or sexually inappropriate materials, defamatory (libel and slander) comments posted on websites…
Last week, the U.S. House of Representatives passed H.R. 2857 to limit the power of the National Labor Relations Board from ordering any employer to close, relocate, or transfer employment under any circumstance. H.R. 2587 “Protecting Jobs from Government Interference Act” The bill amends the National Labor Relations Act to deny the NLRB any power…
Retirement Benefit Plans Retirement benefit plans include qualified employee benefit plans, nonexempt trusts and annuity plans, self-employed retirement plans, indiv idual retirement arrangements, and simplified employee pension plans. The tax treatment of contributions to these plans is highly technical; also there are frequent changes in tax laws that affect the treatment of those contributions. A…
Fringe Benefits Fringe benefits include items such as accident and health insurance, medical savings accounts, group term life insurance, salary continuation plans, reimbursements for educational expenses, dental insurance, death benefits, day care programs, supplemental unemployment benefits, “cafeteria plan” programs, and others. As with employee retirement benefit plans, the tax treatment of fringe benefits is a…
Wages for employees are covered by both Federal and state wage and hour laws. The federal law that governs wage and overtime requirements is the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) and the regulations established under that act. In most cases, the FSLA does not require employers to pay minimum wage or overtime to employees who…
Most workers who are paid an hourly wage and work more than 40 hours in a 7-day work week must be paid overtime. When paying overtime, a business must pay at least one and one-half times the worker’s regular hourly rate. Generally, employers cannot provide “comp” pay instead of paying overtime. For those employers not…
The federal Family Medical Leave Act (FMLA) provides “eligible” employees up to 12 weeks of medical leave to take care of their own medical needs and those of certain family members. The FMLA also provides eligible employees up to 26 weeks of leave in the case of a family member who is an injured service…
The federal Family Medical Leave Act (FMLA) provides that if an employer violates the FMLA, the employee may be entitled to “liquidated damages”. Liquidated damages are in essence a penalty, are in addition to actual damages and are calculated as an amount equal to: Wages, salary, employment benefits or other compensation denied or lost to…
I am often asked whether an employer can fire an employee that is out on medical leave. Under the federal Family Medical Leave Act (FMLA), an employee who is eligible for leave under the FMLA is entitled to up to 12 weeks of medical leave. During the time the employee is on leave, he or…