|
When you are working to expand your small business, it is important to remember that you must always grant employees the rights they are supposed to be afforded under the guise of state and federal laws. In some cases, employers may not even know that they are violating laws or infringing on a person's rights. Sometimes, they are just trying to be nice or make things easier for both the company and the employee. These mistakes or lapses in judgment can be quite costly. If you are making a lot of changes or bringing a new group of people onto the team, it is a good idea to consult with an employment attorney. One of these legal professionals can review your new policies and ensure you are doing everything in exactly the right way. The following are a few policies that you should ensure are in place that your attorney will be able to explain to you. State laws require that employees give their workers 30-minute lunch breaks and other short breaks during the day, depending upon how long a person works at any given time. You cannot deny your workers these breaks or encourage them to skip them. If you do, you could get sued over the matter. It is up to managers and human resource officers to make sure that all of your employees understand the break system. This ensures that everyone knows how to use their time appropriately. It is also important to know when you should be providing overtime pay and to whom. It is unlawful to let workers put in a certain amount of hours per day or per week without giving them overtime pay. Consult with your company's employment attorney if you are unsure of what the law states and how it pertains to your operation. If you continue to let someone work without adequate pay, you might eventually have to provide back-pay and deal with certain penalties. The aforementioned policies are just a couple of the ones you should review with an employment attorney. Others that are important involve termination, confidentiality agreements, vacation time, and harassment. If an employee can show that you or one of your other employees has treated them unfairly with regards to one of these policies, you could have a lot of legal woes to deal with in the very near future. It's better to get sound advice from your employment attorney before a problem ever arises, rather than trying to work through court proceedings. For information on how to get help from an employment attorney, Portland, Oregon businesses can consult with a legal representative from Bullard Law. For more information, visit: http://bullardlaw.com.
Related Articles -
employment, attorney, portland, oregon,
| 
