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Jason Tremblay authors Inside Counsel article, “5 ways to protect your company when a key employee departs”

E. Jason Tremblay

Arnstein & Lehr Partner E. Jason Tremblay authored the article, “5 ways to protect your company when a key employee departs,” which appeared in the January 23 edition of Inside Counsel. In the article, he stresses the importance for all companies to know what steps to take when an employee decides to [...]

Improper Use of Criminal Background Information in Making Hiring Decisions Can Land an Employer in Hot Water!

Lori Adelson

Employers must be mindful of how they use criminal background information in making hiring decisions to avoid liability for failing to hire an applicant. Employers may not simply reject an applicant solely because they have an arrest record and/or “criminal” history. Rather, the employer must consider the impact of a conviction on the [...]

Jason Tremblay authors Inside Counsel article, “7 ways to protect your company when hiring from a competitor”

E. Jason Tremblay

Arnstein & Lehr Partner E. Jason Tremblay authored the article, “7 ways to protect your company when hiring from a competitor,” which appeared in the January 9 edition of Inside Counsel. In the article Mr. Tremblay recommends, when hiring a competitor’s employee, that a company should take certain steps to reduce the [...]

Jason Tremblay authors, “Developing formal orientation programs for new employees”

E. Jason Tremblay

As it appeared in Inside Counsel

Orientation programs help to maximize employees’ commitment to the company.

To the extent you believe there is any relationship between an employee’s commitment to the company and the company’s performance, a new employee orientation program is an excellent first step in maximizing that correlation and getting the most [...]

Minimum Wage in Florida Set to Increase

E. Jason Tremblay

Effective January 1, 2012, the minimum wage in the State of Florida will increase from $7.31 to $7.67 per hour. Minimum wage for tipped employees, such as waiters and waitresses, will increase from $4.29 to $4.65 per hour. This $0.36 per hour increase comes on the coattails of a previous minimum wage [...]

Mark Spognardi writes Employers’ Summer of Discontent: Obama Labor Board pushes anti-employer agenda

Mark A. Spognardi

Arnstein & Lehr Partner Mark Spognardi recently wrote the article, “Employers’ Summer of Disconnect: Obama Labor Board pushes anti-employer agenda,” which appeared in the September 20 issue of the Westlaw Journal. In the article Mr. Spognardi discusses how the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) has had a busy summer proposing and implementing [...]

Is an employee posting to a social media site a protected activity under the NLRA?

David S. Wayne

In today’s day and age, when social media and networking have become an everyday occurrence, legal issues continue to arise.  One such recent issue that has reared its head before the National Labor Relations Board is whether postings by employees on social media sites such as Facebook are protected activities under the scope [...]

Are Certain Forms of Discrimination Based Upon Sexual Orientation Prohibited By Title VII?

Title VII

Although federal law does not directly prohibit discrimination based upon sexual orientation, a recent decision from the Southern District Court of Florida illustrates how an employee may be able to state a claim under Title VII for discrimination based upon sexual orientation if the alleged discriminatory conduct was based upon the employee’s failure [...]

IRS Creates A Form Affidavit For Payroll Tax Exemption Under The Hire Act

HIRE Act Payroll Tax Exemption

In conjunction with the recently-passed Hiring Incentives to Restore Employment (“HIRE”) Act, the Internal Revenue Service (“IRS”) just issued a form Employee Affidavit that employers can use to claim a payroll tax exemption.  You can view and print out the form affidavit at: http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/fw11.pdf

As we detailed in our earlier posting [...]

New Bill Would Alter Non-Compete Law in Illinois

Illinois General Assembly considers Illinois Not to Compete Act

Illinois businesses should be aware that Illinois House Bill 4923 would radically alter the law regarding non-competition agreements in Illinois by creating the Illinois Not to Compete Act.  This Act would restrict the enforceability of non-competition agreements in several key respects and create numerous rebuttable presumptions [...]