Overview of Potential HR Employer Violations

Intro: [00:00:01] Broadcasting from the studios of Business RadioX, it’s time for Advisory Insights. Brought to you by Oberman Law Firm, serving clients nationwide with tailored service and exceptional results. Now, here’s your host.

Stuart Oberman: [00:00:19] Welcome everyone to Advisory Insights Podcast. I am your host, Stuart Oberman.

Stuart Oberman: [00:00:25] Well, you know, for those that know me, I tell you, we do a lot of H.R. as a firm. We see a lot of problems locally, nationally, regionally, globally on H.R. violations. So, I want to talk a little bit about H.R. violations, really an overview of potential H.R. employer violations. That is such a wide area. I mean, we’re talking about employment law. We’re talking about State, Federal regulatory issues. We’re talking about EEOC. And we’re talking about audits. We’re talking about, you know, employee complaints.

Stuart Oberman: [00:00:57] So, what I want to do is to just talk about a couple of things top of mind that can really get you into trouble. And I’ll tell you, we see a lot of these areas of concern that can really, really be avoided. But it’s going to take some soul searching. It’s going to take some drilling down. It’s going to take some hard decisions. Look, you can’t turn a ship around overnight. You’ve got to make small steps.

Stuart Oberman: [00:01:23] And if you do anything on these podcast, it’s take a look at what we’re talking about and apply it to what you have, whether you’re a health care practice, whether you are a startup, whether you are a billion dollar construction company. It doesn’t matter, the same law applies. So, let’s take a look at some of the most common ways that we feel that employers violate the law.

Stuart Oberman: [00:01:47] It this Great Resignation world that we’re in, our employers use prohibited questions during job interviews. You have to be very, very careful. And we’re going to cover this in future podcasts. So, a lot of these areas we’re going to expand upon, but we’re just going to have top of mind issues. Job interviews, questions, are you prepared? The answer is probably not. Are your candidates recording your conversations? You bet they are.

Stuart Oberman: [00:02:21] So, one of the things that we take a look at also is not allowing employees, depending on the size of the business, a lot of ramifications of employees discuss their pay. Now, we’re looking at National Labor Relations Board issues. So, yeah, the National Labor Relations Board, you bet, will apply to small businesses.

Stuart Oberman: [00:02:42] Overtime, one of the biggest, biggest errors that our employers get in trouble with are overtime. And I say this all the time when I speak, when I talk, overtime is a lot of things. You’re working 40 hours a week, so you’re texting your employees after hours. Yeah, that’s overtime. Your emailing your staff, overtime, yeah. You’re calling your office manager, depending on where they’re located at, if they make $100,000 hours or more, they are still subject to overtime. You’ve got to be careful with this. We’re going to take a look at some of the issues coming forward also.

Stuart Oberman: [00:03:17] Huge issue, independent contractor versus employee. The IRS loves these kind of reviews. Key, are you controlling a time, place, and manner? That’s a whole topic for discussion on employee versus independent contractor. It is very tough to win that argument. It is very tough to win an audit on that.

Stuart Oberman: [00:03:37] So, one thing, this great, great social media world that we live in, are you disciplining your employees who are complaining about you – small, medium, large company – on social media? Do you have restrictions? Are you following them on social media? Are you looking for things that they’re saying about you?

Stuart Oberman: [00:04:07] How to prevent also a hostile work environment, and I’m talking about gender neutral. I’m talking about harassment. I’m talking about all forms of harassment, bullying. I can’t believe what some of our clients tell us happens in their employment situations. I’m talking about Title VII violations. I’m talking about sexual orientation issues. I’m talking about gender identity. I’m talking about religion. I’m talking about race, color, national origin. These are all the things that occur on a hostile work environment that are a violation of Federal Law.

Stuart Oberman: [00:04:45] Look, I could probably take any one of these topics and discuss an hour on them. Again, what do we do with Advisory Insights Podcast? What are we doing? We’re taking the high level topics with a 10,000 foot view and are you looking at these particular areas. Six, seven, eight areas, are you looking at them? Again, short, sweet bullet point topics that we could talk an hour on. That’s the goal on Advisory Insights Podcast. That’s what we want to do. We want to take things at a very high level, apply it to what you’re looking at, whether you’re, again, small, startup. Are you looking at these things?

Stuart Oberman: [00:05:24] We’re going to continue talking about these things in greater detail. We’re going to continue talking about what affects our employers on a regional, national, local basis – excuse me – global basis. I want to talk about also some of these things on future podcasts. And, also, don’t forget, we also cover these on our newsletter, Advisory Insights. If you want to get a copy of our newsletter, please let us know.

Stuart Oberman: [00:05:49] Folks, thank you very much for joining us on our Advisory Insights Podcast. Please visit us at advisoryinsightspodcast.com. If you want to reach me, please feel free to call the office, 770-886-2400 or visit Oberman Law Firm, obermanlawfirm.com, or send me an email, stuart, S-T-U-A-R-T, @obermanlaw.com.

Stuart Oberman: [00:06:14] Thank you, everyone for listening to us. Keep listening to our podcast. If you have any questions, let me know. Have a fantastic day, everyone. Thank you.

Outro: [00:06:24] Thank you for joining us on Advisory Insights. This show is brought to you by Oberman Law Firm, a business-centric law firm representing local, regional, and national clients in a wide range of practice areas, including health care, mergers and acquisitions, corporate transactions, and regulatory compliance.