Category: Employment Law
Is Your Employment Lawyer Readily Accessible?
October 6, 2021 | Barna, Guzy & Steffen, Ltd.
Employment law has never been more complicated than it is right now. Every termination, request for leave, on-the-job injury, interview, offer of employment, and complaint has its own set of landmines for employers. Regardless of company size and number of employees, being an employer and navigating the complex world of employment law has become a real challenge. Employers, and even their skilled human resources teams, sometimes need legal advice and opinions to avoid potential costly mistakes in handling employee issues. Continue reading to learn more about my experience with employment lawyer accessibility. I represent a wide variety of employers, ranging in size from thousands to only a handful, and everything in between. The one thing they have in common is that if they employ people, they will need sound, practical legal advice at some point. Many employers need advice regularly because of the complexity of the issues while making employment decisions. Employment advice and consultations are all about controlling the risk while making the best decision for the company. For example, most employees in the State of Minnesota are “employees at will.” This means they can be fired for any reason or no reason at all. But that is not where the analysis ends, because even employees who are “at will” cannot be fired for a discriminatory…
Read MoreBusiness Owners: Think Twice Before Gifting Stock to Employees
September 24, 2021 | Carole Clark Isakson
I receive regular calls from small business owners that want to show appreciation to their hardworking employees by gifting shares in the company. Sometimes, the goal is to incentivize an employee to work harder and in other cases, the employer hopes to keep the employee long-term and feels the gift will help with this. I generally dissuade these owners from share transfers and suggest other ways to bonus employees based on profits. Why? Because an owner of shares, no matter how small, has rights in the company that can cause issues for the well-meaning employer. Minority shareholders in Minnesota have a variety of rights. For instance, minority shareholders in privately held corporations have the right to request and examine the share register, the records of all shareholders, and board proceedings over the past three years. This includes all articles, amendments, bylaws currently in effect, certain financial statements, reports made to shareholders within the last three years, names and business addresses of all directors and principal officers, voting trust agreements, shareholder control agreements, and other types of agreements. While providing these documents may not be difficult, many employers would rather not share this information. When an employee comes to their employer, and owns a share in the company, this information must be provided. In…
Read MoreRemote Workers and Foreign Business Registration
July 14, 2021 | Carole Clark Isakson
Flexible and remote working was tested on a massive scale at the onset of COVID-19 sheltering restrictions approximately 15 months ago. It appears to have been largely successful and may have a permanent impact on how and where we work. Read our blog as we discuss the impact of remote workers on foreign business registration. The positive impact of working remotely Many media outlets have suggested that the ability to work remotely is a very important amenity to the majority of Millennial and Generation Z members. Other proponents cite the desire to live in a more affordable location, or to save on commute times and transportation related costs, or even to reduce their carbon footprint. Employers may find that allowing workers to work remotely improves retention and provides a greater pool of qualified employees to fill job openings. Parameters for multi-state employment If you employ people who reside in another state, you may need to register to do business in that state as well. Each state has its own parameters indicating what “doing business” in a state means, so make sure you know the rules. One interesting website, with which we have no affiliation, is https://www.makemymove.com. This site lists cities that offer cash incentives to workers who relocate. Some cities require that to…
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