A. Employment Info and Insight

"Master a trade, and God will provide."
Midrash (Jewish Book of Biblical Interpretation)

i. The Employment Relation

1. QA 1: Employee or Contractor: Do I Have a Choice?
2. QA 2: Employment Living Restrictions: Must they be uniformly applied?
3. QA 3: “If I’m ‘at will’ and therefore can leave my job whenever I want to, what effect does that have on an agreement I signed that I would repay monies if I left before 12 months?”
4. QA 4: “Is it a conflict of interest if I work in the same place as my son, and I cover a shift for him?
5. QA 5: “Can I get fired for refusing to work on the weekends?”
6. QA 6: “What should I expect after ‘re-badging?’”
7. QA 7: “My new job is not the promised job. What do I do?”
8. QA 8: “Does an independent contractor have a duty of loyalty?”
9. QA 9: “How should an employer treat an employee who works for a competitor?”

ii. Employee Rights

1. NL 1: Want to See Your HR File? Here’s How
2. NL 2: “Who Owns The ‘Creative Things’ You Produce At Work?”
3. QA 1: “Injured while skiing at a Company Conference – Am I Eligible for Workers’ Compensation? What should I do?”
4. QA 2: “Two questions about what happens when an employer declares bankruptcy – one from Oregon (U.S.), one from Ontario (Canada)”
5. QA 3: “Do employees have a ‘Right to Quit’?”
6. QA 4: “Does federal law give me a right to send out resumes while working for my employer?”
7. QA 5: “Does a former employee have a legal right to see her former employer’s Employee Handbook?”
8. QA 6: “Do I have any recourse if my job responsibilities, and income, are taken from me without notice?”
9. QA 7: “How long do employers have to retain personnel records to make them available to ex-employees in Massachusetts?”
10. QA 8: “Can I trust Human Resources to keep things confidential?”
11. QA 9: “Do employees have a right of free speech?”

iii. Can my employer do that . . .?

1. QA 1: “Two Jobs Combined into One: Is that Legal?”
2. QA 2: “Is it an invasion of privacy if incidents involving employees are reported company-wide, including employees’ names?”
3. QA 3: “Can an employer require that you state your intentions about whether you will stay with the company?”
4. QA 4: “Can my employer change its attendance policy any way it wants to?”
5. QA 5: “Can my former employer claim to be the author of a magazine article I wrote as part my duties?”
6. QA 6: “Can an employer require you get its prior approval for a side job or a side business?”
7. QA 7: “Can I be forced to take a flu shot or lose my hospital job?”
8. QA 8: “Is it discrimination when a boss favors an employee he is dating?”
9. QA 9: “Can my employer simply reduce compensation promised in my offer letter?”
10. QA 10: “Is there a problem giving a returning employee his former ID number?”
11. QA 11: “Can an employer dictate who an employee can and can’t speak with?”
12. QA 12: “Can taking time off without permission get you fired?”
13. QA 13: “Can my employer refuse to let me resign?”
14. QA 14: “Why is it acceptable to expect someone to work 60 to 70 hours a week?”
15. QA 15: “Is there a limit to how many hours I can be required to work?”

iv. Negotiation / Legal Stuff

1. NL 1: Hey, It’s January: Time to Prepare Your Yearly “QVP^TM Plan” [Part One of Two]
2. NL 2: Hey, It’s January: Time to Prepare Your 2005 Yearly “QVP™ Plan” [Second of Two Parts]
3. QA 1: Which Labor Law – State or Federal – Applies?
4. QA 2: “Should a young professional who likes his job change jobs for 50% more pay?”

v. General Observations

1. NL 1: “Chief Continuity Officer” – Titles Reflect the Times, and So Much More
2. NL 2: Will Wall Street Careers Ever Again Seem as Attractive as Billions in Bonuses “Evaporate?”
3. QA 1: “I have a question about your recent post about New Jersey employees’ rights to copy company documents without being fired for it in retaliation.”
4. QA 2: “Can you suggest my next career step and the next ‘hot’ industry?”
5. QA 3: Where can I find “niches” to further my career?
6. WD 1: Fiduciary – Key Words & Phrases