Pennsylvania Employment Lawyer & Attorney : Russell Krafft & Gruber Law Firm : Lancaster, York, Harrisburg

Since I am a relative newcomer to the blogosphere, I tried to follow the lead of my counterparts in recognizing the end of the year. I looked around and what I learned is there are no traditions. Most blogs let the year expire without any fanfare or even acknowledgment.

Under “Modern Practices”, January 1^st marks a period of remembrance of a particular passing year and includes the making of New Year’s resolutions. The history of resolution is recounted at the GoalsGuy. There are Lists of Top Ten New Year’s Resolutions like the one prepared by Kimberly & Albrecht Powell at About.com: Pittsburgh (David Letterman’s 2006 list is all we can refer to now)

There as some good posts on New Year’s Resolutions in the HR World as follows:

• Penelope Trunk’s Brazen Careerist has advice on How to make a New Year’s resolution that you’ll keep.
• Kathryn Elizabeth Tuggle at Fox Business calculates the ROI of resolutions in her post Calculating the Cost of Your New Year’s Resolutions.
• Susan Sabo at the Productivity Café advises us to Get Rid of New Year Resolutions Forever.
• Jonathan Hyman at the Ohio Employer’s Blog is all business with his post on My New Year’s resolutions for everyone.

My approach will be reflecting on the blessings of the year with my family and hoping for a great 2008. Happy New Year!

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One December 16, 2007, the Board issued its much anticipated decision in Guard Publishing Company d/b/a Register Guard and Eugene Newspaper Guild, CWA Local 37194 holding an employer did not violate section 7 by maintaining a policy that prohibited employees from using the employer’s e-mail system of any “non-job-related solicitations.”

The NLRB’s 3-2 decision also announced and applied a new standard for determining whether an employer has violated the act by discriminatorily enforcing its policies to disadvantage protected union-related activity. The new standard distinguishes between personal nonwork-related messages and “group” or “organizational” messages such as a union. Therefore, “discrimination under the Act means drawing distinctions along Section 7 lines.”

In Guard Publishing, the employer had a written policy prohibiting e-mail use for non-work-related solicitations. However, the employer allowed several such communications like jokes, party invitations, request for services such as dog walking, etc, but it never allowed e-mail use for solicitation by or on behalf of outside organizations other than the United Way. The employer issued two warnings to an employee who sent three union-related e-mails, which lead to the charge of discriminatory enforcement of the policy.

The Board majority held that two of the three e-mail communications were direct solicitations to join the union and violated the policy; however, the third message was not a solicitation, merely a clarification of events surrounding a union event. Therefore, under the newly announced standard, the employer did not discriminate along section 7 lines when it disciplined the employee for the two union solicitation e-mails since it had never allowed employees to use its e-mail system to solicit on behalf of any other outside group. However, the employer’s enforcement of the policy with respect to the third e-mail which was not a solicitation was unlawful.

The new standard should have an important impact on employer’s e-mail policies and charges related to discriminatory enforcement of employer’s policies.

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Most of the Human Resources world looks to federal law when it considering the classification of a worker as an employee or an independent contractor. The IRS and most federal employment statutes use a common law rules which analyze the degree of control and the degree of dependence in the relationship between the business and the worker. The IRS recommends using Form SS-8 for this determination; however, the usefulness of this process is marginal.

To make matters more difficult, state laws also impact worker classification using sometimes differing legal standards. The post –gazette NOW Business reports that FedEx Grounds was fined $190,000 by the Massachusetts Attorney General for misclassifying 13 drivers as independent contractors. The Massachusetts test for an independent contractor differs focusing on three factors: the degree of control; work outside the usual course of business of the company; and the person engaging in a business that is customarily conducted as an independent trade or profession.

Pennsylvania has similar test for independent contractors which requires that the individual be free from control or direction over the performance of the services involved and be customarily engaged in an independent trade, occupation, profession or business. The impact of misclassification frequently appears in unemployment and workers’ compensation cases, but also had important tax and other compliance issues.

The state law employment classification issue may well be fertile ground for multistate litigation and class actions. Employers face real difficulties in complying with 50 states laws on employment classification along with a nebulous federal standard. Likewise, I don’t see how a worker could be classified as an employee for state law purposes and an independent contractor under federal law.

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BusinessWeek reports that the California State Assembly passed a major health care reform plan that would expand coverage to almost 70% of the state’s uninsured at a cost of $14.4 billion. Under the Governor’s proposal, everyone would be require to buy minimum health insurance coverage. Insurers could not deny coverage based on age or medical condition and would be required to spend 85% of premium dollars on actual patient care. Revenue to fund the reform would come from taxes on hospitals, cigarettes and employers who do not provide a minimum level of health insurance.

Pennsylvania’s Governor has a similar Health Care Reform Act, the highlights of which are as follows:

• Establishes a basic health insurance program for employees of small low-wage employers and uninsured adult individuals, without waiting periods and pre-existing condition exclusions
• Creates a “Fair Share Tax” on all employers equal to 3% of payroll through 2010 and increasing to 3.5% thereafter.
• Provides for a small employer tax credit for first 5 years
• Provides a tax credit for all employers that offer a minimum level of coverage to all employees who work 30 or more hours per week based on the out of pocket cost to the employee and level of employee participation
• Requires insurers offering small group plans to:

• use modified community rating in setting rates taking into account only age, geographic region, and family composition
• vary rates by a factor no greater than 33%
• maintain a medical loss ratio of no less than 85%

These reforms are coming and they will impact employers by mandating a level of minimum coverage for employees and by taxes those employers who don’t offer coverage. Keep tabs on Pennsylvania’s Health Care Reform at the Governor’s website dedicated to this project.

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The EEOC receives over 75,000 discrimination charges annually each of which requires a response by an employer.   How companies respond to charges varies greatly. In the legal community there are two schools of thought on the scope of EEOC responses. The first approach follows a minimalist path under the rationale that anything sent to the EEOC is “free discovery” or commits to a defense before all the facts are fully developed. The second approach provides a more detailed response with the goal of getting rid of the claim more quickly. The approach chosen will depend on an evaluation of the claim and the employer’s defenses. The following should be assessed in determining how your company will respond to an EEOC charge or state commission claim:

1.      Time Limitations for Charges and Lawsuits: It can take years for a charge to turn into a lawsuit. During this time, potential back pay is mounting, witnesses are disappearing, and memories are fading. EEOC discrimination charges must be filed within 300 days of the discriminatory action (or 180 days in states do not have discrimination statutes and investigatory agencies). Lawsuits must be filed by the employee within 90 days after the EEOC issues a right to sue letter. It is impossible for me to interpret the EEOC’s data on charge resolutions, but my experience is that the EEOC does not decide many cases and charges remain dormant for long periods of time when the parties don’t move them forward. The delay can work to the advantage of an employer if the employee (or his or her attorney) loses interest in the charge. When the EEOC ultimately closes the case and issues a right to sue letter, the employee may never act on it by filing a lawsuit. In Pennsylvania, the PHRC has a similar track record. Likewise, an employee must file a lawsuit within 2 years of the PHRC’s closing of the complaint.

2.      Shaping the Defense: An investigation of the charge should lead to formulation of a strategy for responding to the EEOC. At that point your defense is limited by your prior response. Inadequately investigated charges and poorly written position letters can severely hamper an employer’s defense. I have seen situations in which “home made” responses gave away or limited important legal defenses.

Information sent to the EEOC may be disclosed to the employee in the course of the investigation and the entire file may be subpoenaed once a lawsuit is filed. The minimalist approach might be appropriate if the facts are bad and you are looking for a quick settlement. A detailed response may be right if you want to convince the EEOC or the employee’s attorney that the case has no merit. I personally don’t like to “lie in the weeds” and hope the employee will go away.

3.      Using Affidavits to Preserve Evidence: Creating an institutional memory of the facts underlying your defense to an EEOC charge is worth considering. People come and go with amazing frequency. So, tracking them down (years later) and hoping they will remember the events with great detail is a risk. If a witness’s recollection is important to your defense, have them sign an affidavit.  Affidavits also keep witnesses from changing their stories as their allegiances change.

4.      Record Retention: Once a charge is filed, a company has an obligation to preserve tangible and electronic records that relate to the employee’s claims. The scope of records may include e-mails, personnel file and other records for the employee and comparable employees. Inadvertent destruction of records even pursuant to a policy can have grave consequences to an employer’s defense including court sanctions, prohibitions on presenting a defense, and jury instruction allowing an adverse inference to be drawn from the absence of the record. The jury may be allowed to presume that a missing or destroyed record would have favored the employee.

5.      Trial Use of EEOC Determinations: Many employers are surprised to learn that an EEOC’s finding of probable cause may be admitted as evidence in a discrimination trial and considered by a jury. As noted by Michael Fox at Jottings by an Employer’s Lawyer, some courts recognize the imperfection of allowing jury consideration of EEOC determinations. Nonetheless, it is powerful evidence when a government agency believes that an employer engaged in discrimination, making it all the more important to carefully tailor your response.

* Not meant to be exhaustive.

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Many employers traditionally provide year end bonuses and holiday gifts for their employees. Bonuses may be included in a nonexempt employee’s regular rate depending upon the manner in which the bonus is calculated and the company’s prior communication. Inclusion in the regular rate impacts overtime calculations and payments.

Bonuses paid to nonexempt employees are included in the determination of the employees’ regular rate under section 778.208 unless the bonus falls into one of several exceptions. The bonuses are allocated to the pay period and added to other wages paid to nonexempt employees and then divided by the hours worked for the same period to determine the new regular rate under the methodology described in section 778.209. For bonuses earned over more than one work week, the bonus must be allocated to pay periods to which the bonus applies and the regular rate recalculated. If overtime was worked during this period, the overtime rate must be revised to be time and a half the recalculated regular rate that includes the bonus payment. This is a nightmare.

Department of Labor regulations provide for several exclusions. Among these excludable bonus payments are discretionary bonuses, gifts and payments in the nature of gifts on special occasions, contributions by the employer to certain welfare plans and payments made by the employer pursuant to certain profit-sharing, thrift and savings plans. These exemptions are discussed in Section 778.211 Discretionary Bonuses, Section 778.212 Gifts and Holiday Bonuses, Section 778.213 Qualified Profit Sharing and Savings Plans, and Section  778.214 Other Qualified Plans.  Bonuses which do not qualify for exclusion from the regular rate as one of these types must be totaled in with other earnings to determine the regular rate on which overtime pay must be based.

Typically any bonus announced in advance and tied to work performance, hours or other productivity will not qualify for an exemption.  There three ways to manage the recalculation problem, other than utilizing qualified plans:

1. Holiday Bonuses: The Holiday Gift and Bonus exemption under section 778.212 allows for the exclusion from calculation of an employees “regular rate” of pay “sums paid as gifts; payments in the nature of gifts made at Christmas time or on other special occasions, as a reward for service, the amounts of which are not measured by or dependent upon hours worked, production, or efficiency…”   The following sets forth some of the parameters of the exclusion:

If the bonus paid at Christmas or on other special occasion is a gift or in the nature of a gift, it may be excluded from the regular rate under section 7(e)(1) even though it is paid with regularity so that the employees are led to expect it and even though the amounts paid to different employees or groups of employees vary with the amount of the salary or regular hourly rate of such employees or according to their length of service with the firm so long as the amounts are not measured  by or directly dependent upon hours worked, production, or efficiency. A Christmas bonus paid (not pursuant to contract) in the amount of two weeks' salary to all employees and an equal additional amount for each 5 years of service with the firm, for example, would be excludable from the regular rate under this category.

2. Discretionary Bonuses: This is an area of DOL audit scrutiny and should not be used on a regular or aggressive basis. Truly discretionary bonuses are not included in the regular rate of pay under section 778.211, if both the fact that payment is to be made and the amount of the payment are determined at the sole discretion of the employer at or near the end of the period and not pursuant to any prior contract, agreement, or promise causing the employee to expect such payments regularly. The following sets forth some of the parameters of the exclusion:

For example, any bonus which is promised to employees upon hiring or which is the result of collective bargaining would not be excluded from the regular rate under this provision of the Act. Bonuses which are announced to employees to induce them to work more steadily or more rapidly or more efficiently or to remain with the firm are regarded as part of the regular rate of pay. Attendance bonuses, individual or group production bonuses, bonuses for quality and accuracy of work, bonuses contingent upon the employee's continuing in employment until the time the payment is to be made and the like are in this category. They must be included in the regular rate of pay.

3. Percentage Total Earnings Bonus: Bonuses based on a percentage of the nonexempt employee’s total earnings under section 778.210 do not result in a recalculation of the regular rate because overtime is already been accounted for in the calculation.   Under this method, the bonus is described as a percentage of the nonexempt employee’s total (W-2) earnings, thereby including both regular and overtime payments and obviating the need for recalculation of the regular rate.

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Many employers struggle with business closings and delays necessitated by inclement weather. I recommend adopting a policy that addresses at least the following three areas:

Will employees be paid for the time when the business is closed?

Nonexempt employees need not be paid for time when they do not work because the business is closed. Exempt employees must be paid their salary for the week regardless of the business closing. PTO or vacation may be charged, but exempt employee salaries may not be docked for time when the business is closed. A Department of Labor Compliance Assistance Letter details some of the Wage and Hour considerations applicable to the payment of wages for exempt employees.

Will employees be paid if they don’t report to work due to inclement weather when the business is open?

Nonexempt employees need not be paid for times they are absent from work. Exempt employees need not be paid for a whole day absence taken due to inclement weather. An exempt employee absent for part of a day may be forced to use vacation or PTO time. If the exempt employee has no vacation or PTO time, his or her salary may not be docked for a partial day absence.  The same Department of Labor Compliance Assistance Letter addresses this situation.

Can an employer discipline or discharge and employee for failing to report to work due to weather conditions when the business is open?

An employer may generally apply its normal attendance policy to weather related absences; however, most will make an exception for absences due to weather if the employee makes a reasonable effort to get to work. Collateral issues abound such as childcare, public transportation, and the “snow phobic” employee (chionophobia). Keep in mind that “exceptions” should be uniformly made to avoid discrimination claims.

There is one major legal exception. Under Pennsylvania law (43 P.S. §§ 1481-1485), an employer may not discipline or discharge an employee who fails to report to work due to the closure of the roads in the county of the employer's place of business or the county of the employee's residency, if the road closure is the result of a state of emergency declared by the Governor.  The most obvious and likely scenario is a snow storm or other inclement weather.

Employers are not required to pay an employee who is a no show based on road closures. An employee who can prove the employers "knowing and intentional" violation of the law may recover lost pay, be reinstated or have discipline revoked, and may collect attorneys fees and costs.

The law does not apply to the following jobs: drivers of emergency vehicles, essential corrections personnel, police, emergency service personnel, hospital and nursing home staffs, pharmacists, essential health care professionals, public utility personnel, employees of radio or television stations engaged in the gathering and dissemination of news, road crews and oil and milk delivery personnel.

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