Confidentially, how good is your NDA – the Non-Disclosure Agreement you have your employees sign periodically? For the time being, it appears better to be in New England to protect your private data where the U.S. 1st Circuit Court of Appeals has upheld legal protections under federal law. In the Pacific Northwest – the 9th […]
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Thoughts and information from a reliable attorney with over 25 years of experience.
Shareholders and Trade Restrictions
Have you heard about Demoulas Super Markets (DSM) interesting family litigation? While many people know of its stores, few know that DSM has been a significant source of Massachusetts’ corporate laws about shareholder disputes. * The history of the family litigation reads like some TV courtroom drama, with a greedy uncle taking advantage of his […]
Read more...Interviews: Best Hiring Practices Part 3
Interviews are the third topic in our series on hiring. You should have already prepared a complete job description that will help you if you need to terminate the employee. Thus, you have some form of criteria for weeding out the applicants. That criteria should remain consistent when interviewing, and is useful throughout the employment […]
Read more...Employee Handbooks: Everything You Need To Know To Keep You Out Of Trouble
Today we present a guest article by my colleague, Jeanne M. Colachio, Esq. We both presented at the recent Lorman Employment Law Update seminar, for the second year. She agreed to become my first guest blogger and has great advice about employee handbooks. We wanted to share her excellent advice with you. EMPLOYEE HANDBOOKS: EVERYTHING […]
Read more...Age Discrimination Defense: Factors Other Than Age
BTW, have you noticed our blog has a new name? With age discrimination cases, claims that business practices have a disparate impact on people protected by the ADEA* can make it difficult to mount a strong defense. The ADEA was created to prohibit discrimination in employment against people ages 40 and older, and has since […]
Read more...Employee Terminations: Best Practices for Employers
Some of you might like a short primer on employee terminations, something we all prefer not to do, but sometimes it is unavoidable. This is one part of my topic: Hiring, Firing, Disciplining and Laying-off Employees for an Employment Law Update Seminar. Terminating someone, whether or not “for cause,” may be one of the harder […]
Read more...Get Serious with Series LLCs to Save Costs?
Get Serious with Series LLCs to Save Costs? An article by a Robert Geurden about a novel idea here in Massachusetts called the Series LLC recently appeared in Mass. Lawyers Weekly. I wanted to comment on it, share the concept, and urge our business community and legislators to push for a change in the law […]
Read more...Lorman Employment Update 2013
As a CEO/Business owner, manager, HR professional or other adviser, you may need to know how to avoid the risk of employment lawsuits every day. You or your staff could greatly benefit from practical, easily understood advice offered at the Lorman Employment Law Update in Peabody, Massachusetts on April 3, 2013. The employment process is highly […]
Read more...Get Serious with Series LLCs to Save Costs?
An article by a Robert Geurden about a novel idea here in Massachusetts called the Series LLC recently appeared in Mass. Lawyers Weekly. I wanted to comment on it, share the concept, and urge our business community and legislators to push for a change in the law to give us the same flexibility here as […]
Read more...Family Medical Leave Act (FMLA) new 2013 rules
The new Family Medical Leave Act (FMLA) Rules were put into effect as of March 8, 2013! We have touched upon the FMLA in the past, and the military provisions in particular. These Department of Labor rules have bloomed like crocuses in the spring and, if you are a family in need, they are just […]
Read more...Waiving Wage Act Claims
A recent case as resulted in an important update to the Wage Act, concerning statute of limitations and what is a valid release. The Townsend Oil Company, Inc., barely a stone throw away from my office, was in court over a Wage Act dispute involving two important legal doctrines for employers and employees: independent contractors […]
Read more...Applications: Best Hiring Practices Part 2
The challenge for employers, their HR staff, and hiring managers is to absorb enough employment law to make the right decisions. Here are 10 of my favorite tips about the hiring process/application forms: Some Massachusetts Hiring Application Requirements Lie Detectors – A Statement that Lie Detector Tests are unlawful in Massachusetts as a condition of […]
Read more...The Massachusetts Wage Act
The Massachusetts Wage Act seeks to enforce employee’s right to receive any and all unpaid wages they have earned. It is a strict liability statute and, once a case is filed in court if a violation is proven, the law provides mandatory triple damages and attorneys’ fees. Mass. Gen. Laws Ch. 149, § 150. Wages […]
Read more...Choice of Business Entity: LLC v. S-Corp v. C-Corp.
When starting a business, or changing it from a sole proprietorship or partnership,* there are many things for the owner(s) to consider in their choice of entity. They range from tax treatment, to the future sale of the business, to the cost of setting it up and maintaining it. In the past, we have discussed […]
Read more...The VPA: Asset Protections Part II
In the first of our two-part series, we talked about certain protections for profit corporations.* Today we review the considerably greater protections for volunteers, including volunteer officers and directors serving non-profit, charitable corporations under the VPA. The doctrine of the Corporate Shield (or Veil) protects those owning interests in for profit Corporations, and those in […]
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