The internet has been a real boon to organizations, both businesses and nonprofits, that need a little help getting started with documents. There are all kinds of templates and samples out there, generally free for the borrowing. Just remember that you often get what you pay for and choose your … Read More
The policies every employee manual starts with are the legal ones like EEOC and harassment, and the ones about when and how people get paid. These are relatively easy because they are hard and fast, making them easy to write. What often gets missed are the policies covering corporate culture that … Read More
It seems obvious to employers that employees need to show up for work when they are scheduled, but it doesn’t always work that way. It is reasonable to have attendance policies, requiring employees to show up or otherwise meet their employment obligations. This could take the form of a job … Read More
Medical marijuana is legal in Montana, but that doesn’t mean that businesses have to allow employees to light up at work. According to an advisors’ website, Mondaq, [S]upreme courts in California, Oregon, Washington and Montana have all upheld employer decisions to discharge employees that were medical marijuana patients. The plaintiffs … Read More
When an employee leaves a job, there is always the chance that they will bring a case for wrongful discharge. This is more likely to happen if they are fired, but even an employee who appears to leave amicably can claim that they were constructively discharged (i.e. forced to quit … Read More
In many, even most ways, Montana employment law follows the federal laws, but there are a few areas in which it doesn’t. Here are the deviations that most commonly cause problems: Age discrimination covers all ages in Montana, not just people over 40 years old. This means that you cannot … Read More
If you have an employee manual, these are some policies you should have: – Define the workweek, especially if it isn’t M-F 8-5 or 9-5. This can make a difference in overtime calculations. – Establish a probation period, especially if it isn’t six months (as allowed by Montana law). – … Read More
Recent trends in Montana and federal law are making employee manuals more important than ever. Courts are reading them in wrongful discharge cases and expecting employers to follow them; businesses that don’t follow their policies are at fault even if the discharge wasn’t otherwise wrongful. Not having a manual means … Read More
There are three ways to think about an employee manual: Required boilerplate that sits in a dusty binder on a high shelf HR stuff that only the back office needs to deal with A management tool that makes everyday life easier for bosses and supervisors The first way will get … Read More
So you have decided to develop an employee manual, or maybe you even have one already. Now what? Can’t you just stick it on a shelf somewhere in case you end up in a lawsuit someday? Well, you can. But it is a waste of money to do that, and … Read More