Employment Law for Employees

Employer Cancelled Health Insurance and my wife is pregnant.

Longcut007 — Sun, 22 Nov 2009 06:44:05 GMT

Hello,

I was recently told by my employer they were cancelling all health insurance benefits. We were sent an email and were given about 10 days notice of cancellation and told to look for other options independently. We are being provided no cobra option or any continution of coverage at all.

The plan is a self funded company policy administered through BCBS. I've been told this is a self funded policy and due to the policy being cancelled in it's entirety, there is no cobra option.

This would be no big deal, for I paid a fairly high rate for just "ok" coverage and could get the same plan with better benefits directily through a private plan online for about 30 bucks less a month.

The problem is that my wife is pregnant. I told the owner of the company my wife was pregnant and he said that was unfortunate because he was going to have to cancel health insurance. We also have an employee who is going through cancer treatments.

Since this is now considered a "pre-existing" condition, what options to I have? Does the employer have to provide something since they knew of the condition or can they simply just cancel.

Also, do I have any options as far as my wife being pregnant who did have insurance but it was simply cancelled? It's not like she didn't have it and trying to pick it up.

I make to much to qualify for medicaid for her but don't have the $20 grand or however much it cost to pay for child birth out of pocket.

Any ideas would be appreciated.

Thanks

Just Hired and curious

nashvegas — Sun, 22 Nov 2009 03:03:05 GMT

I have just been hired by a company and this is the story to date. My first interview was very brief and straight forward. I was asked to come back for a second interview in which I was put to work for five hours. After the five hours I was asked to come back the next day. The next day I worked for five hours again. After that shift I was asked to come back on the next Monday. On that Monday they mentioned that they wanted me to work at another store. Thats when I asked them if I was hired. They said yes.

It has now been two weeks and two days. I have harley seen management and have not been told what I am making, if I have health benefits, 401k options and have not been put in the computer system to clock in.

I have been hesitant to bring this up for fear of being viewed as a "boat rocker" by management. I have chosen to bargain in good faith for now. Like I stated, this is a very small town and although I feel lucky to have a job in this economy, I still have my pride. My questions are as follows: A) Is this comany allowed to do this? B) If so, how long are they allowed to string me along? C) Do I have any rights at all?

I have kept track of all my hours and the people I have worked with during those shifts. I have a scedule for my second week. Is there anything else I should do?

subcontractor - delays in paychecks

deacondog — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 18:56:23 GMT

I'm looking for advice with my present employment situation. I am presently completing my 7th week of employment. I am subcontracting with an individual (he is LLC/consultant). I am new to subcontracting (and believe that the contractor is too). Contract that I signed indicates my hourly rate, but no details on pay schedule (my mistake, in hindsight). I was paid for my initial week, and then paid in late October for my second 2 weeks. I mistakenly thought that second payment was the beginning of a regular bi-weekly schedule.

When I raised this issue, I was informed that this was a "pay-through" assignment - that my payment was contingent on consultants receipt of payment from the financial institution that I am deployed at. Consultant sent in email his planned schedule for my future payments. He submits bill to financial institution every 2 weeks and receives payment 12-14 days later. Translation is that I will be paid bi-weekly in arrears 3-4 weeks. Not thrilled about this, but I could live with it.

My problem is that schedule indicated payment was planned on 11/19 (yesterday). I'm still not paid as of today. He approached me on 11/18 and indicated that there was a "glitch" in financial institution cutting check (paperwork), but it was forthcoming. He inquired if I still needed check and if i could wait until he received it. I held my ground and said i still expected payment today.

I'm concerned and wonder if I should stop working additional hours until payment is resolved? Obviously, it's already awkward and even scheduled payment will leave me unpaid for full 2 weeks. Biggest concern is that I am driving this totally by contacting him and asking where's the $$. If he reached out to me and shared legitimate delays, I'm pretty flexible. Unfortunately, he has done little to instill confidence in regular payments in the future.

Thanks for any insight.

Former Employer refusing to pay Unemployement benefits

MarlenaT — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 17:33:18 GMT

I was laid off from a job stating not enough work, when I came to retrive the letter of separation, he tried to make me sign an agreement stating it was a 3 month contract postion, and I can't collect unemployement benefits. I refused to sign the agreement, and they said they will file a claim, and not pay.

I was awarded benefits, and now I have received their claim, now they are saying that they fired me, and it was because I was rude, late, and that it was a 3 month temporary position, and I didn't do the work I was suppose to. They are all lies, and I can provide proof of performance.

It was never agreed that it was a temporary 3 month position, nor did I sign a contract stating, in addition, I live in a at will state, I never received any warnings or issues concerning my work performance, I was always told I was doing a great job.

It will come down to he said, she said, during our claim hearing, however, I want to be able to use anything possible. I was going to show proof of performance, have sign character witness letters, and perhaps if I can use any former or current employee witnesses.

Is there anything else I can do in this situation?

PR: wait... I: wait... L: wait... LD: wait... I: wait... wait... Rank: wait... Traffic: wait... Price: wait... C: wait...

Rounding timesheets

Mrs. Haynes — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 15:05:10 GMT

Hi,

Is their a legal issue with rounding the total time on a punchcard rather than the in/out times?

Thanks,

Mrs. Haynes

Laid Off

klhmlh — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 18:18:03 GMT

Last week I was part of a layoff after 19 years with the company. I was one of 4 Directors in the organization. The reason I have a concern is these 2 different reasons:

1. About 1 month ago they hired a new manager that has about the same skill set as I. That made 5 total managers/directors in the organization. Instead of laying the new hire off they laid me off. I had no performance issues and had never been in HR for any reason concerning myself in the 19 years I worked for the company.

2. Also in Nov 2008 I met with my manager in Delaware and he told me that of the 5 directors in his Application Support organization I was one of the top two and me and one other director would be each taking over the 1/2 the organization and the other 2 directors would be lowered to Application Architects. So from Nov 2008 to Nov 2009 I went from one of the top two to being laid off. Also to note the two directors that were identified as being lowered to Application Architects kept their jobs and maintained the title as Director. Over this the year I was not told my performance level had decreased and was not written up. There was never a conversation with my manager about my performance.

It there anything I can do?

Not paid for hours worked dont know what to do please help

catanzaro11 — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 23:43:52 GMT

i work in a fastfood business. the first day in early october, i worked and was told not to clock in by my manager. i worked for 4 hours this day. i worked another day after that also for four hours. this was on the the 20th of october pay checks come on the 6th and i told my manager before then that i need the hours i did not clock in for to be on the pay check. i never recieved the money for the unclocked hours and reminded the manager again about what had happend but nothing was done. it is now the 17th of november. i worked on november 15th and told my boss about the unclocked hours. she said to come in on the 16th and she would pay me out of the safe. on the 16th i called her while i was on my way to get the money and she said she did not have it and to come in right after school on the 17th and she would be sure to pay me. i went in today only to find out she didnt work today and doesn't work for the next few days. i have tried calling her and she does not answer the phone or reply to my messages. i dont know the next step i can take if wanting to sue. please help

Employment Termintaion [Michigan]

Red5Rebel — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 10:20:11 GMT

Well I was working for an employer in Michigan, was there about 3-4 months, and I missed work because of a medical issue. Now I was unable to call in before the shift started, and when I was able to call in, I was informed I was down as terminated. I dejectedly hung up the phone, and was unsure what to do. At the time I was a new resident to the state, and barely knew anything about anything going on. After my termination several people informed me it was "wrong" and "they shouldn't&n... been able to do that". Last night I was talking to some people at my brothers job, who said that it was "illiegal?" and i should have filed with unemployment, and possibly taken the company I had previously worked for to court.

Now while I was working there i had several complaints that i kept to myself, but also was told these conditions were "not right". Of the many issues I had, these are a few:

-Was told I wasn't aloud to have breaks some nights working 8 hours+ because they "didn't have time for it", the 17 and unders were more important

-Repetedly asked them not to schedule me until 4am, and then to be back in the next morning by 8:30/9:00 (was told by them they would try to "fix it" for months)

-Was sprung upon me several times "hey we need to you work another 4 hours, we don't have anyone else!" and then again asked to be in by 8:30/9:00 without an opportunity&nb... come in a little later

Now theres a few points I'd like to make concerning the "ending" of my employment. I was one of the workers who actually cared enough to do the job right. Was often the only one who knew how to clean the equipment, nobody else would do it, or even cared enough/tried to learn. Was also coming up on the mark of time they had set for an "employee evaluat... in which I could get a raise. This company had a very high turnover rate, meaning they often fired people for stupid reasons by my book. There was a core group of people that had been there for a long time (2yrs+), that I always felt were treated better than the rest of us, even though they had the same job title and were expected to do the same things, often they were given breaks, when most of the rest of us were told "theres no time", and we would be there later then them.

I take all of my jobs very seriously, I have a strong work ethic, I do what i do well, take pride in my work, and never complain about it, even when its the most mundane, ungratif... unsanitary, or unrecognized job. I had been looking for a job for months, postponed going to school so I could pay for it myself, instead of relying on outside help, and even postponed going while I was employed because they needed me to work. When I was fired from the job, every interview I went to after, was blackened by the mention of this previous employer. It took me over a year and a half to find new employment, even if it is only seasonal, I am grateful for the work, especially in these times.

Please someone read this and let me know if I was wronged, I have moved beyond this job and have moved on in life, but I wish to know for future reference what my rights are, and what is "unlawful" termination. Like I said I'm new to the state and still don't ... much about employee rights, basically just what people tell me, and often question its validity.

MY RIGHTS

Lou Romer — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 01:21:16 GMT

I HAD A FOOT OPERATION IN 2004 WHEN I WENT BACK TO WORK IN 2005 I WAS WROTE UP EVERY TIME I TURN AROUND FOR THE SAME THING THAT EVERY ONE ELSE AND NEVER WERE WROTE UP. I AM 56YEARS OLD AND HAVE A BAD FOOT.MY QUESTION IS AFTER 22 YEARS AT WORK AND IN THE FIRST 18.5 YEARS I WAS NOT WROTE UP.BUT WHEN I CAME BACK IN 2005 I GETWROTE UP .I HAVE KEEP A WORK LOG SINCE 2005.

LCA filing in 2 different locations

shanthik — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 15:20:01 GMT

I am working on an H1B visa for one of the world's largest retailers. I am in my 5th year of my H1 visa status and it expires in 2011. If an LCA is filed before July 2010 which is a 365 day point I will be allowed to extend my H1 for another 3 years while my Green Card is in process.

The situation is that the advertisement has been done in NJ and they received 100 applications which makes it difficult to support their statement of me being the most capable one beyond all US citizens. So they have decided now to advertise once again in a remote location in NJ and another in VA. Is it ok to file the LCA for a single employee from 2 different locations. Are there any risks involved? Do I need to move to VA in case it is approved before the whole process is done? or can it be avoided till I get my Green Card as I'm working for the same employer in a different state?

Any info and advice is much appreciated.

Fired from a Non Profit

Small Whistle Blower — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 23:41:23 GMT

I was fired from the non-profit I worked at today. The NPO is local and raises over $1 million per year. The founder and Ex. Director uses some of the employees to drive her kids to and from school and other appointments on company time. The Board recently bought the organization a NEW minivan which the director uses solely as a personal car.

I had a discussion with the Director about the legality and ethical nature of this behavior a few months ago. At that point our relationship became stressed, resulting in today's firing. I never documented the our discussion (which I regret now). However, there is another employee who has the same concerns about my boss and is willing to submit the concern in writing.

My Questions:

1. Is there anything I can do to get my job back (I like the job, just not the illegal behavior of my boss).

2. Is there any certain way my friend who still works there file his concerns before he gets fired (it will probably happen within a couple of weeks).

3. If I cannot get my job back, how can i report the illegal behavior and to whom should I report it.

My hope is that the board will kick out the board members who allowed this behavior and the director and the organization will continue to grow. I strongly believe in the work it does.

Thanks

Termination for non-availabilty on days off

Moon_Flower — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 22:29:19 GMT

Can an employer require you to stay in the area on your weekend off (NOT on call) in case it might snow and they might need you for snow removal? If you are out of town and it snows on the Sunday of a holiday weekend, can they terminate your employment for not showing up to remove snow? State: Colorado. Hourly employee.

On a Friday evening, I was told that I had "better not leave town" in case it snowed as predicted. When I protested that it was my weekend off and I was NOT on call, I was told it was "company policy" that I be available "just in case." I have not been provided with this company policy, but doesn't it follow that if I am required to stay in town and am not needed, then I need to be compensated? Doesn't that mean (in Colorado, anyway) October through May I may never leave town in case it snows and I might be needed?

Please keep in mind that when I AM on call, of course I do not leave.

New job and pregnant

TarMomma — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 20:36:11 GMT

I applied for a job at 28 wks pregnant and finally got the job when I am 34 wks pregnant. I didn't tell them that I was pregnant during my interview process or when I was offered the position. I am going to start on Tuesday and going to be letting them know then that I am pregnant. This is an at-will employment place. I am wondering that when I tell them am I going to get fired because of not letting them know? Any advice will help.

Paydate changes

cblodgett — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 18:26:11 GMT

I live in Georgia and here is my question:

Last week the company policy on paydays when they fell on a holiday was: You were paid the work day before a holiday. Today it is written that you are paid the business day after a holiday. Can they just make these changes? We have Thursday, November 26th off as a Holiday and Friday, November 27th (payday) off as well.

thank you.

Unjust Termination?

Rmfunk01 — Sun, 15 Nov 2009 00:34:59 GMT

Back on June 16th 2009 I was terminated from my place of employment for 7 years. What had happened was I had a new District Manager take over our District, he had me fire all of my employee's because he didn't like their performance. However our company did not have anykind of performance levels that we must attain unless you were under 1% which meant you werent doing anything and none of my employee's were even close to that.

So my District Manager had found various reasons for me to get rid of them and I did to protect my job because he had made it clear that if I didn't he would find someone who would and I would be without a job. So at this point I was working 70 hours a week only getting paid for 43.86 hours a week for over a month straight no days off or any help from neighboring stores as my District Manager would not let anyone come help me. His reasoning was because I was the cause of firing all my employees. He had told me that on several occasions he would come and help me but everytime he was supposed to something more importanat came up. So at this point I was really angry,tired,frustrated I had tried to call our Human Resource Dept several times and left messages telling them I would like to speak to someone about my situation, noone ever returned my calls. So then I started going through our employee handbook and realized our company uses a third party company to registar compliants if we are unsuccesfull with our HR Dept.

So I contacted this Company and placed my issue with them on Friday June 12th 2009. They had advised me that they will be in contact with the employer and let them know of the issue and that I would be able to track any responses through their website.

Well my DM came in on June 15th and told me we had to have a heart to heart. So he pulled me into the office and said that I was secretly shopped on Saturday and missed a couple of things. 1 being I didn't offer our guest a card to give them discounts for a year. However I remember that sale and the customer came into the store and said they were in a hurry and needed to find what he was looking for and get out. I showed him what he needed and then even explained a couple of sales we had going on and he was like "I am not interested like I said I am in a hurry." So I took him up to the reigstar and rang him out and thanked him and he left.

So after he explained that I told him exactly what happened and he shrugged his shoulders and said oh well thats strike 1.

He said the second strike came cause I was not in uniform however I fought that one and proved him wrong so he ripped up the write up and said well I guess that doesn't matter but he has another issue and I said ok Shoot.

He said today again you were secretly shopped and missed the same things again. This time the customer stayed in the store for quite a while and I struck up conversations with him and told him sales and all that stuff. However the customer was giving me a very strange feeling so I asked a co-worker from next door to help me watch this customer cause I thought he was going to steal something because he was very suspicious checking boxes to see if the product was in them and was making his way towards the door. So I kept following the customer around the store until he finally came to the registar and paid for his product. I asked him for his Phone # and his info and noticed that he was quite far away from home. I had told him that we had several stores in his area and told me that he knew but shops at our competitor and isn't interested and he was just visiting a friend.

So my DM said that was it I had to choices either to resign or get fired. I had asked him please was there anything else I could do and plead my case about how much I was working and how tired I was and needed help and he was like oh yeah sorry about that but can't help ya, what would you like to do.

I asked him well what happens if I get fired he said well you get this paycheck and thats it plus not to mention it won't look good on your resume.

Then I asked him what happens if I resign he said well I will get this paycheck and he will even pay me for the next two weeks and get all of my vacation time paid for as well (which I had well over 100 hrs).

I told him I would prefer to do neither and he said I had no choice I had to choose. So reluncantly I choose to resign because I needed to take care of my bills and my house and car payments and it was the option that left me with some time to get money.

Later that night I spoke to an employee who worked next door and she said she witnessed "the secret shopper" leave with my DM and get in the same car and leave together! So I was set up.

Since then I had filed for unemployment and recieved it after several attempts the company tried to refuse it changing the reason that I got terminated 3 different times. I recieved a letter from the unemployment offices saying that the company didn't prove any written documentation of previous write ups or any previous actions taken against me to correct it. So they ruled it as an Unjustifiable Termination.

I had hired a lawyer who was working on contingency who has since withdrew from the case because I couldn't come up with 500.00 for litigation which he told me he was going to file for a motion of discovery which would only cost about 75 dollars which I was fine with but all of sudden needed 500.00 and told him he knew my finicial situation and that I wouldn't be able to come up with that kind of money. So he withdrawn from the case and I have an in-person hearing for unemployment again.

What can I do? DO I have a case? I want to know if its worth it?

Sorry about the length but any help would be fantastic!

PS after I signed the resignation papers he told me he was sorry that my store always looked great and he never had to worry about my store but it was just something that he had to do.

denial of benefits in Michigan

myou — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 00:05:36 GMT

Hello,

I was terminated from my employment in August of this year. I filed for unemployment benefits and was subsequently denied due to willful misconduct. I have appealed this decision and am currently waiting for a decision. The reasons that they gave are ridiculous. First of all, my supervisor made me responsible for incoming orders on an antiquated system that never worked correctly, a website that often did not work correctly, and I was blamed for things that were completely out of my control. I am human and make mistakes, but for them to say that I did so willfully is totally beyond me. What should I expect from the redetermination? If anyone could be of help it would be greatfully appreciated. Also, I am completely willing to fight these people all the way to the end, it was wrong what they did to me. Thanks for any advice.

Constructive Discharge?

M1021 — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 20:46:50 GMT

I am currently an assistant store manager in retail. About a month ago, I inquired about potentially moving and transferring to another city, and was told by both my district manager and regional manager that "it would be no problem". Based on that information I decided to go ahead with the move, and have already given notice on my apartment here and signed legal agreements for living arrangements in my new city, with the move to happen at the end of December.

Now I am told the transfer cannot be completed as promised, because they claim to not have a job opening in my desired city. Yet there are postings on the company's website and also Monster.com for my job in my desired location...

I have been told the only way to complete the transfer is to demote myself to a lower position, which is an approximately 30-40% pay cut, not even factoring in that it reduces me to only being guaranteed 24 hours instead of 40, and severely impacts my current benefits. My other "option" is to stay at the store I am currently at, which is not possible as it is a two hour drive one way from my new residence.

I have not had any performance issues or write-ups, and received a highly favourable performance review a month and a half ago. Until this issue came up I was quickly heading in the direction of a promotion. I haven't quit yet as I'm still in my managerial position until the end of December, but neither of their "options" after that work for me.

Do I have a case? Any advice? Next steps?

EEOC filing

DJ Alberts — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 03:48:04 GMT

Hello,

I have filed and been accepted for investigation with my local state agency for workplace discrimination (filings were made to EEOC on my behalf by this agency) I live on a stateline, and an attorney from the non-filing state agreed to take my case on contingency approx. 6 months ago. I was assured at the time this firm had attorneys licensed to practice in the filing state who the firm "worked with."

Filing is for age/gender/disability discrimination, unequal pay, and retaliation ongoing. The company responsible for the discrimination is a very large international corporation. I went through the standard internal filing process only to have the situation get worse.

A letter of discrimination complaint from the EEOC (per NH) has been issued to and answered by my employer. Now the attorney who stated he would take the case on contingency had backed out of our contract. I am told they feel it would take too much time as the case is complicated, and it is felt the cash award would not be enough to cover their costs. I was surprised by their action.

The EEOC representative contacted me and will try to set up mediation with the employer. I do not know if the employer will agree to mediation. In the meantime I am searching case law to rebut the employers first response. There is quite a lot of evidence and cross discrimination to show the attempt to offer non-discriminatory answers to my complaint is pretext

I cannot afford to pay a lawyer hourly rates or offer a retainer fee. My plan is to rebut with backup evidence and cite case law to back my claim for pretext. &n...

My questions

1. Should I attempt to answer the employer's response, prepared by their counsel in exactly the same method they responded ? &nb... (numbered paragraphs related to numbered complaints with their references&... very standard generic case law about shifting burden, etc. etc)

2. Does the case law have to be from the same jurisdiction as my state? I have found quite a bit of case law that specifically serves to rebut the employer's response, some supreme court, but much is outside of the first circuit court which is NH.

3. I am moderatly to severe hearing impaired due to hereditary in both ears, but able to perform all essential work related activities. I have been told hearing aids may not help me and the costs were so high I could not afford. Accomadations used are volume control on my phone, request to sit near speaker phones in conference rooms, and requests to people who speak softly to please talk louder as I am "hearing impaired." ... My supervisor, human resource, and all co-workers were informed long ago I am hearing impaired. In response to EEOC, the counsel for the employer admits I have requested accomadation, admits I have told my "coworkers" I am hearing impaired, but yet they deny knowledge of my impairment by way of stating I have not presented medical reports although they never requested a medical report. They also have not mentioned that Human Resource and Senior Mgmt at my site location have been told I am hearing impaired. (sorry for the long details here..finally the 3rd question) &... Should I submit a copy of my medical report to the EEOC with my rebuttal to the employer's response?

I have been very wronged by this company and took a lot of stuff to get this case this far. Now to be without a lawyer is disheartening, but I am more determined than ever to see this through.

Your assistance will be welcomed.

Thank you,

Nonsolicitation agreement and constructive dismissal?

Concerned1876 — Sat, 14 Nov 2009 15:25:16 GMT

Normal 0 false false false EN-US X-NONE X-NONE MicrosoftInternetExplo...

Howdy,

I am an employee in GA in a strange employment situation. Five minutes before the end of the workday on Friday I was asked to sign a "nondisclosure/nonsoli... agreement" that I have some problems with. Most other employees that received this agreement just signed it and turned it in without reading it. I read it and it is incredibly vague, open ended and basically I am fearful that it would prevent me from ever working anywhere else for the rest of my life. Also, the way it is worded, I think I will probably be fired if I don't sign it. Can an employer simply toss in an agreement like this after about 2 years of not having one and use not signing it as grounds for dismissal? I have typed up the agreement below:

Normal 0 false false false EN-US X-NONE X-NONE MicrosoftInternetExplo... [begin]

NONDISCLOSURE/NONSOLIC... AGREEMENT

In consideration of employment and continued employment with [company], hereinafter referred to as “Employer” and compensation paid to [Concerned1876] hereinafter referred to as “Employee”, by the Employer, Employee agrees to abide by the following conditions of employment and contract:

Except as needed to perform his or her job duties, Employee agrees to never divulge, disclose, or otherwise communicate, either directly or indirectly proprietary and confidential information of the Employer, including but not limited to information on vendors, customers, business affairs, or the methods of doing business. This obligation includes any other data or information that the Employer treats as proprietary and confidential or any other data or information that Employee is advised as proprietary and confidential. This paragraph shall survive the termination of this Agreement.

For a period of ____year(s) following the termination of this Agreement for any reason what so ever, Employee will not, directly or indirectly, solicit, divert, or take away or attempt to solicit, divert, or take away any vendors, customers, or other Employees of Employer with whom the Employee has had contact through Employer during the term of this Agreement. Nor will the Employee aid or assist any other person or entity in engaging in these prohibited activities.

At the termination of this Agreement for any reason what so ever, Employee agrees to return to Employer all manuals, records, documents, files, papers and all other materials including photographic materials (in paper or electronic form) pertaining to Employee’s business, customers, vendors, or operations. Employee acknowledges that Employee has no proprietary rights in any information, document or work product developed or used by Employee in the course of this Agreement or which in any way arises out of his or her relationship with Employer.

Employee acknowledges that violation of the Non Disclosure and/or Non Solicitation provisions in this Agreement will cause irreparable harm to Employer. Employer shall be entitled to injunctive relief in any court of competent jurisdiction due to Employee’s violation of any provision of this Agreement. In the event that one provision of this Agreement is found to be invalid or unenforceable, the remaining provisions shall be valid and enforceable.

Employee agrees to pay liquidated damages in the amount of $5,000.00 for each and every violation of this agreement. This agreement shall become effective this ____day of _____, 20__ and shall terminate upon the Employee’s last day of Employment.

____________________

by [company]

____________________

Employee

____________________

Printed Name

[end]

Basically, my problems with this are:

1. This was never a condition of my employment in the past and I've had this job for over 2 years.

2. In the third paragraph the period of ____year(s) part was not filled out as if to fill it out after for an undisclosed period of time AFTER my signing the document.

3. The company sells a wide range of products. Mostly pet products such as probiotics, supplements, shampoos, cleaning supplies, safety gates, books, bones, snaps, clamps, buckets, horse products, pregnancy tests, just anything. They also sell products for people like supplements, probiotics, chamois, soaps, lip balms, shampoos, dish liquid, mops, squeegees, and just so many products. The Employer also has a rental property and owns some automobiles that it is selling and/or leasing to several of my co-workers.

4. My work experience and history has been almost entirely working for companies that sell or manufacture animal health products and designing websites and web stores for such companies, and real estate websites. Because this document is SO vague I think it could prevent me from working anywhere that I would be qualified to work. Any website I make in the future that sells just about any product could be viewed as indirect solicitation or diversion of sales if one of THEIR customers shops that site. We are talking about THOUSANDS of customers of several hundred products in hundreds of categories. Any real estate site I make in the future could also be considered competing with their rental property and a diverting provided that it lists properties in the same zip code. Even worse, if I sign this and they claim that I am diverting their sales I would probably need to produce sales records during discovery for any website that I make in the future which would really hurt my reputation and my ability to keep any future clients.

5. I do a lot for this company. I sell products, take orders, sales, file, process orders, invoice customers, manage their website, take all the pictures for their website, design labels and packaging for their products and their private label customers, print labels, pack products, ship products, and much more. The problem is I do it all for "clerical" pay of about $11.00 with a limit of 40 hours a week and no overtime. Sometimes to make ends meet I need to make a site or two on the side where I can.

6. Even worse is the fact that the company’s owner is married to my father, who also works at the company. They are getting a divorce now and I have heard the owner mention terminating my employment after the divorce. Their divorce is also leading to a pretty hostile work environment for me as the rift between them grows.

7. Recently every other employee of the company had to fill out a “strengths and weaknesses” paper that was basically like a resume for a consultant on behalf of the company. I was not asked to fill one out. When I asked for one the consultant said that I was “above the board” and “didn’t need to”. I think because they don’t plan to keep me on anyway and I think they didn’t want to pay him to review me. Also, the consultant implemented a call log to view customer satisfaction (which I made for him in excel and made it automatically find overall customer satisfaction and satisfaction with each employee and the call volume each employee handles). Anyway, when my employer saw the result of the call log which was basically that I handle 70% of the call volume for 6 people with a near perfect satisfaction ratio they immediately told us to discontinue keeping the log.

They gave me this agreement to sign without even enough time to read it in detail and because it’s the weekend I may not even be able to have a lawyer review it before Monday. Anyway, I already know that I would have to be nuts to sign this thing. I don’t have a problem with the nondisclosure part but there is just no way I could sign this and lose my job and still make a living and I think it would prevent me from taking on side jobs or even just a better job. Would they be able to use my refusal to sign this as grounds for dismissal? I am pretty sure they’re looking for a reason to fire me. I don’t want to give them one but I just can’t agree to this… agreement. Also, if I am terminated because of refusal to sign this or if my refusal to sign this is viewd as quitting, will I have a case for wrongful termination or constructive dismissal? Were I forced to sign this to keep my job and for my co-workers who already signed it, is this even enforceable? I would think that leaving the period of ___year(s) blank prior to signature would invalidate it. Can you even say that if part of the agreement is unenforceable that the rest still applies?

Sorry this was so long. Any advice would be GREATLY appreciated. I just don't know what to do.

unjust firing in an "at will" state

donnamadonna — Sat, 14 Nov 2009 12:55:24 GMT

have been an employee of Hospital for 4 years and 6 months, I was recently terminated on Wednesday November 11th. For "falsafiying my timecard" I am writing you this only because I am terribly upset over the matter for I loved my job, I am a mother of four children and needed it to survive. My daughter was born 5 weeks premature and was in intensive care for 2 weeks, she has since been hospitalized for pneumonia, the week of Oct 26th she became ill so I took her to her neonatalontoligist on Oct 28th he said she has H1N1 gave me and her an excuss for work to be off for 5 to 7 days and to send her for testing and she could possibly be hospitalized, so the first thing I did was call my manger to let them know I would not be coming in that weekend. I spoke to a manager and he said he would take care of it, later that day a different manager called me to say if she is better by friday then I will be expected at work. Friday comes along and she is still sick and I had a fever, knowing the new policy I did not want to recieve a MAJOR occurence so I called in and spoke to a tech because there was not a manager available, the tech said she would let the manager know. So the next day is Halloween my husband takes my unsick children to the childrens museum and tricker treating as they are not sick any why should we cancel it for them, later that day day I posted on my personal networking site about the thing my children did and pictures, later that night I was feeling a little better and a friend asked me and my husband to come over so we did for a little over an hour I begain feeling bad again so we went back home. That night my daughter was still sick but better, the next day my husband had plans to go to a football game and I had previously requested it off and a PRN employee was to work for me so that he and his friend could go. well at the last minute his friend canceled so he asked me to go with him while my mother watched our baby and gave her the breathing treatments, We were gone approx 4hrs I came home and begain taking care of her again and my fever came back that night. I called work and spoke to a tech to ask her to write in the time card book "out with flu, please use negative PTO if needed?" The next weekend I come to work and on Sunday I recieved an email from a manager stating I have an occurence in my locker, so i emailed him and asked was I suppose to get an occurence under the new flu policy? I called his house he never returned my email or my phone call, so I asked HR the same question. The manager calls me on tuesday to let me know I have a meeting with him and HR. Before I go to the meeting I go to the department to my locker and it was cleaned out. I just burst out in tears! I went to the meeting knowing they were going to fire me, why else would my locker be cleaned out that had my personnel items in it be gone? In the meeting and I told them the same story they said it was pretty clear cut that i was "falsafying my timecard" and thats grounds for dismissal. I told them I would not take the negative pto and I would take the occurence if that was necessary even though my daughter was ill and so was I, but they said if I was feeling better to go to a football game then I should have went to work. I do see their side but I thought I was following Hospitals rules by calling in if I had a fever. HR said there is no time frame on a fever if I had one on Saturday and felt better on Sunday then I should have came to work, but I was under the impression that you should be fever free for at least 24hrs. I did go to the game when I and my daughter was sick but at my job I am in elderly peoples face putting my hands on them rolling them around and I thought I would recieve a MAJOR so I thought I was following the rules. I did not have have any Major occurences, I have never been diciplined, everyone of my patients say how good I treat them, I am respectful to all staff. I dont even know if there is anything that can be done or if you even decided to read this, I can only hope.

Wash St. terminated employee rights to review employee file

kinsesu — Sat, 14 Nov 2009 08:47:36 GMT

Does a recently Washington State (Nov '09) terminated employee have the right to review their HR file, immediate supervisor file? Specifically, a 2009 Business Plan agreed to by both supervisor and employee? A letter of reprimand?, etc.

Thank you.

Falsified Performance Documents

Roby124 — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 16:39:02 GMT

In recent weeks the through realignment and termination of District Manager positions , It has been

brought to my attention and presented to me , that the previous District Manager for my area has

submitted falsified documents as related to my work performance . as well as other employees has been submitted to the Corporate HR Dept without the employees having been told about them , or signatures , " and conversations had with them , which is required by this Company . Pay rates have been cut ,

and people demoted because of these actions . It seems as if the Company is not operating by its

own Code of Ethics Policy , or its Falsified Documentations Policies . Previously claims against

by other key field auditors has been submitted against this DM before her termination were submitted but not heard .

In the wake of all of this , it seems as if the Upper Regional command is trying to " brush this under

the rug " so to speak , even though these actions have caused major damage to the employees and their history of good performance with this company . WHERE IS THE PROTICTION FOR THESE EMPLOYEES , AND WHAT CAN RIGHT THE WRONGS THAT HAVE BEEN DONE .

IS THIS A VIOLATION OF THE CIVIL RIGHTS ACT OF 1964????

och5858 — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 18:55:11 GMT

I work for a large newspaper in my area. When I told them I would be taking my sick leave for my pregnancy (which I'm entilted to 13 wks. paid per our contract). They lowered my amount of sick pay to almost a third less. They are also not following our contract by not paying me my commissions while I'm off, not to mention I also pay twice as much for my health benefits while off sick. Does anyone see the problem that I see with this? In turn all of these breeches of contract have made me emotionally and physically drained. I have been late on bills etc. I don't even want to go back to work for this place, but what do i do I cant afford not to work?? It has also put a huge strain on my marraige and my family life. My husbands working extended hours just to make ends meat and where still short. If anyone has advice please let me know what I should do.

Laid off, new person hired same week for position

njames — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 22:56:05 GMT

Ok, all I have a question. I was just laid off at the beginning of November. I was told along with several other people that we where being laid off because of finanicial diffuculties in the company. We where told that we are eligible for re-hire and that if at the beginning of next year things where better we would be the first ones contacted.

Well I come to find out that the company then hires some one into the same position I had the week I was laid off. They did this to replace one of my coworkers at the time that had been planning on moving to another area. Everyone in the department knew that he was moving and had an idea of when his last day would be.

My problem here is that I get laid off, and they hire some one brand new to the exacts same position the week I am laid off. That to me seems very shady and underhanded. I am wondering at this point, should I start pursing legal action agianist the company for wrongful termination.

wedding

PatsFan09 — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 00:42:24 GMT

so about 14 months ago i had told my boss i was getting married on dec. 5th...the following is a true statement...he told me that if i didn't move the date or change my honeymoon...i wouldn't have a job...now i know rhode island has a work at will law...but i unfortunatly don't have this on paper or recording...so with that said...i am coming up on my wedding day and honeymoon...what are my options...wouldn't this been considered discrimination or wrongful termination?