In light of the protections Maine’s Medical Use of Marijuana Act (MMUMA) affords to qualifying patients, many employers are left wondering how the law impacts them. And while medical marijuana use is legal in Maine, possession and use of the drug still violates federal law. In this complex legal environment, employers must use caution in making employment decisions based on their employees’ medical marijuana use.
A common component of a company handbook is a policy prohibiting employees from discussing wages and benefits with coworkers. Such policies often warn employees that violators will be disciplined up to and including termination. Employers should be cautious about including this kind of language in their personnel materials, because such limitations may run afoul of the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA).
Millions more employees may be entitled to overtime pay under new rules
On March 13, President Obama issued a memo to the Secretary of Labor calling for sweeping changes to the regulations that govern overtime pay. According to the President, the “regulations regarding exemptions from the Act’s overtime requirement, particularly for executive, administrative, and professional employees (often referred to as ‘white collar’ exemptions) have not kept up with our modern economy.” The President’s use of his executive power to push new rules without congressional approval has been controversial, and it is not yet clear what form the new rules will take.
For small business owners hiring both independent contractors and employees, it is important to fully understand the distinctions between the two to avoid complications from the Maine Workers’ Compensation Board (WCB). With everyone looking to cut costs and the WCB’s Abuse Investigation Unit cracking down on worker misclassification, we take a look at the definition of an independent contractor as laid out in the Workers’ Compensation Act, 39-A M.R.S.A. §102(13-A).
If your company is like most, it already has a social media policy, is working on one, or is thinking about putting one in place. Employees often talk – and gripe – about their jobs on social media sites, prompting employers to adopt policies for their employees’ internet posts about work. However, recent decisions by the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) show that it considers certain forms of e-griping to be protected speech, and a policy preventing it could earn your company unwanted federal attention.
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