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Question: We have a longtime employee who’s no longer meeting expectations. The owner is afraid to hold them accountable because they’re over 40 and therefore in a protected class. What can we do? Answer: In general, you shouldn’t let an employee’s protected class status deter you from holding them accountable to your performance expectations. After all,

Question: What are whistleblower protections?  Whistleblowing occurs when an employee reports wrongdoing (dangerous, illegal, or unethical activity or practices by the company or its employees) either directly to the employer or to an outside authority. Many laws, including the Occupational Safety and Health Act, consider whistleblowing a protected activity, meaning you can’t lawfully retaliate against

Question: We’ve identified the job candidates we’d like to interview, but we still have applications coming in. Do we need to review every application before moving forward with interviews and making a job offer?  Answer: The short answer is no. There’s no legal requirement to review all the applications before moving forward, and you can always

Question: What is mentoring in the workplace?  Answer: Mentoring is a professional relationship between a senior or more experienced employee (the mentor) and a newer or less experienced one (the mentee). The mentor shares their knowledge and experience, offering guidance, advice, feedback, and encouragement. The mentee, for their part, can go to their mentor with

Question: We would like to add a working interview to our selection process. Is this permitted and are there other options to help us finalize our selection?  Answer: Yes, you can have a working interview as part of your selection process, but there’s a big caveat. If you have the candidate do “real work” that

Question: What should we do when one of our designated paid holidays falls on a weekend when we aren’t open? Do we need to offer an alternative day off?   Answer: No, you don’t need to offer an alternative day off. There are no federal laws requiring private employers to provide paid time off for holidays. 

Question: Can we tell nonexempt employees not to check email and messages when they’re supposed to be off the clock? They’ve been doing this a lot, and we don’t want to continue paying them for this additional, unscheduled time.  Answer: You can tell nonexempt employees that they shouldn’t read or respond to messages when they’re

Question: Can we use comp time with our employees? It depends. For non-exempt employees of a private employer, no. The Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) doesn’t permit private employers to offer compensatory time (“comp time”) in lieu of overtime pay.  You could offer time off to your exempt employees as a reward for working more than their