Florida Employment Contracts Legal Questions

Non compete clauses are enforceable.  You can try to get a release from your employer since only here short time.  Otherwise have an attorney review it and provide you a consultation.  You may not be someone they would go after but you gamble or you take steps to try and free yourself and hire a lawyer to give you advice ... Read More

First, I think if you had a work related injury you should immediately retain counsel to go over your rights and enforce them under chapter 440.  If you are a salaried employee, working over 45 hours, you can bemade to use vacation pay and can have your salary docked for missing time in whole day incriments.  I think you should let an attorney review your position and job duties to determine if you are properly classified as exempt, as the FLSA has limited exemptions for not paying overtime wages, and the fact that you are paid a salary is not an exemption from the overtime requirements under the FLSA.  Employers often misclassify employees as exempt and that should be examined.  IF you have a work related injury, then you may be able to claim this docked pay time and the loss of vacation pay under chapter 440 florida's workers' compensation act.  Additionally, if you were employed for a year and the employer has 50- or more employees in a 75 mile radius you should be offered FMLA protection for the missed time from work within 5 days of your employer being notified of the disabling medical condition.  If you have worked many overtime hours, they may not only count for something, but they may count for time and one half of your regular rate of pay and liqudated damages if you should be non-exempt.    ... Read More

Here, these facts are not clear of a breach of contract.  You need to send in the contract and consult a lawyer on the agreement.  Most lawyers will charge a consult fee, and to review the contract and provide advice, and it would seem worth the investment since you are saying you lost $50,000.  Any lawyer in Florida can help, just send over the contract and contact to set up a consultation.  Also of question is whether you are still employed and whether the company is collectable.  The law provides attorney's fees to recover compensation so there may be a case worth pursuing.  ... Read More

There is no simple answer to your question. In order to assess whether or not you still have profit-sharing interest, and attorney would need to review the profit sharing paper that you have along with any plan documents. In addition, if the company has been through any extraordinary event, such as a bankruptcy, profit-sharing rights could have been cut off. Often profit sharing is cut off when you leave employment. I recommend you find a corporate lawyer who has employment law experience. Most experienced lawyers in this area will be company side. Even so, a company side attorney is probably the attorney who will be able to give you the best analysis, but probably won't be an attorney who would sue your former employer. If you pay for analysis from the corporate side attorney, that person may be able to direct you to a plaintiff's employment lawyer for suit if necessary.... Read More

wh what ever money you invested personally is yours 100%. Any money that is matched by the employer depends upon the vesting schedule. If you meet the vesting schedule the matching money is yours as well. But money is deducted from your paycheck that is contributed is always 100% yours and any refusal to let you have this money is a violation of the erisa... Read More

Many employers have a policy that they will only confirm dates of employment, to avoid getting sued either because they give a bad reference and the former employee doesn't get the job, or they give a good reference and the former employee winds up embezzling millions from the new employer.  However, this is not  uniform, particularly in smaller businesses, and somea former employers do provide the reason for termination.... Read More

Absent an employment contract which limits an employer's right to terminate an employee, it can fire any employee at any time and for any reason not prohibited by statute (e.g. discrimination based on gender, race, nationality, whistle blowing in some jurisdictions, etc.)  Do you believe that you were discriminated against because of your race, gender, etc.?... Read More

You say the company "issued" an agreement, which is contradictory.  By definition, an agreement means that two or more parties have mutually agreed upon something.  If you don't agree, obviously  you are not bound, although I recognize that you may feel you have no choice because you can't afford to  lose your job.   Be that as it may, the agreement may or may not be enforceable based on many factors, but none of them relate to putting in a requirement of notice before quitting, or not specififying the disciplinary action which may be taken.  Contracts can cover any number of subjects, and the headings of various provisions are generally irrelevant. FYI, if the information is really confidential, i.e. a trade secret, employees are required to protect its confidentiality by law, regardless of whether there is a contract in place.      ... Read More

If the commissions have been earned, you are entitled to them and are not required to sign any other agreement.  Withholding someone's pay is a crime in New York.  Moreover, where an employer refuses to pay earned commissions, Article 6 of the New York labor law provides for the recovery of additional penalties beyond just the commissions owed.... Read More

Do you have a contract which specifies how much you must be paid and for how long you must be employed, or otherwise limiting your employer's right to fire you?  Do you believe that your pay was cut for some reason prohibited by statute (e.g. race, gender, religion, etc.?)  If not, you have no guarantees that the terms of your employment will remain the same.  Your employer is essentially telling you that it is no longer willing to pay you the same compensation, which, assuming your answer to the above questions was no, it has every right to do.  You have the choice of whether to accept the new compensation your employer is offering or quitting.... Read More

If you are being paid as a tipped employee, you must be eligible to receive tips. Employers must provide employees with more information before claiming a tip credit. If proper notice is not given, the employer will not be able to use a tip credit. The notice does not have to be in writing, but smart employers will want to document that they have complied with the law. A tipped employee must now be provided with the following information, before the employer takes a tip credit:     1.  The amount of the cash wage the employer pays the employee, which must be at least $2.13 per hour;     2.  The additional amount the employer is using as a credit against tips received, which cannot exceed the difference between the minimum wage ($7.25) and the actual cash wage paid by the employer to the employee;     3.  That the additional amount claimed by the employer on account of tips as the tip credit may not exceed the value of the tips actually received by the employee;     4.  That the tip credit cannot be applied to any tipped employee unless the employee has been informed of the tip credit provisions of the FLSA; and     5.  That all tips received by the tipped employee must be retained by the employee, except for valid pooling of tips.        http://www.orlandoovertimepay.com/Articles/tip-credit-overtime-under-FLSA.html  ... Read More

In Florida, for a non-compete to be enforceable, it has to be reasonable in both time and geography.  Fifty miles would probably be reasonable, but I don't know if there's a time provision.  Also, the "remote" portion may give you some room.  Long short, given the potential risks, I'd say it would be worth the time and a few bucks to hire an attorney to review and sit down with you to get all of the details together so you can get a full assessment of your potential liability, if any.... Read More

Many players get paid more than their coach, and coaches get paid more than general managers.  An employer can pay an employee any amount they agree upon (assuming minimum wage, overtime, and such laws are complied with) UNLESS you either have a contract, either individually or through a union, which provides that you (or your class of employees as a whole) will be paid more than a person in a lesser position OR you are being discriminated against for a reason which is prohibited by statute, e.g. age, race, gender, religion, etc.... Read More