Employment Contracts Legal Questions

There is no legally required maternity leave in North Carolina.  The only time a woman is guaranteed to get maternity leave is if she is qualified for FMLA and takes FMLA leave for her maternity.  However, only employers with 50 or more employees are covered by FMLA.  Technically the company could have terminated your wife and then forced her to reapply or perhaps not even given her the job back. If the company had FMLA, it could have forced your wife to use her vacation for that time period anyway.  This is a seemingly unfair situation, but at least your wife has her job whether or not as a new hire.... Read More

Our approach is long range. Our solution would be to work with the employer with whom you signed a contract in order that you not ruining your name for the future. We have seen that people in industries speak to one another. They speak about employees who signed on with company one and then moved to company two without properly telling company one. You, as an employee, do not want to have a bad reputation. We would recommend that you negotiate a proper settlement with company number one so as not to tarnish your reputation. You can then begin employment with company number two. If you need help with this effort, please contact us.... Read More

Kelso, thank you for your question.  I am a Fourth Circuit appeals attorney in Maryland, and I also deal with wrongful termination, so I will try to help.  I looked up your case in the US District Court, via publicly available online records.  It appears that you filed two cases in that Court.  Both were dismissed and consolidated into one appeal in the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals.  The appellate court affirmed the lower court in an unpublished per curiam opinion.  The appellate court's judgment was entered on December 22, 2014.  As a result, any petition for a writ of certiorari in the US Supreme Court must be filed within 90 days of that date (which would be March 22, 2015, which is a Sunday, so the actual deadline to file the petition is March 23, 2015). You may have a good-faith basis to file the petition, and my firm can help.  The lower court mentioned that you "implied" that the Board never issued a decision, but did not squarely allege this fact in your complaint.  The lower court was required to construe the complaint liberally, as it admitted, since you were proceeding pro se.  The appellate court did not address this matter in its unpublished per curiam opinion.  Since the lower court was expressly able to notice the implication, perhaps it should have construed the complaint accordingly.  So, if the failure of the Board to have issued a decision impacted the date that the statute of limitations began to run, then you may have grounds to file the cert petition. A cert petition requires a lot of work by an attorney.  It is not a simple matter, and should not be attempted by a non-lawyer, even if the non-lawyer is as driven, intelligent and capable as you clearly are.  It is not a reflection on you, but just the reality of the complexity of appellate litigation. Feel free to contact my firm.  I can help.... Read More

An attorney would need to review the terms of the non-compete agreement and find out more details about your new job in order to advise you.  Some non-competes are unenforceable, if they are overly broad.   This answer is given in accordance with the laws of Virginia and may not be applicable in any other state.  It should not be construed as legal advice, as that would require a more thorough analysis of all of the facts involved in a specific case.  If you need further information or assistance, please feel free to contact my office for a consultation. Case results depend upon a variety of factors unique to each case. Case results do not guarantee or predict a similar result in any future case.  ... Read More

The devil is in the details. please prepare a timeline of what happened. please set forth the legal documents. my concern is that you will spend your hard earned money moving the wrongful termination. I would not spend my hard-earned money proving termination. How much are your damages? How much did you lose? Would you be willing to spend $5000 on attorney to obtain the lost money?... Read More

You have set for us multiple complex legal issues. Initial question is whether or not you are an employee? Are you an employee? Are you an independent contractor? Do you receive a W-2? Do you receive a 1099?are you an exempt employee? I would recommend that you hire us or another labor law firm to research these issues and to provide you with a written legal opinion. Without the proper research, any answer would be a guess.... Read More

You have set forth many complex issues. To properly answer these issues, I would need to review the employee manual. The employee manual would set forth the terms and conditions of employment. We would then be able to determine if the terms and conditions meet the legal requirements. I would recommend that you provide us with the employee manual.I would recommend that you hire us or another labor law firm to examine the issues and give you a written opinion as to the merits of the respective positions. Please call to discuss. Ed Dimon... Read More

This is completely legal and this is the standard in major corporations. The email server and the email system belong to the employer. The access and information and data on the email server belong to the employer. Many Large companies monitor the activity on the email server to ensure there is no inappropriate conduct. This is legal. ... Read More

You are in a difficult position. To be successful, you may have to bring a legal action against your  Employer.This is very expensive. In addition, there can be a stigma against your for bringing action against employer. You need to decide if you want to bring a civil action against  your employer. You have the legal cost. You have the issue of the stigma.  Please call to discuss.... Read More

Generally, any deduction from pay is unlawful unless it is in writing signed by the employee and states the specific amount of the deduction.  If you have signed an agreement that meets those requirements, it is very likely that the employer can deduct it from your final wages.  However, even if the employer cannot treat it as a deduction, they can certainly come after you for the money as a debt.... Read More

Key to receiving overtime payments is that you are not an exempt employee. Exempt employees do not receive overtime. Exempt employees are paid a salary to do the work and however many hours are required, those hours are covered by the salary. A good example of exempt employees are tacticians that fix computers or programmers that fix failed programs. You can speak with the New Jersey Department of labor to determine if you are an exempt employee and to determine if you are entitled to overtime. If you become frustrated by the process, please call and we can help. Ed Dimon... Read More

Your wife needs to speak with an employment attorney who handles wage and hour issues immediately. Her employer may be violating the law by requiring her to be on call and only paying her as little as it is. My office handles these types of issues. Feel free to contact my office for a free consultation. We represent employees throughout the state of Ohio with employment law issues.   Ohio wage and hour attorney www.mcoffmanlegal.com ... Read More

Employer has the option to change the terms and conditions of work if one is at work in New Jersey which is an at will employment state. This means that the employee works at the will of the employer. Your second issue is unemployment compensation. You need to determine if you have a sufficient number of weeks at work to obtain unemployment compensation. You need also to determine if your actions permit you to qualify for unemployment compensation.... Read More

It doesn't state in the original contract that you have to repay the severance compensation, but it also doesn't say that you will be employed at a different position.  Your former employer is doing something it is not obligated to do - offering you a new position.  It has every right to condition that offer on you doing something for it - for example, requiring that you acquire additional training or, in this case, that you repay your severance package.  However, of course you can negotiate the amount, or any other term, until and unless you have reached an agreement.... Read More