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Published Thursday, April 23, 2009 in Local

Seminar focuses on employer rules

By Jeff Bishop

The Newnan Times-Herald

The work place rules have changed, and the sooner everyone gets up to speed, the better it will be for both employers and employees, said employment law attorney Luanne Clarke of Moore, Clarke, DuVall & Rodgers, P.C.

Clarke spoke at a Thursday morning seminar sponsored by the Newnan-Peachtree City Area Employers Committee and the Newnan Career Center.

"What we used to have, we don't have anymore," she told the approximately 120 attendees.

Failing to follow the current laws and filing the correct paperwork can cost companies thousands or even hundreds of thousands of dollars, she said.

Knowing the current rules and following them correctly is "such an easy way to save money," said Clarke.

The four-hour program was aimed at filling in local employers on the latest changes in federal employment law. The program was aimed primarily at supervisors.

Clarke and her associates went over insurance, Worker Compensation, the Federal Medical Leave Act (FMLA), and general legal issues.

One example of a prickly legal issue is company email, she said.

"There's this term we lawyers use, called 'electronic discovery,'" she said.

"You need to realize that any e-mail you send on company e-mail belongs to the company," she said. "Sending an e-mail on a company system or server is the same thing as posting a post card on the company bulletin board for all to see.

"It's like sending a piece of mail, and it's not just the intended recipient who sees it -- it's the letter carriers, mail processors and everyone in-between. It is discoverable."

If you're about to write an e-mail that begins, "I really shouldn't say this, BUT..." or, even better, "I hope nobody finds out about this, BUT...," then warning bells should start to sound.

"Pick up the phone, instead. Use verbal communication," said Clarke. "All e-mail is the property of the company. Is the e-mail something that you want your boss or your jury to see? It could come back to haunt you, even years later."

Rob Ryan addressed FMLA, saying that 14.5 percent of employees are taking some form of medical leave each year. In some industries it's much higher.

"Telecommunications, for instance, has 42 percent of its employees taking leave," said Ryan.

But an employer "cannot keep an employee from exercising their rights, or try to prohibit them in any way," he said.

Of course, employers don't want to be taken advantage of, either -- which is why it pays to be very familiar with the law, he said.

Employer Committee member Judith Carr said the first months of the Barack Obama administration have "brought about many more changes in employment law than the last eight years before," Carr said.

The seminar was intended to help supervisors and management understand how to comply with the law, she said, at a time "when our government is expecting the employer to be everything to all people."

The goal was also to help businesses stay within the law "and remain profitable, with all of this coming down," she said.

"What are we going to have to change to live within the law?" said Carr. "You've got to get the widgets out the door but you also have to follow the law. So what do you do?"

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