| Q: |
What do I need to include in my purchase order? |
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| A: |
Sales in Maryland are
governed by Maryland Commercial Law Title 2. This statute puts the risk
of loss on the buyer or seller for damage, loss, or defects. If you want
to be sure the seller bears the risk of loss, you need a purchase order
form that assigns the risk to the seller. That’s why most purchase order
forms have all that small print on the back. |
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| Q: |
All my managers are on salary, so I don’t have to pay
overtime do I? |
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| A: |
Under the federal Fair Labor
Standards Act, all employees are entitled to time and one half for hours
over 40 in a week. You must pay overtime unless you can prove an
employee falls into one of the exceptions. Managers (called Executives
in the regulations) must be paid on a salary basis. This means they
can’t be docked for taking a part of a day off. Managers must supervise
2 or more employees and spend most of their time supervising. |
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| Q: |
We have a policy on Sexual Harassment. What else do I
have to do? |
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| A: |
The U.S. Supreme Court says
you must effectively implement your policy. Key elements are: a
promise of no retaliation for making a complaint, an impartial
investigation, and a prompt remedy. If the person doing the harassing
is a supervisor, you will generally lose the case. Your only defense
is that it was unreasonable for the employee not to report the
harassment to you. |
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| Q: |
We are letting some people go. Maryland employees are
employees at will, aren’t they? |
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| A: |
You can terminate a Maryland
employee for any reason except a fairly long list of illegal
reasons. Many of my cases start like this. The employer lets a
salesperson go for lack of sales. The salesperson files a charge of
discrimination. The charge says she has a weak heart, and that was the
reason for the discharge. The best way to avoid this type of problem is
to talk through discharges before you do them. |
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| Q: |
It’s a good idea to list all employee benefits in the
employee handbook isn’t it? |
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| A: |
Under the federal law
governing employee benefits, employers are required to have a “Summary
Plan Description” for each insured (and many noninsured) plan. If an
employee doesn’t get a benefit he believes he was entitled to, he can
sue in federal court. If you don’t have a Summary Plan Description, the
employee will cite the employee handbook. The bottom line is; any
benefit description in an employee handbook is evidence for the employee
in a federal suit. |
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| Q: |
How should I pay my top people? |
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| A: |
The first step is finding
out what the practice in your industry is. Generally, you want the
compensation package to make top people act as if they owned the
company. One way to do that is to offer deferred compensation or bonus
tied to company performance measures. The IRS will let you do this in a
number of ways without adverse tax consequences. |
