An employer in western North Dakota was hit with a whistleblower complaint (under N.D.C.C. §34-01-20) involving a report of a violation of wage and hour law and a charge of discrimination (under N.D.C.C. Chapter 14-02.4) alleging hostile working environment sexual harassment, quid pro quo sexual harassment, retaliation in the form of adverse employment conditions for reporting sexual harassment, retaliation in the form of discharge for participating in a protected activity, and discharge for participation in a lawful activity.  Fremstad Law investigated that matter and provided a thorough response on behalf of the employer to the North Dakota Department of Labor.  The Department found for the employer on all of the allegations. The entire matter was resolved quickly (within 35 days from beginning to end) and at minimal cost to the employer.

The Department of Labor has been much more aggressive in North Dakota as of late.  If you have questions about preventing charges of discrimination or need assistance in responding to a claim contact Fremstad Law at (701) 478-7620.

What’s the take away from Northern Excavating?  1.  Contractors beware.  Unless you are very confident that there is no room for attacking your lien amount, you may want to consider other options.  2.  Hopefully, the Legislature will be taking a look at cleaning up the Construction Lien statutes.  Clearly one doesn’t want frivolous liens to be filed, but the current procedure leaves contractors in a precarious situation.  Please contact the Fremstad Law firm if you have questions about Contstruction Liens or related contracting issues.

Erin started her legal career as a state Supreme Court law clerk and then moved into the private practice of law focusing on corporate contract litigation and product liability.  For the last five years, Erin worked at one of the world’s largest legal professional outsourcing companies specializing in contract management, review and compliance, and assisting large corporate law departments re-design their legal services.  Over the last five years, Erin designed, implemented and oversaw dozens of large scale document review and contract management engagements across the globe.  In addition to implementation work, Erin consults with clients to redesign their legal and contracting processes and invest in user-friendly technology.  Over the past five years, Erin’s work has resulted in several million dollars in savings for multiple clients.

Erin will use her diverse skills to work with the Firm’s business clients and expand the Firm’s outside general counsel practice.

Ryan focuses his practice in Estate Planning and Commercial Transactions in North Dakota. He comes to the Fremstad Law Firm with a strong background in Wealth Management and Financial Planning.

Ryan is a native of Fargo, North yan Dakota. He received his BA in Communications from the University of North Dakota and his JD from the Rutgers University School of Law in Camden, New Jersey.

Previously, once paid time off was made available for an employee’s use, any unused portion of such time was considered wages upon separation from employment and was to be paid at the regular rate of pay earned prior to separation.

The newly added section of law, N.D.C.C. 34-14-09.2, specifies:

If an employee separates from employment voluntarily, a private employer may withhold payment for accrued paid time off if:

At the time of hiring, the employer provided the employee written notice of the limitation on payment of accrued paid time off; The employee has been employed by the employer for less than one year; and The employee gave the employer less than five days’ written or verbal notice.

The Act makes it unlawful for employers to discriminate based on genetic information in hiring, promotion, discharge, compensation, fringe benefits, job training, classification, referral, and other terms, conditions, or privileges of employment. Employers also may not classify, limit or segregate employees in any way because of genetic information that would deprive or tend to deprive an individual of employment opportunities or adversely affect their employment status. Employers are also prohibited from requesting, requiring, purchasing, or disclosing genetic information, except in limited circumstances. For instance, GINA allows covered entities to request or require “information . . . to comply with the certification provisions of” family medical leave laws and to conduct DNA analysis for law enforcement purposes. Retaliation against employees who exercise their rights under GINA, as well as harassment based on genetic information, is also prohibited. Harassment can include, for example, making offensive or derogatory remarks about an applicant or employee’s genetic information, or about the genetic information of a relative of the applicant or employee.

The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission has revised its required workplace posters to include the new GINA provisions as well as other recent updates to employment law. Employers can print free of charge a supplemental poster and post it alongside their other required postings. The supplement can be downloaded at no charge from the EEOC’s website at http://www.eeoc.gov/employers/upload/eeoc_gina_supplement.pdf. Alternatively, employers can print and post the EEOC’s November 2009 version of the “Equal Employment Opportunity is the Law” poster, which also is available at no charge on the EEOC’s website at http://www.eeoc.gov/employers/upload/eeoc_self_print_poster.pdf.

WSI has several programs including two newer programs that employers can participate in. These programs offer employers the flexibility to choose which programs will be most beneficial for them. WSI’s Safety Management Program (SMP) is designed to assist employers in developing or improving current safety management systems. A WSI Safety Consultant will conduct an assessment based on the SMP requirements and develop plans to assist employers in making improvements. Employers who successfully participate in WSI’s new Safety Management Program can receive a premium discount of 10%. WSI’s Safety Action Menu program is designed to provide employers with options to implement safety improvement programs. The employer has the option choosing the programs that will be most beneficial. Employers can receive a 15% premium discount by choosing to participate in a variety of (SAM) items that can each provide a 5% discount up to a maximum of 15%. WSI encourages employers to enroll in both the Safety Management Program and Safety Action Menu as both discounts of each program can be combined in the same premium period for a maximum discount of 25%.

If you would like more information or would like assistance with setting up policies or programs please contact us.