Homework Week 2 | HRM 320 Employment Law | Elizabeth Larson |
3/13/2015
3/13/2015

1. What do you think are some of the factors in the modern workplace that contribute to a theft of time? How can those factors be managed?

The development of newer technologies within the workplace has transformed work arrangements and habits. There are many examples of theft of time including sleeping on the job, taking a longer lunch, and even taking care of personal responsibilities during work hours. “Time theft costs employers more than $400 billion per year in lost productivity” (Donskey). One of the biggest factors in theft of time is the internet. Employees have easy access to the internet, from work issued computers to the use of smart phones. Unfortunately, with the use of personal cell phones, even with policies put into place to prevent and/or prohibit the use of cell phones during work hours, is usually not enough to stop many employees. Furthermore, these forms of theft of time typically go unnoticed by companies but policies and other means of prevention can be put in place to deter employees from such activities. Many companies block out popular websites, such as social media websites or some competitor websites. Also, computers issued by the company are company property and are monitored. When employees know their internet usage is being watched, they are more careful with what they attempt to access on the internet during work hours. To monitor hours worked, and when lunch breaks are taken, all employees are typically issued employee id numbers. The employees use this number to sign in and out of work and their time is tracked. This way it helps prevent long lunch breaks and makes sure employees are working during their scheduled time. 2. What does the word Whistleblower mean (legally speaking)? Give an example of whistleblowing.
A whistleblower is defined as “an employee [or former employee] who alleges wrongdoing by his or her employer of the sort that violates public law or tends to injure a considerable number of people” (Whistleblower). There are statues put into place that protect whistleblowers from retaliation from the employers they expose. When an employee does file a complaint on their employer, “Section 11© of the OSH Act prohibits employers from discriminating against their employees for exercising their rights under the OSH Act” (Whistleblower Protection Program). While federal agencies are monitored and respond to employee complaints, OSHA does not fine these agencies. Furthermore, state and local government employees are not covered by Federal OSHA but do have OSH Act protections, only if they work in a state that has an OSHA approved state program.
An example of a whistleblower is Edward Snowden. One of the most recent and well-known whistleblower cases, in June 2013 he leaked classified information from the National Security Agency (NSA) into the mainstream media. The U.S. department of Justice even charged him with two counts of violating the Espionage Act and theft of government property-punishable by up to 30 years in prison (Herszenhorn). Snowden is currently residing in Europe seeking asylum in various European countries.

3. "Retaliation" has become one of the most often cited reasons for employees filing charges with the EEOC against their employers. Please define "retaliation" in the legal, employment sense - and explain when it is illegal. What can an employee do when they feel they have been retaliated against and for what reasons does retaliation rise to the level of an EEOC lawsuit?
Retaliation or to retaliate, is defined as, “to do something bad to someone who has hurt you or treated you badly. To get revenge against someone” ("Retaliate"). In this case, it would be if an employee were a whistleblower against their company and if the company were to terminate said employee after finding out they are the whistleblower-this would be a form of retaliation. There are federal laws put into place to protect employees from any retaliation. When an employee files a charge, the employee is protected by law from any retaliation whether the charges are proven to be true or false. This is to preserve and protect the rights of the employee. When an employee feels they are being retaliated against, the employee must file a claim with the EEOC which would be followed by an investigation. Once the investigation is complete, EEOC will do one of two things. 1. If a violation is not found, they will issue the employee with a Notice-of-Right-to-Sue. This is a notice that gives the employee permission to file a lawsuit against the employer in the court of law. 2. If a violation is found the EEOC will attempt to negotiate a settlement with the employee. If unsuccessful, the case is then issued to legal staff or to the Department of Justice (in certain cases) who will decide if a lawsuit should be filed. If a decision is made to not file a lawsuit, the EEOC issues a Notice-of-Right-to-Sue (The Charge Handling Process).

4. During the course of a day, employee Jennifer Anniestown (an accountant) constantly opens and updates her Facebook account on her iPad, checks on her lottery ticket numbers, calls and talks to her mother for 30 minutes, her children for 10 minutes (she makes sure they get home safely every day) and her husband every afternoon for 15 minutes to see if he or she is making dinner that night. Her employer, Billybob Thornblower listens to each of her phone calls to make sure that she isn't talking to his wife, one of her good friends, about his actions at work. (He is always hitting on the salesgirls, in a good-natured way.) Billybob ends up being fired for sexual harassment when one of the salesgirls complains. Jennifer's new boss, Tracy, notices that Jennifer is doing a ton of personal work during company time. There is no written policy about this issue at the company. To date, Jennifer's work is exemplary. She always has everything done in a timely manner and her books balance at the end of every day. What should Tracy do about this situation?
Tracy could look into getting a written policy from the company that states employees cannot use computers for personal use and any policies on the use of personal time when on the clock. It may also help to state a limit on the use of the amount of personal time used during working hours. Furthermore, it could state in the policy that personal business needs to be conducting during their break time or lunchtime. Any excessive use of personal business during work hours can lead to the employee getting a written warning.

5. Last month, Steven Smith was hired as the secretary for lawyer Wayne Wright, who has a drinking problem. Wayne's last secretary quit when Wayne tried to get her to go out with him on a date. So far, Steven and Wayne have gotten along peachy. Steven is subpoenaed to testify in the harassment lawsuit of Wayne's former secretary, and says (under oath) that Wayne has treated him great, but that Wayne also admitted he had asked the secretary out on dates regularly and grabbed her inappropriately. Steven is telling the truth. A few weeks later, Wayne and his firm lose the harassment case and have to pay the prior secretary back pay and reinstate her to her job as part of the damages in the case. The firm terminates Steven so that they can put the old secretary back in her job. Steven asks you what you think he should do. What do you say?
The law firm in question cannot terminate Steven Smith without due cause. Rather than terminating him, the firm could place him in another position. “The reason should be job related, dealing with performance, attendance, theft, drug use, harassment, negligence, and so forth” (Moran). That being said, Steven could file a lawsuit against the law firm for terminating him for an illegitimate reason.

References
Donskey, J. (2014, September 16). Facts & Stats about Employee Time Theft. Retrieved March 10, 2015, from http://www.epaysystems.com/facts-stats-employee-time-theft/

Herszenhorn, D. (2013, July 16). Leaker Files for Asylum to Remain in Russia. Retrieved March 12, 2015, from http://www.nytimes.com/2013/07/17/world/europe/snowden-submits-application-for-asylum-in-russia.html

Moran, J. (2014). Termination. In Employment law: New challenges in the business environment (6th ed., p. 122). Upper Saddle River, N.J., New Jersey: Prentice Hall.

"Retaliate" (2015, January 1). Retrieved March 12, 2015, from http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/retaliate

The Charge Handling Process. (n.d.). Retrieved March 13, 2015, from http://www.eeoc.gov/employees/process.cfm

Whistleblower. (n.d.). Retrieved March 9, 2015, from https://www.law.cornell.edu/wex/whistleblower

Whistleblower Protection Program. (n.d.). Retrieved March 10, 2015, from http://www.whistleblowers.gov/