North Carolina, like many states, recognizes that employees owe a certain level of duty to their employers. However, the North Carolina Supreme Court has specifically rejected any independent liability for breaching such duty.

When it comes to reducing the time and expense of litigation, be careful what you wish for. Attorneys often advise employers to consider adopting arbitration clauses to settle employment disputes. With arbitration, no jury is involved; the case stays out of court; there’s no bad publicity; and it may be cheaper—or maybe not.

New regulations that gave the New Jersey Department of Education authority to review and reject pending contracts for top school administrators withstood a legal challenge from the New Jersey Association of School Administrators (NJASA).

Q. One of our employees who normally reports to another facility has been out on workers' comp and is now doing light duty in the office. Getting here adds an extra hour to his commute. I know we don't have to pay for his commuting time, but what about his travel expenses?

Q. We require that our employees to agree to resolve all disputes by binding arbitration, rather than going to court. I’ve heard some government agencies have ruled those kinds of arbitration policies illegal. I don't think that could be right, but thought I better check.

Under the Illinois Wage Payment and Collection Act, employees can sue their employers if they believe they are owed money, including promised commissions and the like. The law doesn’t require that the money owed be promised in a binding, written contract.

The union representing employees at the Pontiac Correctional Center has stalled closure of the maximum-security prison, at least temporarily. Livingston County Judge R. Michael Travers issued an injunction in November barring layoffs at the prison pending arbitration of grievances filed ...

Oral agreements concerning compensation and bonus payments can be enforced in court, and that can lead to tricky “who said what” legal problems. Those are problems you can easily prevent with the help of good legal counsel.

Q. It looks like it will be necessary for our company to lay off several employees. Can you tell me whether we are required to pay severance? If so, how much?

Sometimes employees who have agreed to accept settlements in return for dropping discrimination claims change their minds—especially if they believe the employer didn’t deliver everything it promised in the settlements. They’d rather ditch the agreements and restart the original lawsuits. They can’t.

If your business depends on solid client relationships, now is the time to safeguard those relationships with a restrictive covenant that prevents employees from jumping ship and taking customers with them.

During this term, the U.S. Supreme Court will consider employment cases concerning arbitration, pregnancy discrimination, protected activity and union fee use.

The U.S. 4th Circuit Court of Appeals has sent to arbitration a case against Blackwater Worldwide brought by the family members of four guards who were killed in Iraq.

Most employment contracts are written documents prepared with the assistance of an attorney. However, an employment contract can be oral, written, or partially oral and partially written. If an employer isn’t careful, it’s easy to unknowingly enter into an employment contract with an employee.

If, like many employers, you include an arbitration clause in your employment applications, take note of a recent California Court of Appeal case.