I sat down with Karly Wannos of The Wannos Law Firm, to discuss behavior in small businesses that creates risk. She highlights the importance of education for both employers and employees to create a legally compliant workplace. Karly emphasizes the need for small businesses to be aware of their obligations under employment laws.
Takeaways
- Small businesses need to be aware of their obligations under employment laws, especially during the hiring process and termination of employees.
- Offer letters are important for setting expectations and obligations between employers and employees.
- Harassment has a different legal definition than its everyday use, but it’s important to take employee concerns seriously and address them.
- Document workplace issues and conversations to avoid he said, she said situations.
- Establish clear expectations and policies for remote work.
- Be cautious when classifying workers as independent contractors and ensure compliance with laws.
- Consider reasonable accommodations for employees with disabilities and engage in the interactive process.
- Narrowly tailor non-competes and ensure they are reasonable in terms of geographical location and time period.
- Develop soft skills like communication and empathy to reduce risk and improve employee morale and productivity.
Karly Wannos is a Florida employment attorney and the owner/founder of The Wannos Law Firm. She represents businesses with employees and helps make sure they are following the employment laws to maintain a legally protected and compliant workplace. Karly is also a Florida Supreme Court Certified employment mediator and workplace investigator. She provides on-demand trainings and courses on HR issues and employment laws.
If you are a leader, who cares about creating a positive work environment, this episode is for you. Available on Apple | Spotify | YouTube.
EMPLOYMENT LAW COURSES & TRAININGS: Karly has found many managers don’t know how to navigate certain employee situations that could put the company in legal trouble. For this reason, Karly created on-demand courses and trainings focusing on the most highly litigated federal employment laws to help small businesses, founders, and managers know how to respond in certain situations with its employees. [browse courses]
The Wannos Law Firm also offers comprehensive HR Legal Audits to businesses with employees in Florida. wannoslaw.com
KEY MOMENTS
- 00:00 Introduction of Karly Wannos, Employment Lawyer
- 01:00 Employees More Educated on Employment Laws with Social Media
- 04:01 Behavior that Creates Risk in Small Business
- 06:43 Unintentional Risks During Hiring + Interviews
- 09:55 Understanding Harassment Definitions
- 12:04 Importance of Documentation and CYA
- 14:10 Use of Company & Personal Devices
- 16:15 Harassment in Female-Dominated Work Cultures
- 18:49 What’s Retaliation?
- 21:33 Managing Dynamics of Remote Teams
- 23:47 Employee vs Independent Contractor
- 26:23 Exempt vs Non-Exempt; Salary vs Hourly
- 27:38 Reasonable Accommodations + Mental Health
- 31:37 Non-Compete Agreements
- 34:56 Critical Soft Skills to Reduce Risk
QUOTES
- “Social media can be really, really great, and it can also be very damaging at the same time.”
- “Both the employee and the employer really should be working together under the law to create a cohesive and happy workplace.”
- “Small businesses need to follow certain laws based on employee headcount.”
- “The legal definition of harassment is different than how we may feel emotionally about harassment.”
- “Documentation is very important because a lot of what happens in the employment law context is he said, she said.”
- “Male harassment can occur in female-dominated work cultures.”