Villaume & Schiek, P.A. Legal Blog

What Qualifies as Job Discrimination?

When it comes to the workplace, fair treatment should be the order of the day. Everything from getting hired for a job, to being promoted to a new position, to being demoted or even terminated, needs to be based on objective standards. However, that ideal has rarely been the case in a practical sense. Discrimination of one form or another…

The Position of Non-Competion Agreements

Protecting Trade Secrets Non-competition agreements assure businesses that employees will not be able to take the intellectual property gained while working with them and establish their competing companies. These contract clauses are becoming increasingly common as the economy becomes increasingly technical. Performance of jobs increasingly involves the use of trade secrets, specialized custom-written intellectual property, and devices. Employers argue that when…

What is Considered Discrimination at Work?

Workplace discrimination occurs when a person receives unfavorable treatment based on his/her gender, age, disability, religion, race, sexual orientation, pregnancy status or national origin.  Discrimination may affect hiring, firing, job assignments, salary, benefits, training, promotions and/or layoffs. No matter how large or small an employer is, he must know exactly what workplace discrimination is and how to prevent it.  Not doing so…

5 Signs You Should Consult with Minnesota Employment Discrimination Lawyer

Fair employment practices are vital in the modern business world. If managers and execs are allowed to make decisions based on their internal prejudices and biases, then the workforce will quickly become unbalanced toward those who meet the ‘have a beer with’ standard whether or not they are skilled and dedicated workers. Even if the biases are unconscious or “don’t…

Minnesota Law on Meal Breaks and Paid Rest Breaks at Work

From beach bars to international banks and everything in between, employers the world over have used rest and lunch breaks as ways to cheat their staff members. Young and old, entry-level or decades of experience, employer policies are not always in line with the law. And the variance is almost always in favor of the employer in terms of time…

What Are Your Rights as an Employer

Minneapolis & St. Paul Employer Rights Lawyer If you have employees, you need to know what your employee’s rights are. They deserve a safe place to work that is free from harassment. They can also seek legal representation if they feel like they aren’t being treated fairly. While most people only think about employee’s rights, the truth is that you…

The Rules Must Your Minnesota Employer Follow to Run Employment Background Checks

In Minnesota, employment background checks are considered serious business. Why? Because there are so many ways to unfairly use the power to background check against employees. Often to reinforce hiring biases or to deny jobs based on non-work-related details. In fact, the laws about when and how a Minnesota employer can run an employment background check and what decisions they…