We were quoted in today’s Newsday! Check out the article below:

DEAR CARRIE: I work for a large insurance company in Manhattan. Many departments have had informal work-at-home policies since superstorm Sandy, when our offices were flooded. The company is now instituting a formal work-at-home program, since we will be moving to a smaller space with no personal desks. So we will be required to work from home several days a week. We have to sign an agreement laying out the rules for working at home.

I have questions about the legality of two aspects of the agreement: Can the company legally conduct surprise inspections of our home workspaces? And if company equipment such as a laptop is stolen from our homes, can our employer make us replace it at our own cost? – Home, Sweet Office

DEAR HOME: As to your first point, your employer can conduct surprise inspections if it has your written permission, said employment attorney Sheree Donath [  ].

“In order to have such right, the employer must obtain the consent of the employee and does so in a written telecommuter agreement,” Donath said.

Though the inspections seem intrusive, companies have reasons for inspecting their employees’ home offices, said Donath, who noted the following from the website of the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration, which oversees workplace safety:

“Employers are responsible in home worksites for hazards caused by materials, equipment, or work processes which the employer provides or requires to be used in an employee’s home.”

Yet the agency doesn’t inspect home offices and doesn’t require companies to do so, she said.

But employers conduct inspections because they may still be liable for unsafe working conditions in an employee’s home, as well as any workers’ compensation claims, Donath said. “For this reason, many employers include in agreements with their employees that they have the right to inspect the home.”

The inspections would be illegal if a company uses them to target a certain group of employees, she said. For example, “it cannot require all women employees to agree to allow surprise inspections of their home-based offices and not require the same of men.”

As with any agreement, an employee may be able to request more satisfactory terms, Donath said. “The employee is free to negotiate the inspections with the employer; so maybe instead of surprise inspections, the employer will agree to biannual inspections.”

Or she said the company might agree to provide the employee with a packet of information, including a checklist of the employer’s health and safety concerns, that the employee can use as a guide to resolve any problems.

Regarding your question about whether your employer can make you pay for company equipment stolen from your home, state law generally prohibits employers from deducting such costs from employees’ wages and from demanding separate payments to cover such costs. Your employer may be able to fire you for such a loss, but it can’t take that cost out of your wages.
Donath notes that such losses may be covered under your homeowner insurance policy.

Go to bit.ly/LIoffice for more on OSHA regulations regarding home offices.

Column by CARRIE MASON-DRAFFEN

We were recently quoted in Newsday.

DEAR CARRIE: My daughter-in-law works as a social worker for an agency. For 18 months she treated patients in the office. Recently, her office-based position was terminated and she was assigned to treat patients in their homes. This was considered a new position, and she received a small raise, which she doesn’t care about. She walks alone to patients’ apartments in some rough areas. She remains in their residences for up to an hour, and she feels unsafe. Others at the agency who were likewise reassigned feel the same way. If she quits, will she be eligible for unemployment benefits? — Worried In-Law

DEAR WORRIED: She may be eligible. It’s hard to answer with a definitive “yes” because the issue turns on several variables. For help, I turned to employment attorney Sheree Donath, [ ].

Employees generally qualify for unemployment benefits if they lose their job through no fault of their own, Donath said. On the other hand, employees who voluntarily quit their jobs are generally ineligible for benefits.

Those are the basic rules for unemployment benefits eligibility.

“Of course, there are exceptions, wherein an employee quits his/her employment and still collects unemployment benefits,” Donath said. “In those situations, it is determined that the employee quit with ‘good cause.’ Your daughter-in-law’s situation may fit into this category.”

The unsafe working conditions you mentioned may constitute a good cause for quitting, but employees have to make the case, Donath said.

“In alleging good cause for termination, the employee must first have made good-faith efforts to try and resolve the concerns,” she said. “That means that before quitting, you must report the concerns to your employer (i.e. your supervisor, management and/or through any internal grievance hotline), and your employer must fail to resolve the issue.”

Not making that effort could be costly.

“Without attempting to resolve the problem,” Donath said, “it may be determined that the employee did not have a true desire to remain employed, and therefore the employee may be denied unemployment benefits.”

Also, employees have little room for a good-cause argument when they accept the terms of a job, even some they later regret, she said.

It’s unclear whether your daughter-in-law was made aware of the new terms of her employment when she accepted the new role or whether she has objected to the new terms or requested a resolution of her concerns, Donath said. For example, has she asked to be placed back in an agency-based role or requested that someone accompany her to the residences?

“If she has not done so, I suggest that she reach out to her employer right away and request that she be placed back into an agency-based role,” Donath said.

Your daughter-in-law should put her request in writing — preferably by email so she has a copy of the request and any responses received. She should say in the communication that she is concerned for her safety, that others in her situation are also concerned for their safety, and she should list the reasons why she is afraid, Donath said. She may also want to include in the email a description of the effects, if any, that the new role is having on her health.

“By sending this email she may be able to change her current working conditions to one where she feels safe,” Donath said. “Also, if her request is denied, then she has [something in] writing to present to unemployment to show that she took steps to try and resolve her concerns prior to her quitting.”

Article by CARRIE MASON-DRAFFEN

DEAR CARRIE: A 21-year-old male relative is being harassed at his part-time job by his new boss. The young man has worked in this union job for close to five years, with all of his previous managers praising his work. The new boss, however, taunts him daily, saying such nasty things as “You are worthless.” Can he record these transactions? He is not the only employee being humiliated. Should he go to the union? — MEAN MANAGER

DEAR MEAN MANAGER: On its surface, this sounds like a classic case of workplace bullying. And believe it or not, neither New York State nor the nation has laws outlawing bullying in the workplace. Still, your relative may have plenty of options for stopping his manager’s inappropriate behavior.

I spoke with a career coach and a lawyer who shed some light on the problem and offered some solutions.

The contemptuous comments directed at your relative are some of the worst examples of classic overt bullying, said Glory Borgeson, a Chicago-area career coach and the author of “Not All Bullies Yell and Throw Things: How to Survive a Subtle Workplace Bully.”

Other overt tactics, Borgeson said, include using ridicule or sarcasm to put down a worker. Covert forms include telling that person his or her work is inferior but withholding information that would allow the person to improve, and creating a work situation that makes it difficult for the person to succeed.

Whatever the case, he should start documenting the inappropriate remarks now, Borgeson said.

“On a Word document, keep the file on a flash drive, not on your work computer,” she said.

And, yes, he should enlist the help of his union.

“When he meets with a union rep,” she said, “he should bring with him (1) copies of the performance reviews from his previous managers that document their praise for his work and (2) documentation of the bullying from the current boss.”

And he should also encourage other targeted co-workers to do likewise, she said.

As for recording the tense encounters, the young man can legally do so in New York without telling the boss.

“Save these files and back them up,” she said.

On a legal and policy note, your relative could find relief under state and federal anti-discrimination statutes or the company handbook.

For example, if the young man and other employees are being harassed because of such things as their race, religion or disability, they might be covered by anti-discrimination laws and could file a complaint under those statutes or could go through a company internal grievance process, said employment attorney Sheree Donath [ ].

If such a scenario doesn’t apply to your relative, then the next step would be for him to check the company handbook or union contract for anti-bullying provisions, Donath said.

If the company handbook doesn’t address bullying, a section on workplace violence, might, Donath said.

“While bullying is not generally physical, but more psychological in nature, there may be language in the employer’s workplace violence policy that can be extended to include your relative’s circumstance,” Donath said.

If all else fails, the young man should still consider raising the issue with management and the union, she said.

But most of all, she said he should act quickly “to halt the effects of his new boss and to end the psychological hold the new boss has over him.”

Go to bit.ly/libadboss for more on the definition of workplace bullying.

Column by CARRIE MASON-DRAFFEN

DEAR CARRIE: I have worked part time at a printing company for about 20 years. I was a regular hourly worker until about eight years ago, when the owner announced that everyone would become an independent contractor. Despite that, I still have to punch in and out, and I continue to get paid-time off, including two weeks of vacation and five sick days. Over the years, the company’s sales have slowed, and sometimes I wouldn’t get paid every week. A few years ago, the company was as many as six weeks behind on paying me. In January the problem started again. After two weeks of getting no paychecks, I had enough and told the company I wouldn’t work until I got paid. The owner finally paid me but said he wouldn’t call me back to work until things picked up. It is now June, and I am still not working. Am I eligible for unemployment benefits, and, if so, did I wait too long to apply? Or am I ineligible because I am an independent contractor? — Benefits Status

DEAR BENEFITS: The key question regarding your eligibility for benefits is whether you are an employee or the opposite — an independent contractor.

“Qualification for unemployment benefits depends on whether there is a true employer-employee relationship,” said attorney Sheree Donath [ ]. “An independent contractor does not qualify to receive unemployment benefits.”

The facts you have provided lean toward an employer-employee relationship.

Regulations that determine whether someone is an independent contractor look at such things as how much supervision, direction and control a company exercises regarding the person and whether that individual receives fringe benefits, Donath said. Those fringe benefits include the paid-time off you mentioned.

True independent contractors are in business for themselves, Donath said. They may have their own place of business; carry their own business cards; set or negotiate their own pay rate; offer services to other businesses, and are free to refuse work offers and may choose to hire help.

“You did not provide any facts to support that you were truly an independent contractor,” she said.

What’s more, a misclassification by your employer wouldn’t disqualify you from unemployment benefits.

Employees “may still be eligible for unemployment benefits if they are classified as an independent contractor,” Donath said.

Though you are probably an employee, you’ll have to deal with whether you in effect resigned when you refused to return to work until you were paid. Generally, people who qualify for unemployment benefits have lost a job through no fault of their own.

But Donath said you may have records that show you didn’t quit.

“If you have emails explaining the reason you stopped working in January and that you did not quit, especially if the decision for you not to come into the office was a directive from the company,” Donath said, “you should provide these with your application.”

If you do not have such emails, perhaps some other records or history of communications between yourself and your employer may help establish that you didn’t quit, she said.

Here’s the bottom line: She suggests that you file for unemployment benefits right away.

“You should explain to the unemployment office,” she said, “that your employment has been effectively terminated as there is no work for you to perform and that your employer has refused to provide you with hours.”

Go to http://bit.ly/LIemployee for more distinctions between employees and independent contractors.

Column by Carrie Mason-Draffen