4. Becoming politically active to oppose an onslaught of proposed anti-business legislation and regulation (2016 is, after all, an election year) –
In the current Minnesota legislative session, among the more controversial proposals to impact employers, include:
- Outlawing an “abusive work environment” (i.e., bullying), and providing a private cause of action for employees to bring a lawsuit. While most employers oppose bullying in their workplaces, most lawsuits do not have merit, and this right to a private cause of action would allow employees to bring lawsuits for frivolous claims of bullying;
- Imposing fines on employers for discriminating against unemployed individuals;
- Preventing employers from providing different pay or benefits to employees based on the number of hours worked;
- Impinging on employers’ ability to set and change work schedules, as needed; and
- Providing for paid family leave, as well as earned “sick and safe time,” which would allow the employee to use the earned leave for absences caused by the illness or injury of the employee or the employee’s family member, or for domestic abuse, sexual assault, or stalking of the employee or the employee’s family member.
Employers who oppose these intrusions into their operations should resolve to become active in their local business groups in 2016 and otherwise contest these and other similar pieces of legislation.
