Holiday Party Tips: Ho Ho Hold the Liability

Tis the season for Holiday Parties
You want to get your employees together for a bit of holiday fun -- but how can you share some holiday cheer without opening yourself up to potential liabilities.

The  Do's and Don'ts for successful & safe company parties:

Post-Incident Drug Testing

Cardinal sent out an email alert on November 7, 2014 regarding Oregon Ballot Initiate 91, which decriminalized recreational marijuana. In the alert, we advised reviewing your drug testing policies and following some suggested best practices. This article focuses on best practices surrounding post-incident drug testing.

Recreational Marijuana and the Employer

Ballot Measure 91 Passed. Now What?

On November 4, 2014, Oregon voters passed Ballot Measure 91, legalizing the non-medical possession and use of marijuana for adults age 21 and older.   The law goes into effect July 1, 2015.

See Oregon: Recreational Marijuana FAQ

 

Background: Should you still drug test? 

Oregon Health Exchange - Open Enrollment

Open Enrollment begins on November 15, 2014
Open enrollment for individuals begins on November 15, 2014 and is open until February 15, 2015.  During open enrollment individuals may buy a health insurance plan from the exchange for the first time or shop around for a different plan. 

Once purchased, the new plan can go into effect in as little as 30 days. In reviewing the CoverOregon.com website it appears that individuals shopping for private health plans will go to the CoverOregon website to make sure that they qualify for a non-employer plan.  If they do qualify they will be directed to the Federal exchange website, HealthCare.gov, to see if they qualify for a subsidy, shop for a plan and to purchase coverage. 

Veterans Day - What Employers Should Know

Employees who are veterans as defined by Oregon law and are scheduled to work on Veterans Day may ask for that day off. They must provide 21 days’ notice of their intent to take the day off and document their status as a qualifying veteran.

Upon receipt of the request, an employer must determine whether providing the time off would cause “significant economic or operational disruption,” or whether allowing time off is an “undue hardship” as described in Oregon discrimination law. If so, the employer is not required to provide the day off.

At least 14 days before Veterans Day the employer must tell the employee whether time off will be provided and whether it will be paid or unpaid.

2015 Oregon Minimum Wage

Released September 17, 2014 in a Bureau of Labor and Industries Press Release it was announced that the Oregon minimum wage for the 2015 calendar year is $9.25 per hour.


Print FREE Employer 2015 Required Posting.

If you have Employees with a minimum wage rate of pay with Cardinal, we will automatically make this adjustment January 1, 2015.

Have an Employee Handbook? - You need one!

What to expect.

The benefits of having an employee handbook are many. Employee handbooks are the perfect place to outline all of your company policies as well as benefits. This lets employees know what to expect from your company and what you expect from them. Policies covering anything from dress code to social media use can be discussed amongst management and documented in writing; that way when issues do pop up you won’t have to skip a beat.

Your handbook should clearly state that it is not a contract with employees.  Instead, it should outline your employment relationship while it exists in its at-will nature.

Although having employees sign off that they have read or will read their employee handbook is a smart move, the publication generally serves as a reference point when questions arise, so don’t worry whether your handbook is one page or a whole binder.