Answers Posted By Jeremiah Meyer-O'Day

Answer to Non compete

If it is true that the non-compete you signed contained no geographic restriction, it is very likely unenforceable, unless your employer can claim that a nationwide restrictive covenant is reasonably necessary to protect their legitimate interests, which are not the same as all of their business interests; for instance, every business has an interest in not having competition at all, but that is not a protectible interest in many cases. I don't see that you're any obligation to tell them anything at all if you have left them or will shortly be doing so, but you may want to consult with an employment lawyer to see what it would cost to have that lawyer draft you a letter on the lawyer's letterhead to your employer explaining exactly why the non-compete isn't worth the paper it is written on, if it is true that a nationwide geographic restriction is not reasonable, as it likely isn't.

posted Jun 12, 2018 9:34 PM [EST]

Answer to My husband is a union heavy equipment operator and every winter he gets laid off due to cold weather. We've had a horrible year as far as work for him (I am disabled) the one job he had during summer/fall got shut down by osha for safety violations. He st

Whether he qualifies for unemployment depends on whether he has managed to make enough during each of the five calendar quarters preceding his claim to meet the minimum threshold for income during his base period. This is highly fact dependent, as the language of the statute requires that you make at least four times your weekly benefit rate across at least three of the quarters which do not represent the quarter in which you made the most, that you have to qualify for a weekly benefit rate at the minimum level, and that you have to have made 35 times your weekly benefit rate across four of the five quarters. So, at present, the minimum weekly benefit rate is $54, meaning that the amount of wages required in the highest-paid of the last five quarters is $1350, you must have made at least $1890 across four of the last five quarters, and you must have at least $219 in income in each of the quarters other than the highest-paid quarter.

posted Dec 17, 2017 11:33 AM [EST]

Answer to under Wisconsin labor law can employers dock you if have a doctors note

The answer depends on what you mean by "punished." If the employer fired you, denied you a promotion, demoted you, or subjected you to an unfavorable transfer or something else of that nature, that would very likely be illegal under both Wisconsin and federal law. If, however, the employer merely refused to pay you for the time off, this is perfectly legal under both sets of law.

posted Dec 17, 2016 6:04 PM [EST]