In this issue:

• Employer’s Options When an Employee Resigns on FMLA Leave
• Strategies for Conducting a Successful Benefits Enrollment Process
• Study Says Employee Absenteeism Hits Co-Workers Hard
• Secret Connections: LinkedIn Contacts May Be a Trade Secret
• Did You Know?

Strategies for Conducting a Successful Benefits Enrollment Process

The benefits enrollment process can be daunting for both employees and employers alike. While open enrollment is typically conducted in mid- to late-November, the benefits enrollment process is a continuous one that really goes on all year. Each time a new full-time employee is hired, a part-time employee becomes eligible for benefits, or a current benefits-eligible employee experiences a qualifying life event, employers need to be ready to initiate the benefits enrollment process.

The following strategies can improve the benefits enrollment process for both employers and their employees:

Creating an effective communication process. Make it clear to employees who can answer their questions regarding benefits and enrollment. This may involve conducting one-on-one meetings with each employee prior to or during the enrollment process, hosting office-wide meetings or training sessions, or sending company-wide instructional emails.

Taking benefits enrollment online. Online benefits enrollment allows employees to electronically input their own elections at a time most convenient for them, rather than a time that disrupts their workday. Employees have ample opportunity to review their benefit choices, check over their elections, and even make revisions if necessary. HRi has recently released an online benefits enrollment option. If you are interested in learning more, please contact Michael Leaf by phone (443-321-7740) or email (mleaf@hri-online.com).

Making resources available online and onsite. Providing easy-to-understand tools and resources helps lessen employee confusion during the benefits enrollment process. Keep plan information simple and accessible, and consider offering interactive resources like plan comparison tools.

Making employees aware of important dates as soon as possible. One of the biggest reasons open enrollment can be difficult is that the process is often rushed. Offering employees generous deadlines and sending out frequent reminders will not only keep employees happy, but is also likely to encourage more employees to enroll.

Overall, a successful and effective benefits enrollment process can have a dramatic impact on the relationship between employers and their employees. To discuss your current benefits enrollment process and how you can make it more efficient and effective, please contact Chris Rutzebeck, Benefits Consultant by phone (443-321-7738) or by email (chris@hri-online.com).

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Study Says Employee Absenteeism Hits Co-Workers Hard

Last year, the Society for Human Resource Management and Kronos conducted a study of the impact of employee absence on organizations and employees. Unlike prior research, this study focused on the impact absenteeism has on co-workers.

According to key findings, the party affected most by unplanned absences seems to be colleagues – as the study shows that their perceived productivity loss is most affected (29.5% productivity loss for co-workers in the US). Co-workers report feeling more stressed when their colleagues are out, especially when those absences are unplanned.

Absences, planned or otherwise, are going to happen. People have lots of legitimate reasons why they need time off – child care, elder care, illness, appointments, vacations, etc. Organizations can’t avoid absences completely, but there are things they can do to mitigate the impact of absenteeism in the workplace:

• Implement an absence policy
• Communicate the policy
• Encourage proactive communications between managers and staff
• Support flexibility
• Enforce the absence policy
• Provide incentives for excellent attendance
• Be realistic about absences during holiday periods
• Make controlling absenteeism a business priority

If you need to establish or update your current PTO/absence policy, please contact Jena Judd, PHR, HR Business Partner by phone (443-321-7708) or by email (jenajudd@hri-online.com).

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Secret Connections: LinkedIn Contacts May Be a Trade Secret

Over the last few years, ownership of LinkedIn contacts has become a continuing source of disputes. If employees decide, or are even encouraged, to connect with an employer’s customers on LinkedIn, must they “unlink” with those contacts when they leave the company? According to a California federal court, an employee’s retention of those contacts “might” be considered misappropriation of the employer’s trade secrets.

In Cellular Accessories for Less, Inc. v. Trinitas, LLC, the court was asked to decide, among other issues, whether to dismiss on summary judgment an employer’s trade secret misappropriation claim where the employer argued that a former salesperson’s LinkedIn connections with its customers constituted a trade secret. The salesperson, David Oakes, established LinkedIn connections with customers of his employer, Cellular Accessories for Less, Inc., during his employment. Upon leaving Cellular and starting a competing company, Oakes retained his LinkedIn account and all of his connections.

Cellular then brought its case against Oakes and his new company, Trinitas, LLC, arguing that, by maintaining his LinkedIn contacts with Cellular’s customers, Oakes had violated the employment and confidentiality agreements he signed with Cellular. In those agreements, Oakes agreed that he would not take “physically or electronically” any of Cellular’s “proprietary information,” including information regarding its customer base. Cellular argued that the fact that its customer information could be found on LinkedIn should not affect its claim that the information is a trade secret.

In opposition, Oakes claimed that Cellular encouraged him to use LinkedIn as a tool for garnering business, and that at no time did Cellular assert ownership over the LinkedIn accounts of its employees nor did it instruct its employees that the LinkedIn contact information of its customers could not be used without its permission. Oakes further argued that because his LinkedIn contacts were “viewable to any other contact he has on LinkedIn,” they could not be considered a trade secret.

Because trade secrets are generally defined as information “not … generally known to the public” and “the subject of efforts … to maintain its secrecy,” the court here focused on whether, and how, Oakes utilized LinkedIn’s privacy settings. While Oakes maintained that his contact list was viewable to others on LinkedIn and thus not “secret,” Cellular asserted that would not automatically be the case if Oakes had his account settings set to “private.” Unfortunately, neither Cellular nor Oakes provided evidence to the court regarding Oakes’s LinkedIn privacy settings and whether his account was publicly viewable.

As a result, the court decided that Cellular’s trade secret claim could not be resolved on summary judgment because “issues of material fact” remained regarding the LinkedIn information. According to the court, the issue was one for a jury to decide. However, soon after the court denied summary judgment, the matter settled, leaving neither a court nor jury to decide the issue over the LinkedIn account in this case and continued litigation in other cases.

While there is no perfect solution, businesses can establish practices to better protect their trade secrets.

Agreements and Policies. Frequently update employment contracts, non-compete agreements, non-disclosure agreements and social media policies to redefine trade secrets in the context of online networking and spell out restrictive terms and conditions regarding the use of various social media platforms. Specify that the accounts remain the property of the company.

Training. Educate employees regarding the proprietary and confidential nature of customer information located in social media platforms, privacy settings, and how to avoid unwanted disclosure.

Business-Only Social Media Accounts. Require that employees’ personal social media accounts remain completely separate from their business accounts, which should be linked only to a company email address.

Client Database. Establish a password protected internal database to which employees should add any client contact information that they obtain through social media or otherwise.

Employee Termination. Upon employment termination, voluntary or otherwise, terminate the employee’s access to business accounts.

If you need to establish, review, or update your social media policy, please contact Jena Judd, PHR, HR Business Partner by phone (443-321-7708) or by email (jenajudd@hri-online.com).