Top 13 Workplace Legal Issues Of 2014

Your favorite columns on bosses, breaks, firings and pay

Donna Ballman

I'm so grateful to you, my readers, for asking me questions, sharing your comments, and reading my columns every week. I'm taking a break for the holidays, so I thought I'd share with you the columns that you checked out the most in 2014. Here's a recap of the columns covering the employment law issues that concerned you the most this year:

ObamaCare

1. The Little-Known ObamaCare Catch-22: You are concerned and confused about the Affordable Care Act, better known as ObamaCare, because every time I wrote about it, you read it. This column was about a concern I had about a gap in the ability to elect COBRA and the Affordable Care Act. It affected everyone who lost their job outside an open enrollment period. You spoke up and we got a partial fix, but the gap is still there.

2. 9 Out Of 10 Americans Don't Know This Secret About ObamaCare: If you got caught up in the gap, you have the opportunity to switch. Do you know your deadline? Do you know how to switch? I explain in this article.

How Not To Get Fired

3. 9 Ways A DUI Will Destroy Your Career: Before you drive on New Year's Eve, better know the consequences. A DUI/DWI will mess you up, career-wise. Here's how.

4. Can I Be Fired Because My Boss Knows I'll Be Leaving?: If you are planning to exit your job, but not right away, read this to make sure you protect yourself.

5. Does My Boss Have The Right To Ask For My Password?: If your boss demands the passwords to your office email or other accounts, can you say no?

Horrible Bosses

6. My Boss Kicked Me. Can I Sue?: What can you do when your boss gets physical at work? Lots of readers must have truly awful bosses, because this was a very popular column.

7. Am I Being Targeted For Layoff Due To My Age: If you think age discrimination is the reason behind your layoff or termination, then this column explains how to prove it.

8. Is Employer Nepotism Illegal?: Favoritism, hiring relatives and friends, and other nepotism are pretty common. When is it illegal? I tell you how to figure it out.

9. Can My Boss Make Me Assume Legal Liabilities For The Company?: Your boss demands you sign a contract that makes you personally responsible for company debt or other liabilities. Can you refuse?

Breaks And Leave

10. Can My Employer Force Me To Take My Lunch Break?: You want to work through lunch to get things done but your boss says no. Can they make you take a break? Best read this column before you say no.

11. Does My Employer Have To Pay Earned Sick And Vacation Time When I Leave?: Whether you quit or were fired, you earned that vacation and sick time. Do you lose it when you leave, or do they have to pay it? It may depend on where you live.

General Issues

12. ObamaCare, Handbooks, Benefits And More: Your End-Of-Year Career Checklist: You've clearly been paying attention and want to make sure you're ready for 2015, because many of you have read this column already. If you want to have a great 2015, career-wise, here's your checklist.

13. Employment Law: What To Do When Your Boss Is Violating Your Rights: One of my most popular columns was another compilation. If you want to see more columns covering your legal rights at work, this is a good place to start.

Have a safe New Year's Eve and a wonderful New Year! Join me again in 2015 for more on your rights at work.      

For the New Year, Skip Resolutions--Make Goals

5 tips to nail your career in 2015

Susan P Joyce

I've been thinking about what resolutions I should make for the new year, and, as usual, I can list many things: get healthier, become better organized, write a book (or three), and on and on and on... Basically, pretty much the same things every year. And every year, like most resolution-makers, I usually fail/forget before January 7.

So, I'm trying to find a better way to implement necessary self-improvement for 2015, and I think I found it.

Instead of a new year's resolution, set a new year's goal for your career in 2015!

What do you most want to accomplish in your career? If you are unemployed, you probably want a good job. If you are employed, you may want a better job - more money, a nicer boss, better working conditions. All are worthy and attainable goals, but they seldom happen automatically without planning and effort!

Here are some possible goals for 2015:

1. Figure out what you want next in your career.
Knowing what you want next is a major accomplishment and a very worthy goal! It is the basis of everything - from your career path to choosing your next employer or earning a certification or degree. When it comes to something as important as your career, take time to do some thinking and reflection. Read the classic career book "What Color Is Your Parachute?" If your library has only one book about careers, this is the one - for good reason. Be sure to do all the exercises in the book. Like millions of others, you'll find them very helpful.

After you've read Parachute, spend at least an hour, maybe two or more hours (you're worth it!), figuring out where you want to be in the future. That old saying about "not being able to see the forest for the trees" is about being buried too deeply in life's daily details to see "the big picture." Reading Parachute and then taking the time to think about your career is a very good way to see what is really going on, what your big picture is - or what you want it to be in the future.

If you finish this goal early in the year, you can add another goal (or two! See below)!

2. Create a list of your ideal next employers.
If you know what you want to do next (and even if you don't know), explore the employment options available to you. What are your selection criteria - location, industry, size, or something else? Think about where you and friends and family have been happiest working. Or, where you think you would have the best possibility of future growth. Research your options online. MapQuest and Google Maps are two great ways to identify employers.

3. Expand your professional network so that you will have more options in your next job search.
This may mean bringing your LinkedIn profile up to the 500+ connections level and becoming more active in LinkedIn groups related to your job and career goals. Outside of LinkedIn, consider joining a national association related to your profession (or your target profession). Employee referrals are employers' favorite method of filling jobs - you are five times more likely to be hired if you are referred by an employee than if you simply submit a resume or application.

4. Become more active in the local community to expand your local network.
To meet more people in your community, join the local chapter of a professional or industry association related to your career goals or volunteer for a non-profit in an appropriate role (like being an officer in the parents' organization for your kids' school). You could also go to your high school or college reunion. I met many interesting and influential people helping my PBS station with their annual fund-raising.

5. Learn something new that will help you in your career.
Perhaps you have a gap in your knowledge or the requirements for your next step up the career ladder or the salary scale. Make your goal for this year to - at a minimum - get started meeting that requirement. If possible, meet that requirement. Perhaps the goal is learning one skill: improving your understanding of effective email marketing, getting a law degree, or creating beautiful watercolor landscapes. Once you have learned that skill, use it as much as possible, inside your job or outside of it in your personal life or networking activities, to gain experience and confidence.

What are your goals for 2015?

The list above represents only a few possible goals for your career in 2015. Think about how you would like to be positioned for 2016, and create your own goal if none of the examples above work for you. Then, set your goal(s) for 2015, and go for it! Or, you'll be in the same spot next year that you are now.    

Ask Jack: Holiday Time at the Office + Job of the Week

Holidays can mean humbug at the office. Tell Jack your troubles.

Jack Silbert

Loyal AOL Jobs reader Kate says:

I've got a work-related question. I spent 6 hours baking for an event at work. What's wrong with me?

I don't know that there's necessarily anything wrong with you, Kate (though perhaps you should be in a baking-related profession). The holidays mean spending entirely too much time -- personal and business -- on festive office events: baking, Secret Santa shopping, standing around with a plastic cup pretending to be "merry," etc. I imagine you are someone who really throws yourself into projects (i.e. not satisfied picking up a package of Oreos on your way into work and calling it a day), so that only compounds matters. My only advice: multi-tasking. Bake one big batch that can be used for the office party, your idiot neighbor's holiday open house, and don't forget to keep some for your own family. Same goes for shopping trips. And don't worry, it'll be miserable January before you know it.

Meanwhile, Elyse says:

'Tis the season when people at my job are always offering me food and I have to explain that unless I know the ingredients I can't eat it due to my allergy. This is always followed by them continuing to force the food on me, then acting offended that I won't eat it. So even when I say I could DIE they make it all about them! What else can I do?

Look, I know Kate is pretty sensitive, but she'll get over it. There's definitely some weird psychological mojo attached to homemade food. It's not just some ingredients that were stirred together and put in the oven, it's a treasured family recipe and the kitchen was the only time I ever really truly connected with grandma and I am offering you my SOUL and you dare refuse it, you animal?!?! Plus, there may be some pent-up frustration out there about the vegan, gluten-free, lactose-intolerant, low-sodium, free-range, anti-GMO world we now live in. Can you fake a big ol' smile, Elyse? Just pleasantly explain that it LOOKS absolutely delicious and you WISH you could eat it but the last time you accidentally ate the wrong thing, you ended up in the HOSPITAL. That last bit may not technically be true, but it gets the point across: This is a serious allergy. Which reminds me, 'tis also the season for open enrollment.


Do you have a work-related question for Jack? Write it in the comments below (better answers to this week's questions are also welcome!) or tweet it @AOLJobs with the hashtag #AskJack.

Jack's Job of the Week

Kate, I found you a job. As long as you're baking for six hours, you might as well get paid for it. So how about being a baker in Dallas, Texas? Or if want to find another way to make some dough, do your own search on AOL Jobs right now. Butcher, candlestick maker, and thousands of other great job listings!