As employers struggle to pay bills and keep the lights on many have reduced staffing in human resources and accounting departments or bringing payroll in house which leads to struggles in paying employees correctly.  When these services begin to fail employers will find themselves in trouble with employee wage laws.    

An unfortunate byproduct of a poor economy is the reality that some employers will not pay employees wages when they leave their employment.  Minnesota law strictly states that under Minnesota Statute Section 181.14, that when an employee leaves a job, wages earned must be paid no later than the next regularly scheduled payday following the employee’s final day of employment, unless that payday is less than 5 calendar days from the final day of employment.  If this occurs, the final paycheck may be delayed to the next regularly scheduled payday so long as it does not exceed 20 calendar days from the last day of work.  This applies to all regular wage earning employees unless a collective bargaining agreement is in place.  Persons who earn money as commission or work as independent contractors are not going to qualify under this law.  However, another common issue that arises is employer misclassifying employees as independent contract when they should be treated as employees and receive regular wages via a Federal W-2.

Other common wage issues that can arise include failure of an employer to pay overtime, failure to pay for expenses such as mileage, employers requiring employees to work off the clock and failure of an employer to give breaks.  Additionally, some employers fail to take into consideration both Federal and State of Minnesota laws as they relate to overtime. Most employees in Minnesota should receive time-and-a-half for hours worked beyond 48 hours in a single work week.  However, some employees are exempt from these rules for overtime and may be paid a different overtime schedule under collective bargaining rules. 

Employees that are not paid properly should seek the immediate advice of an employment law attorney.  Lawsuits for unpaid wages are common and victims who have not been paid correctly can seek attorney’s fees and penalties in addition to the wages owed.  Minnesota law has what is known as a fee-shifting statute.  A fee shifting statute makes the employer responsible for paying for the employee’s attorney’s fees when a suit for certain types of violations of the law, such as unpaid overtime and unpaid wages, are brought before a Minnesota court. 

Any employee who thinks he or she may have been paid incorrectly should seek the advice of an employment law attorney.  An employment law attorney can break down the specific violations of the laws that have occurred and explain the law to the employee, write a letter to the employer demanding payment for unpaid wages, explain job protections against retaliation by the employer for bringing a wage claim and ultimately file a lawsuit if that step becomes necessary. 

Business owners are often concerned about protecting their ideas and products from being used by someone else.  No business owner wants someone else to profit from their good ideas.  There are four basic ways that business owners can protect their inventions and products under the law.  Most of the protections for intellectual property fall under Federal law, however, Minnesota law does have special protections for trade secrets.   

One way for a business owner or inventor to protect his or her inventions is by applying for a patent.  A patent gives an inventor the exclusive right to prevent others from making, using or selling the invention.  In order to apply for a patent an invention must be new, useful and non-obvious.  Patents are good for 20 years under the 2013 change to Federal law.  Applying for a patent is a fairly arduous procedure, depending on the complexity of the invention and business owner interested in applying for a patent should consult an attorney.

Business owners will also want to protect any trademarks that they create as a part of their marketing and branding.  A trademark is a distinctive sign used by a business or individual to identify their goods or services.  For example, a trademark could be a logo the business has created.  By applying for trademark protection a business owner can prevent others from using similar marks that may be confusing to customers.  

Another type of intellectual property protection is copyright.  Copyright protection gives the creator of an original work the exclusive rights to it.  This time period is the author’s life plus 70 years.  If the copyright is infringed upon the owner of the copyright can sue the infringer.  Copyrights are frequently used by authors and musicians to protect their works.

Business owners frequently want to protect trade secrets as well.  A trade secret is any confidential business information that is not known to the public.  Business owners typically protect these secrets through the use of confidentiality and non-disclosure contracts.  Minnesota law very specifically defines trade secrets under  Section 325C.01 as “information, including a formula, pattern, compilation, program, devices, method, technique, or process that (i) derives independent economic value, actual or potential, from not being generally known to, and not being readily ascertainable by proper means by, other persons who can obtain economic value from its disclosure or use, and (ii) is the subject of efforts that are reasonable under the circumstance to maintain its secrecy”.  Minnesota business owners can protect trade secrets but only if the business owner takes the proper steps to treat documents as confidential and notifies employees of the status.  

Business owners may find intellectual property rules to be difficult to understand on their own.  Additionally, recent changes to Federal law have changed the way businesses apply for patent.  Business owners interested in seeking intellectual property protection for their ideas and products should seek the services of a business law attorney, who can draft contracts, apply for patents and advise business owners regarding their rights.