Dr. S hired M.L. as the new Office Manager. She didn’t have managerial training, so she relied on the practice’s employee handbook, which was older and not updated.

One employee, Emma, shared her wage with another employee, Sarah. The handbook had a policy that employees couldn’t discuss their wages.

M.L fired Emma. This led to a wrongful termination and retaliation claim, and an out of court settlement of $67,000.

Why?

The National Labor Relations Act (NLRA) contains a section known as “protected concerted activities” which expressly allows employees to discuss their wages, benefits, and working conditions with each other.

The NLRA prohibits employers from establishing policies that forbid employees from discussing their wages etc. In the case above, the office manager was unaware of the NLRA due to her lack of proper HR training.

The office’s old employee handbook had been DIY edited by the doctor, who had added the provision about not discussing wages. As they say: “you don’t know what you don’t know.” The doctor wasn’t a bad person, he just didn’t know about the NLRA.

A policy about not discussing wages is a canary in the coal mine: if we see that policy, we always see other policies that are out of compliance. If you have this provision in your manual, get it out immediately. We also recommend having your entire policy manual reviewed by a dental-specific HR compliance company, such as Bent Ericksen & Associates. Here is more information: https://bentericksen.com/hr-employee-policy-manual-or-handbook-review-service/

If you are interested in proper HR Training, here is a wonderful resource: https://bentericksen.com/people-power/