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Sweet marketing music

Tanner Montague came to town from Seattle having never owned his own music venue before. He’s a musician himself, so he has a pretty good sense of good music, but he also wandered into a crowded music scene filled with concert venues large and small.But the owner of Green Room thinks he found a void in the market. It’s lacking, he says, in places serving between 200 and 500 people, a sweet spot he thinks could be a draw for both some national acts not quite big enough yet for arena gigs and local acts looking for a launching pad.“I felt that size would do well in the city to offer more options,” he says. “My goal was to A, bring another option for national acts but then, B, have a great spot for local bands to start.”Right or wrong, something seems to be working, he says. He’s got a full calendar of concerts booked out several months. How did he, as a newcomer to the market in an industry filled with competition, get the attention of the local concertgoer?

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by Heidi Carpenter
August-September 2014

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Heads up: Time for HR audit as new state workplace laws kick in

As most of us were recognizing all of the great moms in our lives, Gov. Mark Dayton was busy on Mother’s Day signing the Minnesota Women’s Economic Security Act (WESA) into law.

Its supporters proudly point out the law makes Minnesota a leader in extending equal pay, additional parental leave and other benefits to mothers and expectant mothers. Its opponents claim it is overreaching in promoting one gender over the other.

Regardless of your opinion, WESA will impact every employer in the state and require significant revisions to current employee policies and practices.

More parental leave:

The leave under the Minnesota Parental Leave Act has been expanded from six weeks to 12 weeks of unpaid leave. It also permits expectant mothers to use the leave, or a portion thereof, for pregnancy-related needs.

This means that employees may be eligible to start this leave prior to the birth of the child. Employers need to comply with this as of August 1, 2014.

Pregnancy accommodations required:

Effective immediately, any employer with more than 21 employees must provide reasonable accommodations, similar to the accommodation process required for disabled employees under the Americans with Disabilities Act, to any employee for the employee’s medical or physical conditions related to pregnancy or childbirth.

Depending on the specific fact scenario, an employer may be exempt from providing accommodations, if the employer can show that such provision would create an undue hardship.

However, unlike procedures taken by employers under the Americans with Disabilities Act, an employee does not need to provide any medical certification (and an employer may not claim an undue hardship) to request and obtain the following accommodations: more frequent bathroom, food and water breaks, seating and limits on lifting over 20 pounds.

Clarification for nursing mothers:

Employers must currently provide reasonable, unpaid breaks and facilities for nursing mothers to express milk during the workday.

WESA supplements this requirement by clarifying that the facility provided by the employer must be shielded from view, free from intrusion from co-workers (and the public), and have an electrical outlet for employee’s use.

In addition, the amendment defines “employee” as an employee who has worked for at least 12 months prior to the leave, regardless of whether or not it was consecutive.

New protected class:

Effective immediately and applicable to all employers, an individual’s familial status is now a protected class for employment purposes under the Minnesota Human Rights Act; therefore, like race or gender, employers may not discriminate or take adverse employment action against an individual as a result of the individual’s familial status.

“Familial status” means the condition of one or more minors being domiciled with: their parent or parents or the minor’s legal guardian, or the designee of the parent or parents or guardian with written permission.

This added protected class may require employers to not only revisit its policies for current employees, but also policies and practices used in the recruitment process including, without limitation, the content of application forms and interview questions.

Expanded permitted use of  sick leave:

To the extent sick leave absences are granted to an employee, an employer must currently permit the employee to use sick leave for the care of the employee’s child (regardless of age), spouse, sibling, parent, grandparent or stepparent. WESA expands qualifying family members to include an employee’s grandchild, mother-in-law and father-in-law.

Safety leave:

Effective August 1, 2014, WESA amends Minnesota’s sick leave law to state that employees may use sick leave provided by their employer for “providing or receiving assistance because of sexual assault, domestic abuse or stalking.”

Wage disclosure protection:

WESA makes it unlawful for any employer to prohibit its employees from disclosing their wages to others.The law prohibits employers from taking “any adverse employment action” against an employee for “disclosing the employee’s own wages or for discussing another employee’s wages” that have been disclosed voluntarily. Confidentiality provisions in employment agreements and handbooks may need to be modified to avoid violation of this new law.

Equal pay certification:

With certain exceptions, private companies with more than 40 employees and that seek state of Minnesota contracts of at least $500,000 must first obtain an “equal pay certificate of compliance” to qualify to do business with the state.

Any private company that intends to bid on state contracts should start compiling the data, which will be necessary to submit to the commissioner of the Department of Human Rights to obtain an equal pay certificate.

Further, as a condition of receiving an equal pay certificate, the company must agree that the commissioner may audit the company’s compliance with the equal pay laws and that certain information will be submitted to the commissioner in connection with such audit.

In the event the commissioner determines that a company that has a certificate is not in compliance with the requirements, the commissioner can take any of the following actions: require the business to implement a plan to remedy the noncompliance, suspend or revoke a certificate, or after taking steps required under the statute, void a current contract due to non-compliance.

Because of the immediate requirement to comply with these changes and the potential for employment claims related to non-compliance, every business that employs individuals in Minnesota should audit its written employment policies, forms, agreements and practices to ensure compliance with WESA.

In addition, human resource professionals may need to receive training to ensure compliance of the new requirements.