Starting a new job can be exciting and nerve-wracking at the same time. In many cases, companies require new employees to sign an employment contract. This legal document includes information on salary, paid time off, job duties, benefits, and more. A contract may also include a “non-compete” clause. Essentially, this means that a worker cannot leave the company and go work for a competitor. These clauses protect businesses from employees taking specific information, skills, and client data and using it against them while working at another company. Similarly, a non-solicitation clause prevents a worker from contacting other workers at the same company or customers of the employer in an attempt to lure them to a competitor. It is imperative that an experienced business law attorney reviews these contracts in order to protect an employee’s rights.  

What Does “Reasonable in Scope” Mean?

A non-compete clause usually contains a restriction on time and geographic location, meaning if an employee resigns, he or she cannot work for a competing company within a certain period of time after leaving his or her present company. Likewise, the contract can include a mileage radius in which a former worker may not go to seek employment if he or she quits. 

A non-solicitation clause may include provisions addressing situations in which an employee leaves to work for a competing firm or starts a similar business on his or her own. It can also have a stipulation that an employee cannot ask coworkers to leave with him or her when departing the company to start a competing enterprise together.

During the Civil War, Congress became concerned that certain suppliers of goods were not being entirely truthful with the products that they were supplying. Because of this, the False Claims Act (FCA) was created in 1863 with the purpose of prohibiting any person, entity, or company from defrauding the federal government. Since its beginnings, the False Claims Act has been amended dozens of times. Currently, the FCA also gives employees of companies and other private parties the opportunity to file what is known as a qui tam action against a party who they think has defrauded the government.

FCA Liability

The FCA specifically states certain actions that are forbidden. These actions can include any time a person or party knowingly presents a fraudulent claim to the federal government, makes or uses a fraudulent statement in order to gain money or avoid paying money owed to the government, or conspires to defraud the government by getting a claim paid. An important element to establish under the FCA is whether or not the offender had knowledge that he or she was acting in a false way. The person or entity must have submitted a false claim or statement to the government with the knowledge that information in the claim or statement was indeed false.

Many states in the country have what is called “at will” employment. This means that an employer can fire an employee at any time for any reason. This can be problematic for many reasons, but thankfully, there are exceptions to this rule. One of those exceptions is the Illinois Whistleblower Act. This act protects and actually rewards employees who expose corruption, wrongdoing, and fraudulent behavior in their workplace. Many people fear employer retaliation, such as firing or demotion, if they are discovered to have reported issues at their companies, but the Whistleblower Act prohibits employers from doing so.

What Is the Whistleblower Act?

In 1991, the Illinois Whistleblower Act was created and enacted to allow employees to expose the fraudulent or illegal activity of employers, specifically government entities. The Act applies to all employers who have one or more employees and includes state and local government entities.

Prohibited Acts By Employers

According to the Illinois Whistleblower Act, no employer is allowed to:

When considering overtime pay, there are two different types of employees: exempt and non-exempt. If you are an exempt employee, your employer is not required to pay you overtime. When making determinations about whether an employee is exempt or not, employers typically look at the type of pay the employee receives, the kind of work the employee does, and the day-to-day responsibilities the employee has. Sometimes, whether inadvertently or on purpose, employers will classify employees incorrectly, resulting in non-exempt employees not being paid overtime when it is necessary. If you are not being properly compensated by your employer, you should speak with an employment law attorney to learn about your options.

Exempt and Non-Exempt Employees

The United States Department of Labor governs how employees are classified, and the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) sets guidelines on when employees are to be paid for overtime work. The Illinois Minimum Wage Law also sets statewide standards for how overtime is calculated and which types of employees are exempt and non-exempt from overtime.

Non-Exempt

Many workers fall into the non-exempt category. In fact, non-exempt is typically the rule, not the exception. Both the FLSA and the Illinois Minimum Wage Law state that when non-exempt employees work more than 40 hours in a work week, employers must pay the employee one and a half times the normal hourly rate for every hour worked over 40. There are exceptions to that rule, however, which is where the exempt employee status comes in.

In 1963, the United States adopted a law called the Equal Pay Act which prohibits sex-based wage discrimination. The law is an amendment to the Fair Labor Standards Act, and it requires employers to pay men and women equally for doing the same work. Not only is there a federal law prohibiting wage discrimination, but states also have their own laws dictating how wage discrimination is defined. Unfortunately, sex-based wage discrimination still occurs today, which is why it is important to understand the laws against it.

Equal Pay for Equal Work

Even though the Equal Pay Act ensures that both men and women are protected from sex-based wage discrimination, it was originally created to help fix the wage inequality between male and female employees in the workplace. The law has almost always been applied to women who were paid less than their male coworkers for doing similar jobs.

How the Federal Government Determines if Jobs Are Similar

The federal Equal Pay Act states that men and women must be paid the same wage for similar work. Their jobs do not need to be identical, but they do need to be similar. When determining whether or not the jobs are similar, certain factors are taken into consideration, including: