This week’s letter is Z, and Z is for zero. As I have written here before, there is a lot of gray in employment law, so some black and white answers are refreshing every now and then.  Here are some employment law related questions to which your organizations answer should be:  zero.

• How many supervisors are handling information from medical providers relating to employee health information? (This should go through HR. Supervisors are on a need to know basis, such as knowing an employee’s job limitations. If the employee gives the information to the supervisor, which can happen, the supervisor should walk it down the hall to HR right away.)

• How many employees are there who are supposed to have noncompetes for whom you do not have a signed agreement in your file? (Audit this periodically. It is easier to fix a glitch or an oversight now than after the employee leaves and you hope to enforce it.)

• How many employees are telecommuting without having signed an agreement? (Telecommuting raises several potentially tricky issues – address those in a simple agreement. The same argument could be made for anybody working as an independent contractor given all of the issues surrounding misclassification of independent contractors.)

• How many employees, whether potential harasser or harassee, are in a position to say they were not aware of the company’s harassment policy? (This is important in defending such claims. Whether it’s signing off on a policy or attending training – both would be great – make sure you can prove that every employee is on notice of your policy.)