Help Wanted: Employee is ordered to lobby

DEAR CARRIE: Our employer has asked us to contact our local legislators to urge them to vote down a bill the company opposes. I didn't want to do it. What's more, I don't support the company's position. Is the request legal? -- No Lobbying? 

DEAR NO LOBBYING: Unfortunately, it is probably legal.

"Maybe there oughta be a law, but there isn't one," said employment attorney Richard Kass, a partner at Bond, Schoeneck & King in Manhattan. "There is no law that prohibits a private-sector employer from compelling an employee to engage in political lobbying. It is legal for an employer to hire lobbyists, and it is legal for employers to require all of its employees to lobby legislators as part of their jobs."

New York law does prohibit companies from discriminating against employees because of their political activities, but the term "political activities" is "defined very narrowly" to include only running for office, campaigning for a candidate, or raising funds for a candidate or political group, Kass said.

"It does not cover communications with legislators about pending legislation," he said.

If you worked for a governmental body, the answer would be different.

"The First Amendment prohibits the government from forcing a citizen to take a particular position on a matter of public concern," he said.

Perhaps you can deal with the vexing issue by putting your spin on what you convey to the legislator. "The employee can tell the legislator, 'My employer wants me to tell you to vote "No" on this bill,' " Kass said. "The legislator may be able to infer that the employee disagrees." 

DEAR CARRIE: The payroll company my employer uses is changing over to electronic pay stubs. The new system will require employees to go online to print out their wage statements. Will the company still have to issue paper stubs to those people who don't have computers or know how to use them? Eight or nine guys who work for me are 70 or older and wouldn't know a computer from a pencil. How will they know if the stubs are correct if they can't get copies? I feel the online stubs should be an option, not a mandate. What recourse do the men have? -- Hard Copy 

DEAR HARD COPY: Exclusive online payroll statements are legal as long as employees can at least view them and print them out at work, according to the New York State Labor Department. So some of your guys might have to ask their computer literate co-workers for help. 

DEAR CARRIE: My daughter has been employed by the same company since October 2008. After working as an independent contractor for two years, she began receiving a regular check with all taxes deducted. But she still received no medical benefits or paid time off, even though she worked as many as 36 hours a week.

Her employer was recently taken over and she filled out an application for employment with the new company. At first she was told she would be entitled to benefits but then told she wasn't. Is she entitled to benefits? And is she allowed to ask for raises, or is she just stuck in a bad situation? -- Worried Mom 

DEAR WORRIED MOM: Employers by law don't have to offer benefits. But when they do, they have to honor the terms of their paid time off. If your daughter feels the company broke its own policy by reneging on a promise to offer her benefits, she should contact the state labor department.

Even if the promise was oral, it could still be enforceable.

"If an employer does not have a written policy, the oral policy (or past practice) may be enforced if the terms of the policy can be confirmed through an investigation," the department says.

As for raises, she can always ask. She has nothing to lose. Next week's column will look at that very issue.  Click here to read more on  politics and the workplace.

Click here to read  more on benefits and state law  on the New York State Labor Department website.