Alaska Employment Law

IRS Circular 230 Notice:  Most employee-side attorneys try to avoid giving tax advice, but many still  tiptoe into the thicket by saying (or, more prudently, writing) something like, “I think your attorney fees might be excludable from your income, and your back pay will all be taxable, but check with your tax professional.  I’m not a tax expert and you shouldn’t rely on me for tax advice.” 

Maybe we need to be even more cautious, and include the notice that commonly appears at the bottom of corporate counsel e-mails, the “IRS Circular 230 notice.”  I don’t see how adding that notice to the paragraph about confidentiality and privilege can hurt (though I suppose it does suggest that the author sometimes does give tax advice).  Rather than spending an hour to research the law, I’ve simply incorporated such a notice in my e-mail template. 

Here are two samples I’ve seen other lawyers use:

Sample 1

Please be advised that, if this communication includes federal tax advice, it cannot be used for the purpose of avoiding tax penalties unless you have expressly engaged us to provide written advice in a form that satisfies IRS standards for “covered opinions” or we have informed you that those standards do not apply to this communication.

Sample 2

IRS CIRCULAR 230 NOTICE: To ensure compliance with requirements imposed by the IRS, we inform you that any U.S. tax advice contained in this communication (or in any attachment) is not intended or written to be used, and cannot be used, for the purpose of (i) avoiding penalties under the Internal Revenue Code or (ii) promoting, marketing or recommending to another party any transaction or matter addressed in this communication (or in any attachment).

What to do about a new employee who’s subject to an old non-compete agreement:  When a company sues a former employee for violating a non-compete agreement, the company often sues the new employer as well.  One way for the new employer to minimize its risk is to include in both its offer of employment and its employment contract some language that disclaims any interest in confidential information, and/or that directs the new employee not to use any such sensitive information in her or his new employment.  The Texas Non-Compete Law blog contains sample language for both documents.  (Despite the suggestion from the title, that blog site has information that’s useful to attorneys in any jurisdiction.  It’s the only blog on non-competes that I know of.)

The foregoing assumes that the new employer knows about the old non-compete agreement.  The logically prior step is for any employer to ask about non-compete agreements as part of the interviewing process.

Truckdrivers and the FLSA:  The overtime entitlements of truck drivers are discussed in a series of posts on George’s Employment Blawg.