Attorney Philip J. Siegel, with construction boutique law firm Hendrick, Phillips, Salzman & Siegel with offices in Georgia and Pennsylvania, specializes in electrical contractor employment issues. He presents three sessions at SPARK and each is designed to provide electrical contractors with key information to prevent or lessen legal issues. 

“I’m in a push right now getting trade contractors to review their contracts,” Philip says. “Electrical contractors could do themselves a whole lot of good by conditioning their bids or proposals on the AIA [American Institute of Architects] A401 when they’re bidding to a general contractor. That’s a fair and equitable contract. Then if the general contractor has its own form, we can say our price was based on the risks inherent in the A401; you’re asking us to take on more risk so we need to negotiate.” 

In Killer Contract Clauses, Philip presents real case scenarios where less than ideal contracts prevented a contractor from receiving payments, seeking compensation, or collecting on insurance. He provides contract solutions that prevent some of the most common occurrences. Presentation slides show typical contract ‘trouble’ areas and suggested language changes to better protect electrical contractors. 

Similarly, in The Top 10 Employment Mistakes session, Philip digs into how properly classifying employee or independent contractor, understanding how to address an employee suffering from a medical condition or injury, defining compensable pay situations, knowing steps to take in line with OSHA’s new walkaround rule, and ensuring you have written job descriptions that identify job responsibilities can minimize legal issues when you know the law. 

“Mistakes are made when you don’t understand the law surrounding employment issues,” Philip says. “For example, if electrical contractors act on their own with regard to the employee who is suffering from an injury or medical condition without knowing that it’s not permissible to do certain things, leads to mistakes. There is a roadmap for these situations, but you have to know where that roadmap is and how to follow it.” 

Another example covered is knowing how to properly effectuate a termination. The electrical contractor needs to provide the employee with a warning, document the meeting, and note that if there is no improvement, the employee will be terminated. If done correctly, they have solid defense against a charge of discrimination, Philip says. He plans to offer additional strategies to make contractors more aware and avoid making mistakes. 

His third session digs deep into the ‘Devil’s Triangle’ when an employee suffers an injury, either at work or on personal time. It is vital to understand the interplay between the Family Medical Leave Act, the Americans with Disabilities Act, and workers’ compensation laws, Philip says, so that you can take care of your employee properly while following the laws in place to protect injured workers. 

“Each of these three sessions is designed to offer you something to take back to improve your company,” Philip summarizes. “You are going to have an ‘oh, wow, I ought to try that’ moment and see that you are making some of the mistakes I outline. More importantly, I’m going to make it simple for you to understand and see the steps you can take next.”