by | June 14, 2013 · 8:37 am

California Cracks Down on Wage and Hour Violations

Seal-of-CaliforniaCalifornia’s Division of Labor Standards Enforcement (DLSE) set some impressive records that should keep California employers on their toes when it comes to payment of owed wages.

According to the DLSE’s 2013 Report, field investigations assessed 462% more in minimum wages and 642% more in overtime wages than in 2010, and the DLSE assessed the highest combined amount of total wages and civil penalties since 2002.

The report highlights the Department’s notable achievements, revealing a narrow focus on enforcement of wage and hour laws.

Bureau of Field Enforcement

  • Highest amount on record of minimum wages assessed.
  • Highest amount on record of overtime wages assessed.
  • Highest amount of total wages assessed in nearly a decade.
  • Highest total amount of civil penalties assessed in a decade.
  • Highest amount of civil penalties for minimum wage violations in a decade.
  • Highest amount of civil penalties for overtime violations in a decade.
  • Highest civil penalty citation rate in a decade.

Public Works

  • Highest combined amount of wages and civil penalties assessed since 2002 for Public Works project employers.
  • Two of the three highest wage assessments for Public Works project employers in a decade.
  • Highest amount of civil penalties assessed in nearly a decade for Public Works project employers.

CALIFORNIA DEPARTMENT OF INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS JULIE A. SURather than random targeting of employers for easy-to-uncover violations that do little to address the underground economy, I emphasized meaningful investigations to combat wage theft.

Julie A. Su, California Labor Commissioner

California Department of Labor Standards Enforcement

The DLSE provides a wide array of essential services for California workers and employers, including adjudication of wage claims, inspections of workplaces, enforcement of prevailing wage rates and apprenticeship standards in public works projects, licensing and registration of businesses, investigations of retaliation complaints, and education of the public on labor laws. Our enforcement efforts generate substantial revenue for the state when unlawful employers pay penalties for breaking the law.

The DLSE investigates and enforces prevailing wage rates and apprenticeship standards for public works construction projects. Its Bureau of Field Enforcement (BOFE) conducts investigations of employers and assesses civil penalties for non-compliance with wage and hour laws, workers’ compensation, and other requirements. They target major underground economy industries in California such as:

  • Agriculture
  • Garment
  • Construction
  • Car wash
  • Restaurant

 

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by | June 7, 2013 · 10:42 am

Alabama Employers: Know Your Gun Policy Limits

English: Single Action Army at full cock

Alabama’s new guns at work law allows employees to store and transport firearms in private vehicles on company property. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Alabama Governor Robert Bentley recently signed a gun bill into law that allows employees to have firearms in their cars at work. The law also protects businesses from being sued for any harm resulting from the use of those weapons on company property. The law takes effect August 1, 2013 and will affect employers with locations in Alabama.

The law allows employers to prohibit its employees from carrying firearms while on company property or while representing a company’s interests in the course of business. The law, however, does not allow employers to restrict transportation or in-vehicle storage of lawfully possessed firearms and ammunition in privately owned vehicles. Any person with a valid concealed-carry permit can transport and store loaded weapons in their vehicles – on or off company parking lots and transportation routes.

Even without a permit, a driver in Alabama is allowed to carry an unloaded weapon, as long as it is not readily accessible. Alabama also recognizes concealed-weapons permits with other states.

Alabama is among nineteen states that have enacted “guns-at-work” or “parking lot” laws that limit employers’ right to restrict firearms on company property.

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by | · 8:00 am

Five Employers Face Court for Refusing Benefits to Pregnant Daughters

PregnantWomanThe National Women’s Law Center (NWLC) filed administrative complaints with the Office for Civil Rights in the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, challenging five employers’ health benefit plans that exclude pregnancy coverage for their employees’ dependent daughters.

Their complaints called out:

The NWLC is a nonprofit organization advocates for women’s equality. They point to a provision of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPAC) that prohibits sex discrimination in healthcare plans. The PPAC creates a nationwide insurance system and requires employer healthcare plans to offer coverage to dependent children up to the age of 26. The PPAC is the first federal law to ban sex discrimination in healthcare programs that receive federal funds.

The NWLC estimates 2.4 million women younger than age 25 experience pregnancy each year. If they are covered by their parents’ plans, the NWLC contends, their pregnancy costs would be included under the terms of the PPAC.

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by | June 6, 2013 · 12:55 pm

Maine Workers Comp Posters: Two Required Until June 30

Maine employers need to display only the Workers' Compensation posting dated 1/13 after June 30, 2013.

Maine employers need to display only the Workers’ Compensation posting dated 1/13 after June 30, 2013.

Maine decreased the amount of time employees have to report job-related injuries. Beginning January 1, 2013, Maine employees who are injured at work have only 30 days to report injuries that may qualify for workers’ compensation benefits.

For now, employers in Maine are required to display two separate Workers’ Compensation postings:

WCB-90 (dated 6/10) – For injuries occurring before January 1, 2013

WCB-90 (dated 1/13) – For injuries occurring on and after January 1, 2013

Both postings were included on GovDocs State-on-One poster for Maine. After June 30, employers should ensure that only 1/13 version remains on display.

 

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by | May 30, 2013 · 3:22 pm

Whistleblower Wins Big Against New Jersey Blood Bank

Court awards $2 million to terminated whistleblower.

CEPA posting EnglishA New Jersey blood bank employee alerted his supervisors that staffing schedules left serious gaps in available skill sets, including personnel capable of performing “cross matches” and other blood-screening procedures. The lack of qualified technicians created a potentially life-threatening situation for at least one patient who required a cross match from the Bayonne Medical Center blood bank.

The whistleblowing employee also pointed out that his direct supervisor did not have the requisite credentials for her job as set forth in the New Jersey State Sanitary Code.

Management ignored the employee’s complaint, but the unqualified supervisor learned of the complaint. Thereafter the employee found that he was being repeatedly disciplined and “micromanaged” for the two months leading up to his termination after twenty years as a staff hematologist.

After investigating, the New Jersey Department of Health substantiated the terminated employee’s allegations that the medical center’s practices violated state regulations. A New Jersey Superior Court found that the termination was an intentional act of egregious retaliation under the New Jersey Conscientious Employee Protection Act (“Whistleblower Act”).

In addition to paying the former employee $2 million, the medical center must modify its staffing plans and must reassign the under-qualified supervisor who retaliated against the employee.

New Jersey Whistleblower Act

New Jersey law prohibits an employer from retaliating against an employee calling attention to employer practices that the employees believes is illegal or that constitutes improper patient care.

The Whistleblower Act notice must be conspicuously displayed. Additionally, employers with 10 or more employees must distribute notice of this law to their employees annually.

The notice is included as part of GovDoc’s New Jersey State-on-One laminated poster in English and Spanish, along with the other workplace postings required for New Jersey employers:

  • Unemployment and Disability Insurance
  • State Wage and Hour Abstract
  • Schedule of Hours for Minors
  • Child Labor Law Abstract
  • Discrimination in Employment
  • Payment of Wages
  • Notice (Workers’ Compensation)
  • Family Leave Act
  • Conscientious Employee Protection Act (Whistleblower)
  • Conscientious Employee Protection Act (Whistleblower) (Spanish)
  • Smoking Prohibited
  • Family Leave Insurance
  • Employer Obligation to Maintain and Report Records

 

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by | May 23, 2013 · 12:15 pm

3 Lessons for Employers after Double-Whammy ADA and GINA Court Case

In the first settled case of its kind, a U.S. employer was found in violation of both the Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act of 2008 (GINA) and the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA).

Fabricut, Inc., a distributor of decorative fabrics, will pay $50,000 to settle a disability and genetic information discrimination lawsuit filed by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC). The EEOC enforces federal laws prohibit

Seal of the United States Equal Employment Opp...

Seal of the United States Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

ing employment discrimination. This is the first lawsuit ever filed by the EEOC alleging genetic discrimination.

Here are three key lessons employers should remain mindful in terms of hiring, promotion, and termination policies.

­1. Employers: Ask No Family Medical History Questions.

Employers should be sure they are not requesting information regarding family medical history at any time during hiring process or employment.

When Rhonda Jones’ temporary position at Fabricut was coming to an end, she applied for a permanent job. She received a preliminary offer from the company for permanent employment, contingent on pre-employment screening. The court ruled that Fabricut violated GINA by asking Jones questions about her family medical history during a post-offer, pre-employment medical examination.

“Employers need to be aware that GINA prohibits requesting family medical history,” said David Lopez, General Counsel of the EEOC.

GINA restricts employers from requesting, requiring or purchasing such information. GINA was signed into law in 2008, and took effect in 2009. Title II of GINA makes it illegal for employers to discriminate against employees or applicants based on their genetic information. GINA also restricts employers from requesting or obtaining genetic information, which includes any information about an employee or applicant’s family medical history.

2. No Loopholes for Third Party Medical Providers.

Requesting family medical history through a third-party medical provider or examiner violates GINA.

After making Jones an offer of permanent employment, Fabricut sent her to its contract medical examiner, Knox Laboratory, for a pre-employment drug test and physical. As part of the physical, Jones was required to disclose disorders in her family medical history.

EEOC Regional Attorney Barbara Seely. “Although GINA has been law since 2009, many employers still do not understand that requesting family medical history, even through a contract medical examiner, violates this law.”

Note: GINA does not prohibit health insurers or health plan administrators from obtaining and using genetic test results in making health insurance payment determinations.

3. Increased Enforcement Puts Employers’ Policies in Spotlight.

The EEOC is launching a coordinated investigation and enforcement effort as part of its Strategic Enforcement Plan across the spectrum of equal employment law, which includes genetic discrimination. Although this case is considered the first one settled under GINA, it also brought to light violation of the ADA.

As part of a physical examination on Jones, Knox Laboratory concluded she suffered from carpal tunnel syndrome (CTS). Jones’ personal physician countered that Jones did not have CTS, but Fabricut rescinded its job offer based on the findings of Knox Laboratory.

In addition to the GINA violation, the EEOC alleged that Fabricut violated the ADA’s prohibition against discriminating against qualified individuals with disabilities (or perceived to have disabilities) when it rescinded Jones’ employment offer based on the belief that Jones had CTS.

In addition to the $50,000 settlement, Fabricut will post an anti-discrimination notice to employees, dissemination of anti-discrimination policies to employees and providing anti-discrimination training to employees with hiring responsibilities.

Has it been a while since you’ve updated your labor law postings? Now would be a great time to make sure your employees have access to the most current workplace postings ­and save 20%. Order our convenient Federal-on-One poster that contains all postings required for U.S. employers. It includes the EEOC It’s the Law anti-discrimination posting.

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by | May 22, 2013 · 2:56 pm

Safety Plan for Bangladesh Backed by Global Retailers

bangladeshAfter immense pressure to improve working conditions in Bangladesh’s garment factories, some of the world’s largest apparel companies agreed to launch a plan to help fund fire safety and building improvements.

The recent collapse of the Rana Plaza factory complex last month that killed more than 1,100 people drew attention to safety conditions. The plan requires the Bangladeshi government to raise wages for garment workers and change labor laws that make it easier to form trade unions.

Before these announcements, Bangladesh had some of the worst labor practices and the lowest wages in the world, starting at $37 a month. While large global brands often used these factories, they deflected the responsibility for the safety and workplace problems.

European Involvement

This plan is endorsed by European retailers, H&M, Inditex, C&A, Primark, and Tesco. Helena Helmersoon, head of sustainability at H&M states,

“Fire and building safety are extremely important issues for us, and we put a lot of effort and resources within this area.  With this commitment we can now influence even more in this issue. We hope for a broad coalition of signatures in order for the agreement to work effectively on the ground.”

H&M is the largest purchaser of garments from Bangladesh and its endorsement of improving the conditions in Bangladesh is influential to other large global brands.

Philip J. Jennings, the general secretary of the UNI Global Union, an association of trade unions, claims,

“We call on these companies to do the right thing on behalf of the more than 1,250 textile workers killed in Bangladesh factory disasters in the last six months, including Rana Plaza, where the tragedy is still unfolding. This is black and white, life and death.”

American Involvement

PVH announced it would sign the deal that lasts five years and additionally will contribute $2.5 million to improving factory safety conditions. While GAP has been pressured to sign the deal with a online petition of over 900,000 signatures, it has yet to oblige.

Bangladeshi Government Involvement

Gowher Rizvi, an adviser to Bangladesh’s prime minister said that labor law changes are in effect and will be compliant with international labor standards and improve working conditions. Also, severance and retirement payment will be increased and all garment factor workers will receive equal annual welfare payments. Government officials are still working to set a new minimum wage for garment workers, which could take up to six months.

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