GovTalk

Applebee’s Contending with Alleged FSLA Violations

chauncestanton — Mon, 30 Jan 2012 12:00:31 +0000

GovDocs helps customers keep up to date with changes to Federal laws, like the FSLA.

Applebee’s is getting its day in court to address charges by its employees who claim the restaurant chain violated the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) by paying non-waiter workers $2.13 an hour, which is the minimum wage for workers who work for tips. The FLSA states that workers engaged with work that leads to tips in excess of $30 a month can receive the $2.13 hourly rate. At issue is the definition of “engaged.” The U.S. Supreme Court refused to stop the case from moving forward, and it is set to go to trial this September at the U.S. District Court of Western Missouri.

With 1,900 franchise locations across the U.S., Applebee’s is among many large employers who may find managing labor law compliance challenging. GovDocs can help make multi-location compliance easier by helping you manage compliance updates in multiple locations when changes to labor law affect your business. Click here to learn more about how GovDocs can help you maintain enterprise-wide compliance.

A Practical Use for QR Codes

chauncestanton — Wed, 25 Jan 2012 12:00:59 +0000

Compliance Check puts the power of poster compliance in your hands.

Quick-Response (QR) codes are just about everywhere, on product packaging, magazine pages and even boarding passes at the airport. GovDocs is unveiling another practical use for QR codes that will help businesses make sure that all of their locations are compliant with labor law posting requirements.

First launched in June 2011, and now available on all GovDocs posters, Compliance Check is the first labor law compliance program to integrate Quick-Response (QR) codes on mandatory labor law postings and a useful interface to quickly determine poster compliance. GovDocs customers can use their smart phones to scan the QR codes on each GovDocs poster. The QR code instantly determines whether the posting is the most current with a “compliant” or “non-compliant” message, eliminating the need to verify updates by cross-referencing print dates.

Compliance Check: Ideal for Multiple Locations

Compliance Check makes managing compliance at multiple locations easier by letting locations check their own posters. A user-friendly interface makes it easy for users across an enterprise to perform spot audits on postings in their respective locations, streamlining the compliance audit and update process. Compliance Check reduces the burden on corporate HR and legal departments and unnecessary poster purchases.

Learn more about the GovDocs Multi-Location program or request a quote.

Tobbaco Users Facing Bans in Public and at Work

chauncestanton — Mon, 23 Jan 2012 11:00:08 +0000

The anti-tobacco trend has been picking up momentum in both the private and public sectors.

Twenty-seven U.S. states currently prohibit smoking in enclosed public places, and soon another state legislature may snuff out smoking in most public places in Indiana.

Some companies are going even further. Beyond just enforcing no-smoking policies in the workplace, they are refusing to hire smokers altogether, citing the higher costs associated with providing healthcare coverage to employees who use nicotine.

Many businesses are required to post no-smoking announcements by law or have policies that prohibit smoking on company property. GovDocs offers a variety of No Smoking signs to choose from, many tailored to the appropriate legislated language specific to state law.

Is Your Restaurant Ready to Respond to a Choking Emergency?

chauncestanton — Mon, 16 Jan 2012 11:00:20 +0000

Easy-to-follow instructions for choking emergencies.

University of Oregon football lineman Mark Asper lived up to the Scout motto “Be Prepared” when he performed the Heimlich maneuver on a fellow diner at a Beverly Hills, California restaurant. Asper attributed his life-saving response to Eagle Scout training, but what happens if there is no Eagle Scout – or medical doctor – in the restaurant?

It takes quick thinking and appropriate action to respond to a choking emergency. With the flow of oxygen blocked, a choking victim’s brain begins to die within four minutes according to the National Institute of Health.

GovDocs offers our best-selling, American Red Cross choking posters to display in your workplace to help you save lives with clear emergency instructions. The posters feature full-color graphics, sturdy paper stock, and durable lamination.

2012 Marks Big Changes to the NLRB

chauncestanton — Mon, 09 Jan 2012 11:00:56 +0000

Most employers must display a Federal poster updated with the NLRA Final Rule by April 30, 2012.

2012 is already shaping up to be an active year for the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB). President Obama’s recent recess appointments include three to the NLRB, which fill the seats on the five-member board. The new appointees include two Democrats (Deputy Labor Secretary Sharon Block and union lawyer Richard Griffin) and one Republican (counsel to the NLRB, Terence Flynn).

Additionally, the NLRB has posted a Final Rule for communicating with employees in accordance with the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA). The Rule mandates that most employers post a notice in the workplace effective April 30, 2012. GovDocs is now taking orders for the new Federal-on-One poster with NLRB. Please read our NLRB Notification of Employee Rights FAQ for more information on what the NLRB ruling means to your workplace.

NLRB Effective Date Pushed Back To April 30, 2012

JFerguson — Wed, 28 Dec 2011 19:26:02 +0000

The National Labor Relations Board has postponed the effective date of their new federal labor law poster to April 30, 2012 at the request of the federal court. The new NLRB poster was originally effective on November 14, 2011 but was postponed until January 31, 2012 and now to April 30, 2012.

For more information on the latest postponement see the NLRB release. The new poster is included on the GovDocs Federal-on-One poster with other mandatory federal labor law postings.

State Minimum Wages Rise And One City Tops $10/hour

JFerguson — Tue, 13 Dec 2011 16:36:45 +0000

San Francisco, one of a few cities that mandate a higher minimum wage than their state, has adjusted their minimum wage to $10.24 and become the first area in the country to surpass a $10/hour minimum wage. San Francisco’s minimum wage, like many state minimum wages, updates every year on January 1st based on the cost of living. The pros and cons of a high minimum wage are debated in this Yahoo Finance article.

GovDocs has been tracking state minimum wage updates along with current and updated wage levels. Updated postings are available for the following states:

Arizona 2011: $7.35. 2012: $7.65.

Colorado 2011: $7.36 ($4.34 tipped). 2012: $7.64 ($4.62 tipped).

Florida 2011: $7.31. 2012: $7.67.

Montana 2011: $7.35. 2012: $7.65.

Ohio 2011: $7.40 ($3.70 tipped). 2012: $7.70 ($3.85 tipped).

Oregon 2011: $8.50. 2012: $8.80.

Vermont 2011: $8.15 ($3.95 tipped). 2012: $8.46 ($4.10 tipped)

National Labor Relations Board Pushes Effective Date Back to January 31, 2012

JFerguson — Mon, 10 Oct 2011 20:27:37 +0000

On October 5^th the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) announced that it had postponed the implementation date for its new poster to January 31, 2012 to allow for “…enhanced education and outreach to employers…”. Any businesses already displaying the new NLRB poster are in compliance as there is no penalty to having the poster displayed before the effective date.

More information about the implementation date change is available on the official NLRB release. The new poster is included on the GovDocs Federal-on-One poster with other mandatory federal labor law postings.

Mandatory NLRB Poster Released!

JFerguson — Tue, 13 Sep 2011 19:40:33 +0000

The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) today released a new federal labor law poster communicating employee’s right to organize. This poster is required for all private employers subject to the NLRA regardless of employee organization status and is effective November 14, 2011. Failure to post this notice could be treated as an unfair labor practice under the National Labor Relations Act.

GovDocs is adding this poster to our Federal-on-One product giving employers one convenient, laminated notice to post. We are also making it available on our free federal labor law poster in PDF format later this week.

At this time the Spanish language version of the NLRB poster has not yet been released. GovDocs is still taking pre-orders for our Federal-on-One Spanish with NLRA.

Your NLRB Questions. Answered.

JFerguson — Mon, 12 Sep 2011 20:35:57 +0000

GovDocs has been getting a lot of questions about the new federal NLRB poster. We put the top five questions and answers into our National Labor Relations Board FAQ. If we missed a question you would like answered just let us know in the comments.