labor lawAdivision of labor law center

Florida employers are required to implement a level 2 background check before allowing any employee to work with children or the elderly.

The Florida background check includes screening the employee’s fingerprints through both state and federal databases before allowing him or her to work with “vulnerable populations.”

The law applies to employees who work with the elderly, children or individuals with disabilities in certain group homes and care settings. Healthcare workers in residential or home care settings must also be cleared with a level 2 background check before having any contact with residents or clients. In addition, the employee must pass the background check before (more…)

The Kentucky Supreme Court recently ruled that in some cases, an injury that occurs during the employee’s commute is covered by workers’ compensation, if the activity benefits the employer.

In the test case involving an AirTran Airways pilot, the employee was based in Atlanta but commuted as an air passenger to his home in Kentucky, making 8 to 10 round trips per month. Under an arrangement common for airlines, AirTran made free or low-cost fares on other airlines available to commuting employees.

The AirTran Airways pilot was a passenger who was killed when the Comair flight he was on crashed while taking off.

In Fortney v. AirTran Airways, even though the pilot was a passenger who was not working, on a different airline at the time of the crash, the Kentucky Supreme Court ruled that his loss of life was a valid workers’ comp claim against AirTran Airways. This was true despite the fact that the employee was not being paid and was not (more…)

In many states, an undocumented worker who is hurt on the job is still entitled to workers’ compensation benefits, even though he or she should not have been employed in the first place. This is an important consideration for employers, since there are an estimated 3 million undocumented immigrants in California and Texas alone.

Many employers have had the unnerving experience of having an injured employee file for workers’ comp, only to learn that the employee was an illegal immigrant. Usually, the employee presented convincing fake documents at the time of hiring. However, often during the course of medical treatment or workers’ comp proceedings, the employee is revealed as an illegal immigrant who is not authorized to work in the U.S.

Under the federal Immigration Reform and Control Act or IRCA, it is a crime for the employer to knowingly hire anyone who cannot legally work in the U.S. However, many employers (more…)

The governor of Missouri, Jay Nixon recently issued an executive order that bans employment discrimination based on sexual orientation. The order applies to state agencies and public schools but does not apply to private employers.

The same executive order also bans discrimination based on veteran status.

There is no federal law that bans discrimination against gay or lesbian workers in private industry. Several states have laws that prohibit discrimination based on sexual orientation in all employment, including New York, California, New Jersey and Illinois. However, Missouri does not have any state law that prohibits discrimination based on sexual orientation.

Apparently the Governor felt that he needed to take the matter into his own hands, at least regarding discrimination against homosexuals, bisexuals and transsexuals by state agencies.

In the executive order, the governor alluded to the Declaration of Independence’s assertion that “all men are created equal” and strongly suggested that any law, regulation or judicial decision that permitted discrimination (more…)

The federal OFCCP or Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs seeks suggestions from employers on more effective ways to recruit, hire, train and promote disabled workers. Comments must be received by the OFCCP by September 21, 2010.

In particular, the federal government is interested in comments about successful programs used by businesses to recruit, hire and retain qualified disabled workers. The request for comments was published in the Federal Register.

Read the proposed regulations and post comments here.

Several federal laws and executive orders require federal contractors to take affirmative action to hire disabled workers. Yet, employment of disabled workers lags far behind. According to the OFCCP, nationwide just 21.7 percent of disabled people were in the workforce in June 2010, compared to 70.5 percent of other workers. Unemployment for disabled persons was (more…)