labor lawAdivision of labor law center

Under a Minnesota law taking effect on January 1, 2009, employers must pay benefits for any workers who do not have a certificate showing they are an independent contractor.

The Minnesota Independent Contractor Exemption Certificate (ICEC) law requires individuals who work as independent contractors in the construction industry, to obtain a certificate from the Minnesota Department of Labor and Industry. The law does not apply to individuals doing business as corporations, LLCs or partnerships.

Contractors who employ individuals who do not have an ICEC must pay state workers’ compensation and unemployment insurance for those individuals. In addition, such workers are considered employees legally and all state and federal employment laws, including minimum wage, overtime and worker safety standards, apply.

The law was designed to (more…)

The U.S. Department of Labor announced a series of grants in February, including a $250,000 grant for Minnesota.

The Minnesota grant is unique because it’s main purpose is to develop cooperative economic development strategies with Wisconsin, an adjoining state.

The project will focus on economic development in 17 counties in Wisconsin and Minnesota.

The grant will align economic development resources and establish structured economic strategies that create common goals for northeast Minnesota and northwest Wisconsin. Rather than competing for industry, as neighboring states often do, the two states will collaborate to bring more employers into the area.

“Forestry and mining industry declines have hit this region’s workforce hard over the last decade, so it is important that the area’s economic goals are set up to address this issue,” said Deputy Assistant Secretary for Employment and Training Douglas F. Small. “This $250,000 grant will support analysis of the region’s infrastructure and economic assets, and help develop viable strategies that create good employment opportunities for workers.”

The grant, awarded to the Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development’s Workforce Partnership Division, will allow northeast Minnesota and northwest Wisconsin to maximize the effectiveness of a newly established leadership group formulating economic goals and strategies focused on the needs of growing industries.

The project funded by the U.S. Department of Labor includes the Minnesota counties of Aitkin, Carlton, Cook, Itasca, Koochiching, Lake and St. Louis and the Wisconsin counties of Ashland, Bayfield, Burnett, Douglas, Iron, Price, Rusk, Sawyer, Taylor and Washburn.

Regional Innovation Grants are drawn from National Emergency Grant funds to assist state workforce agencies and local workforce investment boards, as well as their key partners, in the design and development of comprehensive and strategic regional plans focused on talent development that is aligned with the demands of the 21st century economy.

There have been a number of important grants in the past few months. When the O’Sullivan Industries closed its plant in Lamar, Missouri, displacing many, many workers, the U. S. Department of Labor awarded the state over 1 million dollars in a National Emergency Grant (NEG). In addition, the new SI WORKS program received $250,000 to help improve worker opportunities and to develop the economy in twenty southern Illinois counties.

NEGs are awarded by the U. S. Department of Labor at the discretion of the Secretary of Labor. The grants provide time-limited funds to give local and state service levels a temporary boost when affected by “significant dislocation events.” To clarify, when a company layoff or plant closure creates a greater need than the state’s resources can handle, the state may apply for an Emergency Grant. To qualify, though, the state must include among its resources and discretionary funds that are available to that state.

States are also encouraged to initiate the grant application process immediately after the need arises, in order to ensure funds will be available. State and local employment agencies have information and policies on grants and the application process.

Understand that different types of grants are awarded in different types of situations.

When a community is small or rural and is severely affected by layoffs of fewer than 50 workers, a Regular NEG may be awarded. Industry-wide layoffs within a region and layoffs of more than 50 workers would also be awarded a Regular NEG.

For communities struck by natural disasters, such as hurricanes, earthquakes, floods, blizzards, wildfires etc., a Disaster grant could be awarded.

Regional Innovation grants are often used to train laid-off worker for job in new industries. These grants are awarded to partnerships developed between business and government and non-profit agencies.

When the Department of Labor determines that an area is affected by federal trade policies, project layoffs of more than 50 workers would be awarded the Trade-WIA Dual Enrollment grant.

A recent court case makes it more important than ever that employers monitor the use of computers in the workplace.

An employee in Duluth, Minnesota was found guilty of sharing music files on her personal computer, and ordered to pay $222,000 in fines by a federal jury. With attorney’s fees, the total amount could easily top half a million dollars. The jury found that Jammie Thomas, a 30-year-old single mother, shared files of copyrighted music online, in violation of the law. Some of the file sharing was apparently done during Thomas’s work hours.

Thomas will pay the sums to six record companies: Sony BMG, Arista Records, Interscorp Records, UMG Recordings, Captiol Records and Warner Brothers Records.

As devastating as this verdict was for Thomas, it could have been much worse for her employer. While no record company has brought suit against an employer when a work computer was used –yet – it is probably only a matter of time until that happens.

A recent survey shows that many employees use the internet for recreation and even viewing porn at work. Almost certainly, some of them are engaged in illegal file sharing, which could have disastrous consequences for the companies that own the computers.

The judge ordered Thomas, of Brainard, Minnesota to pay 6 record companies $9,250 each for the 24 songs in the case. The judgment could potentially have been much greater – the plaintiffs allege that Thomas actually shared 1,702 songs illegally.

Thomas admits saving the files to her computer hard drive, but contends that someone else using her desk, her computer and her password did the file sharing.

Since 2003, the music industry has filed 26,000 lawsuits based on filesharing, including a very high-profile suit against Napster. In the last few years, the music industry has sued a number of individuals for file sharing, but all the suits have been settled out of court by paying a few thousand dollars. Thomas opted not to do this, and to fight the suit instead.

“This does send a message that downloading and distributing our recordings is not OK,” said Richard Gabriel. Gabriel is the lead attorney for the music companies in the three-day trial.

Thomas’s attorney, Brian Toder, said that his client was in tears. “All of a sudden, she could get a quarter of her paycheck garnished for the rest of her life.”

The 6 record companies accused Thomas of uploading the songs without permission and sharing them through a Kazaa file-sharing account. Thomas denies that she ever had a Kazaa account, although she admits that her password was used.

The record companies produced withnesses including officers of the ISP and a security firm who testified that the Kazaa login, “terastarr”, belonged to Thomas. Her attorney still maintains Thomas’s innocence. “We don’t know what happened. All we know is that Jammie Thomas didn’t do this.”

Thomas also claimed that she had replaced her hard drive, deleting the files, before the incidents took place. A later investigation showed that Thomas was “mistaken” about the date that her hard drive had been replaced. The switch actually occurred about a year later than she originally testified under oath to.

Under current copyright law, damages on copyright infringement cases are set between $750 and $30,000 per use. In cases of “willful” infringement, however, the damages may be up to $150,000 per song. Jurors in this case set the damages in the mid-range for non-willful violations.

Cary Sherman, president of the Recording Industry Association of America, said, ”This case has put [illegal filesharing] back in the news. Win or lose, people will understand that we are out there trying to protect our rights.” He also expressed surprise that it took so long for a case against an individual to come to trial.

A $3 million grant will aid Minnesota workers affected by floods in the area. The U.S. Department of Labor announced the initial release of $1 million to create some 300 temporary jobs to aid in cleanup and recovery efforts following the summer’s flash floods.

“This $3 million grant will create nearly 300 temporary jobs for Minnesotans to help in the cleanup and reconstruction of their communities due to the recent flash flooding,” said U.S. Secretary of Labor Elaine L. Chao. “In addition, these funds may also be for job training for workers who have lost jobs due to the flash floods and need new job opportunities.”

Heavy rains began in the area on August 19 and 20. As the waters rushed downstream in the Mississippi and Minnesota rivers, a number of areas were affected.  On August 23, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) declared that Fillmore, Houston and Winona Counties in Minnesota were eligible for FEMA’s Public Assistance program. That’s because heavy rains caused flash floods in those areas. On August 24, FEMA amended the declaration, and added three additional Minnesota counties: Olmstead, Steele and Wabasha. All of the counties mentioned are in the southeast corner of the state, near the Wisconsin border.

The grant is awarded to the Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development. It will be used to create temporary jobs to assist in projects related to cleanup. These jobs include demolition, repair, and renovation. Reconstruction of structures and areas affected by flooding will also be included.

Workers eligible to apply for the temporary jobs include those dislocated as a result of the floods, other dislocated workers, and the long-term unemployed in the areas afflicted.

Following the completion of temporary employment projects, funds may also be used to provide retraining services to workers who are unable to return to work as a result of the damage caused by the flooding.

This is a Disaster Relief grant under the National Emergency Grants program.

According to the U.S. Department of Labor, National Emergency Grants (NEGs) are discretionary awards by the Secretary of Labor. The grants temporarily expand service capacity at the state and local levels through time-limited funding assistance in response to “significant dislocation events.” When a layoff, plant closing or other event creates a need beyond what the state can reasonably be expected to meet, the state may apply for an Emergency Grant.  In order for a state to qualify, any discretionary funds available at the state level must be included in the state’s resources.

National Emergency Grants are awarded by the U.S. Secretary of Labor for different purposes. Disaster grants benefit areas afflicted by floods, wildfires, blizzards, hurricanes, earthquakes and other natural disasters. Other grants include Trade-WIA Dual Enrollment grants and Trade-Health Coverage Infrastructure grants.

Regular NEG grants may be available when a single or multiple company layoff affects 50 or more workers. NEG grants are also appropriate when layoffs are industry-wide within a region, or when small or rural communities are severely affected by layoffs of fewer than 50 people.

Trade-WIA Dual Enrollment grants are available for single or multiple-company projects that include layoffs of 50 workers or more. These grants are given only in areas where the U.S. Department of Labor determines that workers are affected by federal trade policies.

Trade-Health Coverage Infrastructure grants provide states with funds to help workers eligible for TAA (Trade Adjustment Assistance) or TRA (Trade Realignment Assistance) keep their healthcare insurance.

A number of resources are available to inform the state and local employment agencies of the policies that govern grant awards. Communities are urged to initiate the grant process early, to ensure that funds are available when needed.

The U.S. Department of Labor recently presented awards to outstanding worker training programs throughout the country in five key areas.  These categories include:

• Helping young people who are out of school
• Collaborating with industry to create a workforce investment program
• Leveraging partnerships between employers, educators and economic development agencies
• Creating a highly-trained 21^st century workforce
• Training workers with special needs

This year’s big winners include groups from Connecticut, Kentucky, Michigan, Virginia and Wisconsin. Runners-up for the awards include agencies and companies from Michigan, Texas, Mississippi, Missouri, Oregon, Washington, New York, Louisiana and Minnesota.

The Recognition of Excellence awards go to the top talent development programs nationwide. This week, Assistant Secretary of Labor Emily Stover DeRocco presented the awards during the Workforce Innovations Conference. Stover DeRocco heads the department’s division of Employment and Training. This is the fourth consecutive year the awards have been used to recognize outstanding training programs in state and local government, private business, education and economic development programs. Each award represents a collaboration between two or more of those key players.

“Our honorees have shown that they are innovative leaders in providing workers with the opportunities and tools to help them compete in today’s global economy,” said DeRocco. “Their outstanding work serves as a model for others to learn from and apply to their own regional economic and talent development strategies.”

The first category is “Educating America’s 21st Century Workforce”, recognizing the top program for providing innovative and effective strategies to prepare workers for jobs requiring better skills. The winner is the Alpena Community College of Alpena, Michigan. Honorable Mentions in this category include the Junior College District of Kansas City, Missouri and the Oregon Manufacturing Extension Partnership of Beaverton, Oregon.

The award for “Building an Industry/Business-Driven Workforce Investment System” goes to the program that best responds to an industry need while preparing workers for continued job growth.  This award goes to Capital Workforce Partners, of Hartford Connecticut. Honorable mentions in this category include the Michigan Department of Labor and Economic Growth’s Bureau of Workforce Programs statewide. An Honorable Mention also went to the Gulf Coast Workforce Board: the WorkSource in the Gulf Coast Region of Texas.

The third category recognizes the value of collaborations between employers, educators and economic development leaders. The e3 Partnership award goes to Eastern Kentucky C.E. P. Inc. of Hazard, Kentucky. The runner up in this category is the Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College in Gulfport, Mississippi.

The fourth category is “Recognizing the Demographics of the Workforce”. This award highlights agencies or organizations that target workers with special needs. Winners in this category provide services to workers with limited English skills, to migrant farm workers, and those who are homeless as well as others. The top award in this category goes to Experience Works, Inc. of Arlington Virginia. Honorable mentions go to the Shoreline Community College in Shoreline Washington and the Center for Employment Opportunities in New York, N.Y. 

The final category is “Serving Out-of-School Youth”. Winners in this category demonstrate innovative techniques in collaborating with educators, businesses, industry and other essential partners to train, educate and hire young people who are out of school. The award goes to Workforce Connections, Inc. of La Crosse, Wisconsin. Other notable programs in this category include the Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development in St. Paul, Minnesota, and the River Paris WIA Program in Convent, Louisiana.

All of the awards were presented at a gala ceremony during the Workforce Innovations Conference, an annual event that provides an opportunity for networking on workforce issues between stakeholders in the public and private sectors.