labor lawAdivision of labor law center

On January 1, 2009 the Ohio minimum wage increases by 30 cents from $7.00 to $7.30 per hour.  

On that same date, the Ohio minimum wage for tipped employees increases by 15 cents, from $3.50 to $3.65 per hour, according to the Ohio Department of Commerce. Any tipped Ohio employee who does not average $3.65 per hour in tips must be paid the difference in wages by the employer.

Under Ohio law, smaller companies can pay employers less. Companies with revenue less than $267,000 in 2009 can pay just $6.55 under the Ohio minimum wage law. However, when the federal minimum wage increases on July 24, 2009, they must pay at least $7.25 per hour. Youths who are 14 and 15 years of age can also be paid these reduced wages.

A constitutional amendment passed by Ohio voters (more…)

Two Ohio community colleges plus one state agency will receive more than $6.7 million in grants to train workers for advanced technology applications, thanks to three recent grants by the U.S. Department of Labor.

In each case, the funds were awarded because employers in the area need a more skilled labor pool. All three grants will be used to train workers in the burgeoning healthcare industry.

James A. Rhodes State College in Lima, Ohio will receive an award of $1,999,054 to hire staff and implement new worker training programs in healthcare.

An additional grant of $2 million dollars goes to Stark State College of Technology in North Canton, Ohio.

The final grant was awarded to the Cleveland/Cuyahoga One-Stop Career Center, a state employment agency.

As a result of technological innovations, many industries in the United States will expand, and many new industries will come on the scene during the 21st century. Many of these industries are suffering a deficit of skilled employees, the available positions far exceeding the number of qualified applicants.

Employers receive more benefits from these programs than just skilled workers. The Workforce Investment System offers incentives such as tax credits and government training assistance. Join these with the reduced recruiting costs, and these programs greatly relieve some of the financial burden of seeking out qualified workers. In addition, the programs provide a method of screening and referral of skilled candidates, which increases retention of employees and the quality and competitive ability of the workforce.

The Grants focus on the businesses and industries, and are an extension of a national model for development of a workforce on demand known as the President’s High Growth Job Training Initiative. These programs focus on community colleges in the areas that need help. Funds are granted to increase the college’s ability to train employees in these high-growth high-demand positions.

The Community Based Job Training Grants award funds to help train new and experience workers. These funds are used to hiring qualified teachers, arrange work-study programs and to provide updated equipment required for the training. The colleges work closely with the local industries to develop training courses and programs to help meet the needs of those industries.

According to the research done by the High Growth Job Training Initiative, fourteen areas of the economy are expected to provide new jobs. Some of these jobs will come from new industries, others from innovations in technology that result in new methods requiring new skills. Included in these 14 areas are Financial Services, Geospatial Technology, Aerospace, Homeland Security and Retail.

The President’s Community Based Job Training Grants Initiative was established to aid these industries in finding trained employees by providing funds to local community colleges and training facilities.

Established in 2005, the program awarded 72 grants. In the second round in 2006, 70 grants were awarded. According to a recent U. S. Department of Labor announcement, the grants for 2008 were awarded to 69 institutions in 36 states.

“Preparing local residents for careers in growing hometown industries is critical to improving the quality of life of thousands of Americans,” said acting Assistant Secretary of Labor for Employment and Training Brent R. Orrell. “These programs will provide participants not only with the skills needed to gain employment, but the change to enter into careers that offer opportunities for advancement.”

The focus of the Grants program is to boost the community college’s role in aiding American workers, and to assist these workers in gaining high-paying jobs with advancement. A secondary goal is to provide America’s companies with the workers needed to get the job done, now and well into the 21^st century.

Under the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA), employees have the right to as much as 12 weeks of unpaid, job-protected leave yearly to deal with their own “serious medical condition” or that of a member of their immediate families.

Employers, in turn, have long had the right to require that a professional healthcare provider certify the employee’s condition. Employers have had the right to request second and third opinions, provided they pay for them.

Now some of the regulations regarding certification are being streamlined and updated. The new rules permit employers to “request” recertification of an ongoing condition at least every half-year, in connection with an absence.

The U.S. Department of Labor uses the word “request,” but employers may actually deny an FMLA leave if an employee does not reply with that “request.”

A new provision would allow employers to require new medical certifications yearly for an employee’s ongoing health condition. If a worker has migraine headaches, for example, and must take periodic days off through FMLA, yearly recertification may legally be required.

The new rules allow employers to clarify a medical condition with a healthcare professional as long as neither party violates HIPAA medical privacy regulations. Employers may not, however, ask the providers for information not included on the certification. While the WH-380 form has been updated, it remains optional. Healthcare providers need not supply a diagnosis.

Under the old regulations, employers could request recertification if a previous certificate put a time limit on the health condition. The problem is that providers often list conditions as “lifetime” or their duration as “unknown,” effectively preventing employers from seeking recertification. The new rules change that. If Mary suffers from carpal tunnel syndrome requiring 6 weeks’ absence, her employer may seek recertification if she is absent after 6 weeks are up.

Employers, under the old rules, could request recertification after 30 days, but only if the employee was currently absent on FMLA leave. If, for example, employee John takes more than one month off under FMLA his employer could seek recertification, but only if John is still away from work.

More Ohio FMLA Changes

New changes to the FMLA regulations will be published in the National Register after April 11, 2008. At that time they become law. Until April 11, employers may comment on the updates, as may other interested parties.

The U.S. Labor Department recently issued the proposed changes that will affect employers around the U.S. A significant change involves revisions to the so-called “fitness-for-duty” certification process.

One change would permit employers to require that the certificate specifically talk to the matter of an employee’s capability for performing key components of his or her job. If a warehouse worker’s job largely consists of lifting heavy containers, for example, the employer may require certification that the worker is capable once again of lifting heavy objects.

Another is designed to eliminate occasional abuse of the FMLA leave by some employees. It addresses situations in which workers take intermittent, short-term FMLA leave. The update would allow employers to require a “fitness-for-duty” certificate each time the employee wishes to return to the job, provided there is a valid safety concern.

If truck driver Carl, for example, suffers from migraine headaches that interfere with his vision, his employer may require a certificate each time Carl returns. Having a driver with impaired vision would be a valid safety concern. However, if an employee is pregnant and suffers intermittently from serious morning sickness requiring her to take FMLA leave, a certificate could not be requested because there is no valid safety concern involved.

FMLA regulations currently allow employers to require certificates from a healthcare professional showing they are capable of returning to work. The policy, as with other policies, must be applied consistently in similar situations. All employees taking FMLA leave for a “serious health condition” could be required to provide a certificate when they wish to return. But the manager may also choose not to require such a certificate from someone returning after caring for a newly adopted child.

This policy and all policies must adhere to Title VII of the Civil Rights Act. Title VII prohibits workplace discrimination based on religion, national origin, gender, color, or race.

The U.S. Department of Labor on January 22 announced a grant of almost $2.2 million to assist workers displaced by last fall’s flooding in href="http://blog.laborlawcenter.com/tag/ohio/" class="st_tag internal_tag" rel="tag nofollow" title="Posts tagged with Ohio">Ohio.

The $2,199,600 grant, with $1,084,000 released initially, will go to the state of Ohio to help create temporary jobs to aid cleanup and recovery efforts resulting from recent storms and flooding in the state.

Workers who were displaced by the flooding, as well as the long-term unemployed in the area, are eligible for help under the program.

“This $2.2 million grant will provide dislocated Ohio workers with jobs aiding in the cleanup and reconstruction of waterways and repairing other property damage that communities suffered in the storms,” said U.S. Secretary of Labor Elaine L. Chao.

On Sept. 11, 2007, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) declared the Ohio counties of Allen, Crawford, Hancock, Hardin, Putnam, Richland and Wyandot eligible for FEMA’s public assistance program. Of these counties, Crawford, Hancock and Putnam have been targeted by the state to receive assistance through this grant.

The grant announced today was awarded to the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services and will provide workers affected by the recent storms with temporary jobs on projects related to the cleanup and reconstruction of destroyed waterways and lands within the affected communities. Cleanup projects are also being coordinated with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to ensure operations adhere to policies designed to prevent the destabilization of stream banks and waterways.

Recent National emergency grants have also benefited workers in Washington State.  A grant of $2.1 million went to area workers displaced by deadly Pacific storms on December 1 to December 3, 2007.

The Northwest, including Washington, Oregon and the Canadian Province of British Columbia, was ravaged by a series of Pacific storms between December 1 and December 3, 2007. Winds as high as 139 miles per hour were reported on the Oregon coast and 18 deaths were blamed on the storm systems. Residents were evacuated by the Oregon National Guard. More than 36,000 customers were without power for up to one week.

Also on January 22, the U.S. Department of Labor announced a grant of $1.2 million for Oregon workers displaced by the same storms.

National emergency grants are used in a variety of situations, in addition to natural disasters. Many of the grants go to workers displaced by plant closings or mass layoffs.

In September 2007, a grant of almost $1.1 million was awarded to Missouri workers who were displaced with the closure of the O’Sullivan Industries plant in Lamar, Missouri. In addition, a $250,000 grant was awarded to a new program, SI WORKS, designed to improve worker opportunities and economic development in 20 southern Illinois counties.

Also in September,  a $3 million grant went to provide temporary jobs and benefits to workers in parts of Minnesota ravaged by flash floods.

More than 400 workers laid off by Micron Technology, Inc. in Boise, Idaho received assistance through a grant of more than $2 million. The U.S. Department of Labor immediately released $847,538 of the grant to assist workers dislocated by the layoffs. The total grant is for $2,010,277.

“This $2 million grant will provide these Idaho workers with skills training, career counseling and other employment services to help them find and succeed in new jobs,” said U.S. Secretary of Labor Elaine L. Chao.

Earlier this year, the U.S. Department of Labor recently announced a grant of more than $1.2 million to assist some 246 Rhode Island workers who were displaced by layoffs at the Brooks Eckerd corporate offices in Warwick. The layoffs are due to acquisition of Brooks Eckerd by Rite Aid.

On January 1, 2008, Ohio raised its state minimum wage by 15 cents from $6.85 to $7.00 per hour. Tipped workers will receive a minimum wage of $3.50 per hour.

Businesses with annual gross earnings of less than $255,000, however, are still covered by the federal minimum wage of $5.85, rather than the state wage of $7.00. No matter the age of the employee, even as young as 14 or 15, these employers must at least pay their workers the federal minimum.

On July 24, 2008, the federal minimum wage is slated to increase to $6.55, so companies earning less than $255,000 will then be required employees the new federal rate.

The Ohio Department of Commerce requires all businesses that gross over $150,000 annually to pay overtime. Overtime is paid at a rate of 1.5 times the normal rate for any time over 40 hours in one week. Companies with earnings less than $150,000 are exempt from Ohio’s state overtime law. Employees in these businesses, however, may be eligible for overtime under federal statute.

Ohio has seen several significant changes in its labor laws over the past two years. The Ohio smoking ban was enacted, prohibiting smoking in public places and nearly all workplaces. Employers, according to this ban, must display non-smoking signs in a prominent position at every entrance.

Several types of employees are exempt from Ohio’s state minimum wage law. Babysitters or live-in companions are exempt, but housekeepers aren’t. Employees of a non-profit camp or recreational area for minors are exempt from Ohio state minimum wage law, as are employees working for a charity. Persons paid on commission, such as outside salespeople, are also exempt.

According to federal law, any worker who puts in more than 40 hours in any one week is entitled to overtime, which is paid at 1.5 times the standard hourly rate. Like Ohio, several states have enacted their own overtime laws. These laws vary widely from state-to-state and across the country.

January 1, 2008 saw the first of a series of changes in minimum wage laws across the country. Fourteen states, including Arizona, California, Massachusetts and Vermont raised their state minimum wages on that day.

Later in the year, Illinois will add 25 cents to its minimum of $7.50 to $7.75 per hour. Michigan will also increase its minimum by 25 cents resulting in a new rate of $7.40 per hour. These changes will go into effect on July 1, 2008, along with changes in three other states.

Pennsylvania workers will enjoy a 90 cent per hour raise to their minimum wage rate, giving them a new minimum of $7.15 per hour.

On July 24, 2008, the federal minimum will go from $5.85 to $6.55 per hour.

This increase is the second step of a three-step system set up by the Fair Minimum Wage Act of 2007. This Act was signed into law by President George W. Bush on May 24, 2006.

Many states have their own minimum wage laws, and several tie the increases to their minimum rates to the increase in the federal minimum wage. On July 24, 2008, therefore, North Carolina, North Dakota and Indiana, among others will enact a rise in their minimum wage rates, too.

The District of Columbia’s minimum wage is required by law to be at least $1.00 more than the federal rate. On July 24, 2008, D.C.’s rate will therefore rise to $7.55 per hour.

Whenever a change occurs in any labor law, employers must update their labor law posters or face the possibility of a fine. Companies are required to display these posters in prominent spots in the employee work area, and to update for both state and federal law changes. Businesses seeking up to date information can visit www.laborlawcenter.com.