labor lawAdivision of labor law center

 Senator Ted Kennedy recently introduced a bill – called the Healthy Families Act– that would implement a mandatory sick leave law.

If passed, the bill would require most employers to provide up to 7 paid sick days per year to employees.

In the House, the mandatory sick leave law introduced by Rep. Rosa DeLauro  is called HR 2460.

The mandatory sick leave law would apply to employers that have 15 or more full-time workers (or the equivalent) for at least 20 weeks of the year.

The bill would require that workers earn one hour of paid sick leave for every 30 hours worked, beginning on the day the worker is hired. Employees would be eligible to use paid sick leave after 60 days.

OSHA is once again addressing regulations on combustible dust hazards in the workplace.

The U.S. Department of Labor recently announced that OSHA will issue an Advance Notice of Proposed Rulemaking on this controversial topic. The new regulations will address issues such as:

• Defining combustible dust
• Hazard recognition
• Assessment
• Communication 

OSHA has asked employers, unions, workers and other interested parties to weigh in with their thoughts on the new regulations and related enforcement methods.

Tragically, a number of workplace deaths have resulted from combustible dust explosions in the past few years. An explosion at an Imperial Sugar Co. plant explosion in Port Wentworth, Georgia killed 14 workers in February, 2008. OSHA levied $9 million in fines against the owners.

In April 2009, 3 workers lost their lives (more…)

Although the worst of the Swine Flu scare is past, it is still smart for every employer to have a plan in place for an pandemic – a global influenza epidemic.

OSHA, the federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration, has partnered with the Southern California Education and Research Center to provide worker free safety seminars to employers.

The Southern California Education and Research Center based at UCLA is offering a one-hour webinar for employers, Preparing Your Business to Survive Pandemic Flu and Other Disasters.

Scientists say that new strains of influenza mutate spontaneously every year, so the risk will remain high for many years to come.

The SCERC offers three one-hour workshops onsite for businesses or organizations.

Topics include:  

1. Pandemic Flu – What Is It? How Can It Affect My Business?
2. Pandemic Flu – Hazards, Prevention and Exposure Reduction
3. Planning Workgroups: Individual Planning Exercises  

Employers can schedule a workshop with one, two or all three sessions.

The presentations address:

• Basic influenza info for all employees
• Operations panning for a major influenza outbreak
• Financial issues for Human Resources Pros
• Supply chain interruption
• Retaining Customers
• Resources 

For employers who prefer to participate in these free Swine Flu seminars online, there are two (more…)

Employers should be cautious about routinely requiring fitness-for-duty certification from pregnant workers, after a recent EEOC discrimination suit.

A Kinston, North Carolina employer paid $300,000 to settle a claim of pregnancy discrimination brought by the federal Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. That covers back pay and compensatory damages for the affected employees.

The EEOC charged that since 2002, the employer has subjected pregnant employees to different terms and conditions of employment, compared to non-pregnant employees.

Specifically, the EEOC charged that the employer required pregnant women to furnish a full medical clearance in order to continue working – even if the employee took no time off and gave no indication that she was unable to perform her usual duties. This was in marked contrast to the treatment of non-pregnant employees, who were often permitted to return to work after an absence without a complete medical clearance.

This suit involved Britthaven, Inc. a corporation that owns and operates a chain of nursing homes and assisted living facilities. This specific incident involved an employee at the Carolina Commons facility in Greensboro. However, Britthaven apparently imposed similar restrictions on pregnant workers at some of its other 53 facilities in North Carolina, Virginia and Kentucky.

The EEOC contends that this practice resulted (more…)

The EEOC on April 22, 2009 released guidelines of best practices for employers who have workers with personal care-giving responsibilities.

Many employment law experts take exception to this action by the EEOC. They point out that no federal (and few state) laws specifically protect caregivers from discrimination. One SHRM representative rather caustically remarks that the EEOC has enough to do, enforcing discrimination based on race, color, religion, national ancestry, sex, pregnancy, disability and age, without branching out into more controversial areas.

The EEOC, however, contends that most caregivers are covered under several existing laws including:

• The Americans with Disabilities Act, which prohibits discrimination based on association with a disabled person. This law would protect an employee who was caring for her developmentally disabled adult sister, or a grandparent who was in a wheelchair
• Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which prohibits discrimination based on sex or race, when caregivers are treated disparately. For example, an employer may assume that a female caregiver with a disabled child cannot travel, and therefore is not eligible for a promotion. Or, the employer may assume that a male employee cannot or should not have caregiver responsibilities.
• FMLA, the federal Family and Medical Leave Act, which permits employees to take up to 12 weeks of unpaid, job-protected leave to care for a parent, son or daughter or spouse with a serious health condition. Employers are legally required to notify the employee within 5 days of an absence that could qualify as FMLA. Instead, many employers deny time off to workers with care-giving responsibilities.

Even the EEOC admits that these guidelines are a bit of a reach. “Federal law (more…)