FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE GARDEN GROVE, Calif. (May 15, 2012) ™ (www.laborlawcenter.com), a leading provider of , human resources products, and compliance solutions services announced today the upcoming launch of “Hot Deals!,” a LaborLawCenter exclusive on discounted products starting May 22nd.Business owners, human resource managers, and decision makers who subscribe to the Hot Deals Weekly Email will receive notifications for great savings on exclusive LaborLawCenter™ products. A limited amount of each product will be made available to subscribers.“At LaborLawCenter.com, we are committed to offering our clients tremendous value every week. Anyone who signs up to receive our weekly emails will find incredible bargains not offered anywhere else,” said Mary-Joy Gamueda, Marketing Manager.The online-only sales will offer an average of a 40-90 percent discount off regular prices on important compliance and labor law posters, materials, and services. Some of the items that will be featured are the following

  • One Year Compliance Protection Plan™ $32.97 (40 percent off
  • $75 gift certificate valued at $150 (50 percent off)
  • No Smoking Poster $4.95 (50 percent off)
  • Human Resources forms (40-90 percent off)

About LaborLawCenter™LaborLawCenter™ is a leading compliance poster company in the United States, providing compliance solutions to small, medium, and large businesses nationwide. It manufactures and ships over 100,000 state & federal labor law posters, industry-specific posters, and human resources products annually. Founded in 1999 in the back patio of a home in Cypress, CA, LaborLawCenter™ has since grown into a multi-million dollar company headquartered in Garden Grove, CA. LaborLawCenter™ attributes its growth to the satisfaction of customers and remains committed to providing stellar customer service and outstanding products. LaborLawCenter™ also provides Human Resources products and services including Complete State and Federal Labor Law Posters, HR and Legal Business Forms, and Compliance

More Tennessee Discrimination Suits on Horizon

October 27th, 2010 Posted by Madison

A recent ruling by the Tennessee Supreme Court opens the door for more litigation by employees in the Volunteer State. This ruling means it will be much easier for an employee to sue an employer for in court than in court.

 

On September 20, 2010, Tennessee’s highest court suddenly ruled that a different standard will apply to summary judgments from now on. Summary judgments are often used by employers to nip discrimination suits in the bud. When the employer wins an early summary judgment, the employee’s cannot go forward. This is often the first line of defense that an employer has against an employee’s claim of illegal discrimination.

 

In Gossett v. Tractor Supply Co., the ruled that an employee had the right to sue the employer for illegal discrimination simply because she was reassigned after filing a complaint of sexual harassment against her supervisor. This was true, no matter how reasonable and justified the employer’s reason for the reassignment was.

 

This groundbreaking decision authored by overturned the previous ruling in Allen v. McPhee, where a female employee was reassigned after complaining of harassment “to protect her from any further sexual harassment.”

 

Until now, Tennessee has used the McDonnell Douglas framework for determining summary judgments, the same legal test used by federal courts. In 1973, the U.S. Supreme Court determined that when an employer (more…)

Oklahoma Minimum Wage Increase

June 15th, 2009 Posted by Madison

Like several other states in the U. S., ties its to the minimum. Therefore, when the increases from $6.55 to $7.25 per hour on 24, 2009, Oklahoma’ s minimum wage will increase, too.

 

According to law, the Oklahoma minimum wage increases when the does. The Oklahoma statute doesn’t even contain a dollar amount, merely that the state adopts the federal minimum.

 

The applies to companies with 10 or more employees at a single location.

 

In addition, according to the Oklahoma Department of Labor, the Oklahoma minimum wage applies to all employers with annual earnings over $100,000, regardless of the number of workers employed.

 

There are exceptions to the Oklahoma minimum wage law. For instance, employees in domestic service in private homes and volunteers in charitable and non-profit organizations are exempt. Others exempt from minimum wage include students under the age of 22, agricultural workers, newspaper carriers or vendors and feed store employees.

 

As with the federal minimum wage laws, salaried managers, most executives, outside salespeople and professional employees are exempt from Oklahoma state minimum law. For part-time employees, the exception applies only to those who work fewer than 25 hours per week.

 

In a little known exception to the Oklahoma state minimum wage law, employers with earnings less than $100,000 and fewer than 10 workers are legally permitted to pay employees as little as $2.00 per hour. Every worker over 18 years of age, however, must be paid at least $2.00 per hour.

 

Also excluded from the state minimum wage law are all employers who are covered by FLSA (Fair Labor Standards Act), which is the main federal minimum wage law. Under FLSA, employers earning at least $500,000 per year, or engage in interstate commerce fall under the federal minimum wage laws.

 

Overtime pay isn’t addressed by any Oklahoma state law. Instead, employees are covered under FLSA. This federal law mandates employees be paid 1.5 times the usual hourly rate when they work over 40 hours in one workweek.

 

Texas OSHA Alert

May 21st, 2007 Posted by Amelia

How safe is an ATV?

That’s one question that has prompted a Texas OSHA Alert. With more and more ATVs being used for industry purposes rather than recreation, it is a question that needs addressing. Employers need to accept that if they do not provide adequate training on the use of ATVs, and do not have safety precautions in place, then serious injuries, or deaths can occur.

Even when used recreationally, the accident statistics do not make for good reading. According to a recent consumer Product Safety Commission report, fatalities relating to ATV accidents are rising. In 1982 the number was 29. By 2004, this number has risen to 470. The all time high for ATV related injuries are 136,100. The last ten years accounts for 800,000 of them.

However, use of ATVs in industry is becoming increasingly more widespread, in for example industries relating to agriculture.

It was a tragic accident in such an industry that resulted in the death of a female worker. She was using an ATV with a sprayer attached to the back, not realizing that this had the ability to destabilize the vehicle. When she began to drive the ATV and sprayer uphill, the vehicle’s front wheels came off the ground. She tried to compensate by shifting her weight, but the ATV rolled over. When she tried to jump clear, she was crushed under the vehicle, and died from her injuries.
It can be hard to understand how something that even children sometime use as a recreations vehicle can have cause such tragedy.

But workers and employers need to realize that they are not like ordinary cars or motor bikes. They handle much differently. If you add extra cargo or machinery, then the ATV can become unstable, sometimes with tragic results.
It may have been designed for recreational use, but an ATV needs the same respect as you would show any industrial machinery.  

South Dakota Employee Benefit

May 21st, 2007 Posted by Amelia

Thanks to a ruling on group health insurance, South Dakota employee benefit plans will continue to include limits on coverage for mental health that equal those for medical and surgical procedures.

The ruling applies to what is known as the Mental Health Parity Act, or MHPA. As its name suggests, it declares that any employee group health plan in the nation must cover mental health treatment at levels equal to other kinds of medical treatment.

The law was recently extended through December 31 of 2007. The MHPA originally became law in 1996, but a so-called “sunset clause” was written into it, forcing its expiration on September 31 of 2001. But it has been extended five times by amendments since its creation. In excess of 150 million employees in the U.S. are covered by group health insurance packages, so the impact is wide-ranging.

The MHPA was a turning point. Until then, a health plan could put high limits on medical and surgical treatment, but much lower levels for coverage of mental health treatment issues.  While medical coverage limits might be at $100,000, mental health limits might be $10,000 or lower, sometimes as low as $5,000. Thanks to MHPA, that is illegal.

What is covered by mental health treatments? Typically, periods in drug and alcohol rehabilitation centers are included. Also covered are visits to a licensed therapist, a psychologist, or a psychiatrist, as well as stays in hospitals – mental health facilities or the mental health sections of medical hospitals for illnesses such as depression, schizophrenia, and post-traumatic stress disorder.

The Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA) enforces the law covering group health plans. It was first called the Pension and Welfare Benefits Program. In January of 1986, it became the Pension and Welfare Benefits Administration. Finally, in 2003 it received its EBSA title when it received an upgrade to sub-cabinet level, overseen by an Assistant Secretary of Labor. Its responsibilities now include monitoring health care law violations as well as pension law.