labor lawAdivision of labor law center

Beginning January 14, 2009, a new rule requires federal contractors to use an electronic system like E-verify to check the immigration status and employment eligibility of every new employee, and old employees on certain sensitive federal projects.

A suit filed by SHRM, the Society for Human Resource Management, seeks to overturn that law. SHRM has filed a federal suit with four other employer organizations to block the rule. In addition to SHRM, the December 23, 2008 suit was filed on behalf of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, Associated Builders and Contractors, American Council on International Personnel and the HR Policy Association.

SHRM has asked the Bush administration to withdraw the proposed rule from consideration. The administration has declined, however, and employers should continue to use E-verify to comply with the law.

Under an executive order from President Bush, federal contractors and subcontractors (more…)

 Missouri state law (Section 290.502.2) requires that the state’s minimum wage must be adjusted every year based on the latest cost of living.

In charge of making that change is the Director of the Department of Labor and Industrial Relations. Director Todd Smith said that in August of 2008, the Department predicted an increase of 40 cents for 2009/

“A review of the Consumer Price Index (CPI) for July 2008 confirms the Missouri minimum wage rate will increase to $7.05 effective January 1, 2009,” he predicted at the time.

That prediction has become a reality. The Missouri minimum wage, pegged to the cost of living, went up precisely 40 cents on January 1, 2009, increasing from $6.65 to $7.05 an hour. According to the Missouri Department of Labor and Industrial Relations, last year’s increase was a mere 15 cents per hour. The much higher rise in the cost of living has driven the dramatic increase in the Missouri minimum wage rate.

Those businesses that earn less than a half-million dollars annually (more…)

Effective February 1, 2009 New York employers must give workers more notice of layoffs.

The New York State Workers Adjustment and Retraining Notification or WARN Act requires employers to provide 90 days notice to employees who will be laid off. The law applies to employers who are closing a plant, planning a mass layoff or a plant relocation that occurs on or after February 1, 2009. It does not apply to individual layoffs.

New York employers who are planning mass layoffs shortly after February 1, 2009 must act now to provide notice before the new law takes effect. The new law, Chapter 475, Section 25-A  of the New York code,  was passed by the state legislature on August 5, 2008.

According to the New York Department of Labor, the state WARN Act applies to any employer with 50 or more worker, who lays off at least 25 employees.

The law applies to (more…)

As of today, January 1, 2009, the minimum wage in Arizona became $7.25 an hour, when it increased from $6.90, a hike of 35 cents per hour.

The Arizona minimum wage applies to permanent, full-time employees, and temporary or part-time workers as well. Arizona has a new minimum wage law, and this marks the first yearly increase due to cost of living under this new law.

The new increase is based on the Consumer Price Index (CPI), which measures the annual inflation rate. Arizona voters supported Proposition 202 on November 7 of 2005. The proposition was called the “Raise the Arizona Minimum Wage for Working Arizonans Act.” This law, A.R.S. 23-364(A) became effective on January 1 of the following year. Authority was given to the Industrial Commission of Arizona (ICA) to enforce the new Act.

The Arizona minimum wage became $6.90 per hour on January 1, 2008. The new law also protects (more…)

Every employer should be aware of several changes under the 2009 FMLA regulation. These new rules permit employees to take FMLA leave under circumstances that were not previously covered.

One of the biggest changes, according to the SHRM or Society of Human Resource Management, is that the husband of a pregnant woman is entitled to FMLA leave for prenatal visits under some circumstances. The FMLA has always permitted men to take “paternity” leave to bond with a newborn or newly adopted infant, or a newly place foster child under the age of 18. And the FMLA regulations always covered a pregnant woman’s prenatal appointments.

However, the new 2009 FMLA regulations specifically permit the husband of a pregnant woman to take time off to provide her with physical or psychological care for prenatal visits. The language of the new regulations, however, apparently restricts this leave to the spouse of a woman who has severe morning sickness or other complications. (more…)