labor lawAdivision of labor law center

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…)

On April 2, 2009 the U.S. Department of Labor issued additional regulations regarding the COBRA Premium Reduction under ARRA, the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009.

Under the ARRA, employees who were involuntarily terminated between September 1, 2008 and December 31, 2009 can keep their group health insurance and pay just 35% of the usual premium. The remaining 65% of the health insurance premium is paid by the federal government, through a credit on the employer’s quarterly payroll taxes.

Because of the new program, terminated workers who initially declined COBRA now have an opportunity to sign up for it, during the Special COBRA Election Opportunity. Each employer or COBRA administrator must inform eligible workers by April 17, 2009 of the opportunity to elect COBRA coverage at the subsidized rate. The Special COBRA Election Opportunity period began on February 17, 2009 and ends 60 days after the plan provides the required notice.

The COBRA Premium Reduction is in place for 9 months. During that time, employees pay just 35% of the total COBRA premium.

The COBRA Premium Reduction does not extend COBRA coverage for a longer period – in most cases, the employee is eligible only for coverage for 18 months.

A number of states have extended COBRA-style coverage to employers with fewer than 20 workers on group health insurance. While the COBRA subsidy does apply to these smaller “state plan” employers, the Special Election Opportunity does not. Employees who are terminated today (more…)

An important provision of the new FMLA regulations permits employees to substitute paid leave for unpaid FMLA. This is a major departure from the previous regulations, which permitted an employer to prohibit the use of paid vacation by employees on FMLA.

According to the U.S. Department of Labor, an employee can substitute paid leave benefits for unpaid FMLA, as long as the employee follows the employer’s terms and conditions regarding those benefits. (However, the terms and conditions should be previous established, preferably in writing, and must be non-discriminatory.) The employer has a responsibility to inform employees of the terms and conditions of the paid leave policy or policies.

For example, a company may have a policy that paid vacation must be requested in writing at least 4 weeks in advance. When Jennifer goes into labor on January 15, she can immediately take FMLA. However, she will need to comply with the (more…)

The U.S. Department of Labor recently issued regulations concerning the use of military leave and expanded FMLA leave for military caregivers.

Speaking on the release, Labor Secretary Elaine L. Chao said, “This final rule, for the first time, gives America’s military families special job-protected leave rights to care for brave service men and women who are wounded or injured, and also helps families of members of the National Guard and Reserves manage their affairs when their service member is called up for active duty.” The Secretary added, “At the same time, the final rule provides needed clarity about general FMLA rights and obligations for both workers and employers.”

The new regulations expand the qualifying family members, for military leave purposes. Traditionally, the FMLA or Family and Medical Leave Act has defined an “immediate family member” as a son or daughter, parent or spouse. Sons and daughters were covered only if they were under the age of 18, or unable to care for themselves. Under the military family leave provision of (more…)

Months after the president signed the NDAA or Military Family Leave Act into law, employers are finally receiving guidelines on how to implement it.

Every employer is required to prominently display a Military Leave Notice in the workplace, under this new law.

The regulations issued by the U.S. Department of Labor go into effect on January 16, 2009 but employers would be wise to implement them now. This is because, unlike the updated FMLA regulations, the Military Family Leave regs are not replacements to existing regulations – they are the first and only regulations on this new type of leave.

Leave under the Military Family Leave Act is an extension of FMLA, or leave under the Family and Medical Leave Act.

An employee may take up to 26 weeks of military caregiver leave during a single 12-month period to care for a soldier injured on active duty. The leave can be taken (more…)