You May Need Bigger Bulletin Board--yep, here comes another legal posting!

Well, a federal district court upheld (3/2/12) a National Labor Relations Board's (NLRB) rule that requires employers to post notices informing workers of their right to join a union.  Several trade and business groups challenged the NLRB rule including The National Association of Manufacturers and the National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation along with the National Federation of Independent Business.  

So, what is this poster?  It informs employees of their rights under the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA). It must be posted in a conspicuous places, informing them of their NLRA rights, together with Board contact information and information concerning basic enforcement procedures.    The notice state

"Under the NLRA), you have the right to: 

• Organize a union to negotiate with your employer concerning your wages, hours, and other terms and conditions of employment. 
• Form, join or assist a union 
• Bargain collectively through representatives of employees’ own choosing for a contract with your employer setting your wages, benefits, hours, and other working conditions.
• Discuss your terms and conditions of employment or union organizing with your co-workers or a union.
• Take action with one or more co-workers to improve your working conditions by, among other means, raising work-related complaints directly with your employer or with a government agency, and seeking help from a union.
• Strike and picket, depending on the purpose or means of the strike or the picketing.
• Choose not to do any of these activities, including joining or remaining a member of a union"

The notice also lists several examples of unlawful behavior under the NLRA and instructs employees how to contact the NLRB with questions or complaints.

Employers are also required to post the notice in a foreign language, if 20 percent or more of the employees in the employer’s workforce speak a language other than English.   The NLRB is translating the poster into 26 other languages.  The rule additionally requires that employers who regularly communicate with employees via electronic means, such as a company intranet site, also post the notice electronically, or provide a link to the NLRB site. 

The notice must be posted by April 30, 2012 and it must be an 11/x 17 paper.  The court struck down much of the enforcement in the original rule but it is clear that employers who fail to post the notice could face an individualized determination that failure to post the notice was unlawful. 

Oh, you can get the copies of the poster for free from the NLRB or download it a at Get poster from NLRB

Now, you may wonder if you are an employer required to post this--the answer is probably yes if you are a private employer.  There are several public-sector employees and others who are excluded--including workers employed by a parent or spouse.  Details are at the bottom of the poster. Also, the Board did agree to exempt the US Postal Service for the time being due to the organization's unique rules under the Act. 

Here's a link to read some of the FAQs: NLRB FAQ on poster

Yes, there still could be appeals.... 

And for a little light reading--and for your reference--here is the rule: NLRB rule on poster.

I'll publish some info on protected concerted activity. It can be tricky.  

After 6 years: Wage & Hour Class action suit against Novartis settled for $99M!!!

So Novartis isn't waiting for the US Supreme Court ruling and is settling the wage and hour class action lawsuit for $99Million!

Novartis says its pharmaceutical sales representatives fit the "outside sales" exemption of the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA).  The plaintiffs didn't agree and felt they were unlawfully classified as exempt and denied overtime. The $99 million is an award for the eligible class members of nearly 7,000 and 30% in attorney's fees.

The class members averaged total compensation of $91,500 and they worked an average of 10 to 20 hours of overtime each week.

The settlement includes resolving overtime claims, meal periods and/or compensation for rest breaks, will provide itemized wage statements, maintain and keep accurate records, pay employees in a timely manner during or at the conclusion of their employment and provide compensation for off the clock time.

The decision is still to be made by the US Supreme Court.  This case has been litigating for nearly six years.

I pulled the detail information from several sources including press, trade magazines, attorney notices.  
This case will have a ripple effect. The impact of a law designed in the 1930's for the jobs of today will continue to create issues between employees and their organizations. More on that at a later time. 

Deadline this week---Feb 1 for OSHA 300A posting

February 1 is the date when employers covered by the Injury and Illness Recordkeeping Rules of OSHA need to post the official summary of all injurires and illnesses occurring in the prior year. This is fondly (:-)) known as the OSHA Form 300A.   The summary must be posted in the place where other notices for employees are posted.  The summary must remain posted through April 30, 2012.

But--before the form can be posted but after it is completed, a company executive must certify that he or she has examined the OSHA 300 Log and "...believes....that the process by which the information was recorded, ...and...that the annual summary is correct and complete."

The executive is assuming responsibility and accountability for the accuracy of the process and the information.  This is generally not the person who keeps the day to day records.

OSHA can cite an a employer if the OSHA Form 300A is not posted as required.

Are you a covered employer?  Here are some excerpts from the web site.  The link follows the info:

• Every employer - regardless of size or industry - must orally report any incident that involves the death of a worker and/or the hospitalization of three or more workers. You must call your local OSHA office or 1-800-321-OSHA within eight hours. You don't have to report most highway or commercial carrier accidents, but you must report fatal heart attacks that occur at work. 
  
• If you have 10 or fewer workers, you normally do not need to keep injury and illness records. Remember to include temporary employees under your direct supervision in that count. And if you're in one of the exempt low-hazard industries, you don't have to keep records unless OSHA or BLS asks you to participate in their annual surveys. 

This is a presentation script on OSHA recordkeeping from OSHA.  Enjoy :-)

( http://www.osha.gov/recordkeeping/ppt2/ppt2script.html)

Labor Dept. Expands Enforcement Of Wage Violations

Hi all:  Just wanted to share this news release from The AP.  I will comment later this week-but didn't want to delay in getting this out to you all.

Labor Dept. Expands Enforcement Of Wage Violations 

by THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

WASHINGTON September 19, 2011, 04:18 pm ET

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Labor Department is signing agreements to share information with nearly a dozen states and the Internal Revenue Service as it gets more aggressive in its program to crack down on businesses that cheat workers out of their wages.

The information will help Labor officials target businesses that improperly label workers as independent contractors or as non-employees to deprive workers of minimum wage and overtime pay. Misclassifying workers also lets companies avoid paying workers compensation, unemployment insurance and federal taxes.

Patricia Smith, the Labor Department's top lawyer, said sharing information between state and federal agencies could subject businesses to multiple fines.

"There's more of an incentive to be in compliance because the cost of what we consider to be illegal activity has increased," Smith said in an interview.

In the past, Smith said, a company might pay a single fine to a state agency for not making proper unemployment insurance payments. Under the new agreements, a state can share the information with the Labor Department, which also can seek fines and penalties for federal wage violations.

The violation also would be reported to the IRS, which can go after the company for unpaid taxes, Smith said.

States that have agreed to work with the Labor Department so far include Connecticut, Hawaii, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Missouri, Montana, Utah and Washington. Labor officials from New York and Illinois plan to sign up in the near future.

Labor Secretary Hilda Solis has made increased enforcement of federal wage-and-hour laws a top priority since she took office in 2009. The department has focused on industries where so-called "wage theft" is considered a problem, including the hotel, restaurant, janitorial, health care and day care industries.

Last month, the agency began targeting large U.S. homebuilders to see if they failed to pay workers the minimum wage or overtime.

"The urgency of addressing this issue has become more pronounced because we're seeing these illegal business practices used by more and more industries, like restaurants," said Nancy Leppink, head of the department's Wage and Hour Division.

Earlier this year, for example, the department recovered over $219,000 in back wages for 44 Boston-area restaurant workers who were misclassified as independent contractors by two restaurants. The restaurants had failed to pay them overtime and also weren't paying their payroll taxes.

Scott DeFife, a vice president for policy and government affairs at the National Restaurant Association, said his group works closely with members to navigate the "increasingly complex" federal and state rules governing wage and hour issues.

"We support 100 percent compliance with the law," he said.

Leppink said employers who do follow the law are finding it difficult to compete against those businesses that are misclassifying their workers.

In 2010, the Labor Department collected nearly $4 million in back wages on behalf of about 6,500 employees who had been misclassified, a 400 percent increase over the amount collected in 2008. The department has hired about 300 additional investigators to probe wage theft complaints.

Leppink said getting more referrals from states would help the agency increase enforcement efforts. IRS officials said they could take case referrals from the Labor Department, but would not refer individual cases to any agency.

Post strike relations: Was trust lost? If so, can it be restored? My story.

News is coming out today that union workers plan to end their walkout against Verizon Communications.  There has been screaming and yelling and throwing bad names and bus pickets in front of executive's houses.  Hateful sayings have been hurled.

Bad memories come up whenever I hear of strikes.   You see, in my sophomore year of high school our teachers went on strike.  I remember going home and asking, "What's a scab,"  for it was being screamed at me by math and science teachers who just days before were on a respected pedestal.   The Honor Students, ( yep I was one) were teaching the younger students.  New York State Regents exams didn't care about a strike.  Those exams go on state wide so one community can not reschedule.

I remember, like it was yesterday, a teacher throwing a tomato at our school bus window as we went to the other school.  "Who are those people?," I remember thinking.

The strike came to an end.

It seemed so strange to sit in the classroom and look at the teacher in the front of the room.  I was sick to my stomach.  I was always taught to respect people in authority and elders; but I was truly troubled.  it was hard to concentrate.

That experience left a gouge on my heart.  I never regained the respect I once held for the teachers who were so rude to me and my fellow students.They didn't even acknowledge it.  This was my education-it could not be put on hold. The education I got during that time has stuck with me.

So as these union employees go back to work-I wonder what issues will be in the workplace by people who drove into work and through the picket lines, feelings by the people whose children were pulled indoors as bus loads of people emptied onto their quiet neighborhood street to picket.

Be a shareholder, vote out those members of management you don't want.

How will cross departments meetings flow?  Was trust lost between the two "sides?"  Where was the customers' voice in all of this?  If lost, can trust be restored?  As we know, trust, once broken, never returns to the same level .

It's a sad situation.  Respect and communication without agendas except for the customers' should be simple.   Even designers will tell you that a simple working design is the hardest.

IRS issues updated mileage rates

The Internal Revenue Service today issued the 2011 optional standard mileage rates used to calculate the deductible costs of operating an automobile for business, charitable, medical or moving purposes.
Beginning on Jan. 1, 2011, the standard mileage rates for the use of a car (also vans, pickups or panel trucks) will be:

• 51 cents per mile for business miles driven
• 19 cents per mile driven for medical or moving purposes
• 14 cents per mile driven in service of charitable organizations

More info:  

http://www.irs.gov/newsroom/article/0,,id=232017,00.html

Union targeted Target: Workers say No

Friday's vote at the Valley Stream, NY Target resulted in a vote against union affiliation 137-85.  This has been closely watched by retailers.  Target employs thousands of people in their 1,755 stores; none have union-represented employees. As expected Unfair Labor Practices have been filed on both sides about the other according to the National Labor Relations Board.  United Food and Commercial Workers Union Local 1500 wanted to represent the workers at the store, just east of Manhattan.

Three times a charm?

ODESSA, FL, June 13, 2011 — Entrepreneur and HR expert Kelley Rexroad, SPHR,  has been nominated once again for Tampa Bay Business Woman of the Year, an annual award sponsored by the Tampa Bay Business Journal.  

“In 2007 I was a finalist for Business Services category and last year, a finalist for Entrepreneur category-who knows what will happen this year.  It may sound trite but I am honored to be nominated.  The nomination application itself is a good exercise for reflection as to what you have accomplished in your professional life but also in service to your community,” said Rexroad.  

Kelley Rexroad is founder of krexconsulting where her experience in communications and HR helps businesses succeed.    She has been featured as a speaker and a writer in numerous media including CBS, ABC, St Pete Times, The Tampa Tribune and NY Times. She's been called an expert by Fox News' Neal Cavuto.   Her original inspirational quotations have been selected out of thousands to highlight calendars. Her tailored HR strategies and coaching programs' effectiveness are why her clients continue to work with her year after year.

Isn't this special? An app from the Dept of Labor-for your employees.

The Department of Labor has issued a press relase about its new app for smartphones. Workers have always been able to keep their own hours--just now it will be tied into the Department of Labor!

Here's the notice right from the DOL and the handy link:  http://www.dol.gov/whd/Hightlights/archived.htm#May9_2011
"May 9, 2011

The U.S. Department of Labor today announced the launch of its first application for smartphones, a timesheet to help employees independently track the hours they work and determine the wages they are owed. Available in English and Spanish, users conveniently can track regular work hours, break time and any overtime hours for one or more employers. This new technology is significant because, instead of relying on their employers’ records, workers now can keep their own records. This information could prove invaluable during a Wage and Hour Division investigation when an employer has failed to maintain accurate employment records.

The free app is currently compatible with the iPhone and iPod Touch. The Labor Department will explore updates that could enable similar versions for other smartphone platforms, such as Android and BlackBerry, and other pay features not currently provided for, such as tips, commissions, bonuses, deductions, holiday pay, pay for weekends, shift differentials and pay for regular days of rest.

For workers without a smartphone, the Wage and Hour Division has a printable work hours calendar in English and Spanish to track rate of pay, work start and stop times, and arrival and departure times. The calendar also includes easy-to-understand information about workers’ rights and how to file a wage violation complaint."

WOW! $1,047,110 settlement-

Dept of Homeland Security--ICE against Abercrombie & Fitch.Why? Solely for improper completion of I-9 forms. Call if you need help--813-920-9030

Great crowd in Z hills!

Wow! What a great crowd in Zephyrhills today.I shared 5 "finding your next great job" tips and the #1 thing I see all applicants doing wrong! Can't wait to share it in New Port Richey on 10/20/2010!

The Lawyers Win! This is going down in history and may create litigation for years. The case is New Process Steel v. NLRB, 08-145. This Supreme court case may change nearly 600 employee relations decisions.

NLRB | Research | Decisions | Board Decisions

Just heard....

Heard today on a Wage and Hour Webinar presented by ADP and Lawyer Josh Kirkpatrick: 4 year statute of limitations on the California meal period regulation! If the employee misses the meal period, then the company owes the employee an hour of pay! Lots of initiatives underway by the Dept of Labor....stay tuned for more!

The top 10 HR issues for small business

The top 10 HR issues facing small business. Free Teleseminar through the Central Pasco Chamber of Commerce. ( you know the speaker! :-)) sign up at the link to get the call in info. amazing practical information on what is coming and what to do!

http://myaccount.maestroconference.com/conference/register/P8F8DT5TJ1J48947

Prepare and Perform and Pressure

The OuterBanks are a favorite of mine ever since my folks took me there in the mid 60's. And I am a huge Richard Gere fan. This video is amazing. Well worth the nearly 10 minutes. Have a cup of coffee and watch this. These are unique jobs; doing unique things under the eye of lots of people. This is where schooling doesn't teach you everything; where confidence in what you do is key; where teamwork isn't a game; where you do what you do with the ground being washed away as you do it-literally! And that preparation is key--even if the job is only 22 minutes long. Now what are you doing to prepare, perform under pressure and communicate everything to your team mates.

http://www.islandfreepress.org/2010Archives/01.18.2010-SerendipityArrivesAtItsNewHome.html

Yes, it does happen to Tampa companies!

And the EEOC announces it with a press release and photo of the EEOC trial lawyers...

Outback Steakhouse To Pay $19 Million For Sex Bias Against Women In 'Glass Ceiling' Suit By EEOC

The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) today
announced that Outback Steakhouse has agreed to pay $19 million and
furnish significant remedial relief to settle a major class lawsuit
alleging sex discrimination against thousands of women at hundreds of
its corporately-owned restaurants nationwide.

According to the EEOC, Outback discriminated against its female
employees with respect to the terms and conditions of employment, and
denied women equal opportunities for advancement. The EEOC alleged in
the lawsuit that female employees hit a glass ceiling at Outback and
could not get promoted to the higher-level profit-sharing management
positions in the restaurants. Moreover, the EEOC also alleged that
women were denied favorable job assignments, particularly kitchen
management experience, which was required for employees to be
considered for the top management job in the restaurants.

Outback Steakhouse To Pay $19 Million For Sex Bias Against Women In ‘Glass Ceiling’ Suit By EEOC

YIKES!

Did you know: possiblly 5 new leave bills for employers to manage next year? YIKES! Who will be available to work and what will the administration of these plans cost? Guess I think that good companies respect their talent and don't need this type of system. The companies I know do what is right.

COMING THIS SPRING:

U.S. Supreme Court to Hear Arguments on the Privacy of Text Messages by employees using employer provided pagers.

The U.S. Supreme Court announced today that it would hear arguments in a case involving sexually explicit text messages sent by employees using their employer-provided pagers. The issue for the court is whether the employer violated its employees' privacy rights by reading the messages. The Court is expected to hear arguments in the case next spring.

Are you confused about the law's definition of religious discrimination?

Are you confused about the law's definition of religious discrimination?

A Charlotte, N.C.-based equipment rental company will pay
$64,641 to settle a religious harassment lawsuit brought by the U.S.Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) just days before the case was scheduled for a jury trial.

The EEOC had sued Sunbelt Rentals, Inc., the nationwide commercial rental company, on behalf of a Muslim worker who was allegedly discriminated

against because of his Islamic faith at a company facility in
Gaithersburg, Md.

In its suit (EEOC v. Sunbelt Rentals, Inc., Civil Action
No. PJM 04-cv-2978) in U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland, the EEOC charged that Clinton Ingram was subjected to derogatory comments and slurs based on his religion, Islam. The comments, according to the EEOC, included suggestions that Ingram might be a terrorist because he is Muslim. The suit alleged that various other hostile incidents were also directed at Ingram because of his religion, such as subjecting him to an anti-Muslim cartoon. The lawsuit
settled just a few days before it was scheduled to go to trial.

In addition to paying over $64,000 in compensatory damages to Ingram, Sunbelt must also take other actions set forth in the consent
decree resolving the case, including providing anti- discrimination
training to its Gaithersburg staff and posting a notice about the settlement. Further, the company is enjoined from engaging in religious
harassment and must report complaints of religious harassment at itsGaithersburg facility to the EEOC for monitoring.

There are some quick q and A's for employers on this link:

http://www.eeoc.gov/eeoc/publications/backlash-employee.cfm

POSTER now includes GINA!

The EEOC has updated its EEO poster to include the GINA requirements. This poster is available for free on the EEOC’s Web site at http://www.eeoc.gov/self_print_poster.pdf. As an alternative, you can post just the GINA requirement next to your current EEO poster, and the EEOC also has provided a supplemental poster online (again, free of charge) at http://www.eeoc.gov/gina_supplement.pdf.
So, be sure to update your workplace posters to include the GINA information before the November 21 effective date.