Employment Law Update

Michael Patrick O’Brien
July 15, 2010 | COMMENTS

The United States Department of Labor (DOL) has finalized its regulations dealing with federal contractor/subcontractor obligations to notify employees of their rights under federal labor law. The new requirement is based on an executive order (No. 13496) that requires such postings by federal contractors and subcontractors. The new regulations require covered entities to post notices in conspicuous places, similar to the existing poster requirements with which you are familiar. If an employer customarily posts notices electronically, this new notice must be posted that way too. If a significant portion of the workforce is not proficient in English, appropriate translations must be obtained from DOL and posted. You can read the full regulations and get lots more information about this issue online here. The regulations take effect on June 19, 2010, but a covered company does not have to begin posting the notices until it signs a new federal contract or subcontract mandating compliance with this executive order.

New Child Labor Rules Published

DOL also recently published new rules for child labor (i.e. employment of persons under age 18). Here is a good, quick summary of them from national SHRM. DOL also has published a couple of side-by-side comparisons of the old rules and the new rules, available online here and here. The new rules take effect on July 19, 2010. If you employ persons under age 18, make sure you know these new rules.

News Briefs

Here are some quick news briefs from the employment law world. First, the COBRA subsidy ended as of May 31, 2010. Congress has suggested it might extend it again, but has not yet done so. Second, national SHRM reports that “ on May 1, 2010, revisions to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services' (HHS)  Mandatory Guidelines for Federal Workplace Drug Testing Programs  take effect, including reduced cutoff levels for amphetamine and cocaine. Although the  Guidelines  apply to federal employer drug testing, many private-sector employers opt to follow the Guidelines'  procedures for how testing is conducted and for the cutoff levels. The revised  Guidelines  also change other administrative aspects of the procedures.” 

Another Independent Contractor Alert

More so than at any time during my 25 years of practicing employment law, businesses today are getting hit hard with audits by state unemployment compensation agencies and by the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) regarding misclassification of workers as independent contractors instead of as employees. If you classify your workers as independent contractors, you need to make darn sure your classification is appropriate under the applicable law. IRS guidelines on the employee/contractor distinction on this issue can be found online here.  

Huge Verdict in Federal Gender Discrimination Lawsuit

In May of 2010, a jury in a gender discrimination case pending in a New York City federal court awarded a class of 5,600 female plaintiffs over $250 million in punitive damages and almost $4 million in compensatory damages. A back-pay award is also expected. The plaintiffs are current and former sales employees of a drug maker who alleged they suffered bias in pay, promotional opportunities and pregnancy-related matters. Here is a news article with some more details about the lawsuit and the plaintiffs' verdict. Some news accounts have said this is the largest gender discrimination lawsuit ever to go to a jury verdict in the United States . Once again, these kinds of cases remind us all of the value a good HR compliance program brings to any organization. When other management calls HR a cost center instead of a profit center for the business, you can simply respond as follows: “I know how to save you $250 million . . .”

The Employment Law Update is a legal and legislative update service sent out about twice a month to various members of the Utah League of Credit Unions HR Council. Michael Patrick O'Brien is also the Legal and Legislative Director for Utah SHRM (Society for Human Resource Management).Contact O'Brien at 801-534-7315 or mobrien@joneswaldo.com or visit www.joneswaldo.com. Reprinted with permission.