If you’re a subscriber to Employment Law 360, there’s an excellent article today entitled The Hidden Danger of Runaway Fee Awards.

The article focuses on a case discussed here on the Blawg, in which the court approved an award of attorneys’ fees that was 33 times more than the award to the plaintiff.  The author discusses tips for reducing attorneys’ fees and showed – in my humble opinion — extremely good taste and judgment by interviewing me. 

You can check it out here (again, you have to be a subscriber).  Enjoy!

Yesterday, the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) proposed new regulations interpreting the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA).

The proposals are designed to sync up the FLSA’s regulations with statutory amendments and court decisions issued over the past several decades.  Proposed changes include:

• including bonuses and premium payments in the calculation of overtime for employees with fluctuating workweeks
• excluding specified stock options from the regular pay rate
• updating the tip credit to reflect recent increases in the minimum wage
• clarifying rules around the use of comp time by public employees
• adding the “youth opportunity wage” of $4.20 an hour for employees under the age of 20 during their first 90 days of employment
• updating various rules regarding firefighters, irrigation workers and boat salespersons
• excluding certain food bank volunteers from the definition of “employee”

Click here to see all the proposals.  Comments may be submitted to the DOL until September 11.

Stay tuned for more.

The HIPAA Cheat Sheet is now available for your reading pleasure. 

You can access all of our cheat sheets here.  I’ll cover them (and more) in our free July 3o webinar, Every Employment Law in 60 Minutes or Less.

If there are other cheat sheets you’d like to see, feel free to drop me a line at blawg@manpower.com.  Thanks!

Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) officials announced that Imperial Sugar Co. could face penalties of more than $8.7 million in connection with an explosion at a Georgia plant that left 13 dead. 

According to published reports, OSHA investigators determined that the explosion was caused when a sugar-hauling bucket in a silo came loose, hitting the metal siding and causing a spark that ignited sugar dust piled beneath the silo.  On the day of the accident, employees had been using metal rods to loosen hardened sugar deposits from the silo, resulting in the accumulation of large amounts of dust in a confined area, according to Kurt Petermeyer, the lead investigator assigned to the case.

OSHA said it had warned the company about flammable dust hazards at its plants since 2002.  It also said that when it inspected one of Imperial’s Louisiana plants a month after the Georgia explosion, it found employees wading through piles of sugar dust as deep as four feet.

“This catastrophic accident could have been prevented if Imperial Sugar had complied with existing OSHA safety and health standards,” said OSHA head Edwin Foulke.  OSHA found a total of 211 violations by the company, including 108 that were considered major.

The fines would be the third largest ever imposed by the agency. 

Imperial CEO John Sheptor said that the company would contest OSHA’s findings.  “We believe that the facts do not merit the allegations made,” he said.

Stay tuned for more. 

I just posted our Section 409A Cheat Sheet, which covers a relatively recent wrinkle added to the Internal Revenue Code to address deferred compensation.  All of the cheat sheets are available here and will be covered at our free July 3o webinar, Every Employment Law in 60 Minutes or Less.

If you have suggestions for additional cheat sheets, feel free to drop us a line at blawg@manpower.com.  Enjoy!

I just posted our Immigration Reform and Control Act (IRCA) Cheat Sheet.  Coming soon:  HIPAA and Section 409A. 

Thus far, we have created 18 cheat sheets, covering everything from the ADA to WARN.  Click here to see ‘em all.

We’ll discuss the cheat sheets (and lots more) at our FREE July 30 webinar, Every Employment Law in 60 Minutes or Less.  Click here to register.

Enjoy!

Recently on the Blawg, we’ve reported on a rash of rather ironic lawsuits that you just wouldn’t expect to see.

First, there was the pregnancy discrimination lawsuit filed against one of the nation’s largest maternity store chains, Motherhood Maternity, Inc.  Then there were the dozens of Fair Labor Standards Act violations allegedly committed by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, the very agency charged with keeping the nation’s employees safe from workplace unfairness.  And then, just a few weeks ago, the National Labor Relations Board was hit with multiple allegations of unfair labor practices.

What’s next?  Unsafe working conditions at OSHA?  Tax fraud at the IRS?  Immigration Control & Enforcement raiding itself and finding lots of illegal aliens?

Well, it appears that we may have our next entrant in the “Most Ironic Lawsuit of the Year” sweepstakes.  In a complaint filed earlier this week, a former AARP employee claims that she was terminated unfairly after more than eleven years of service.  The basis of her claim?  Age discrimination.

AARP — formerly known as the American Association of Retired Persons — is a nonprofit organization dedicated to serving persons age 50 and over and “enhancing quality of life for all as we age.” 

Bonita Brady, 63, claims that she lost her “permanent” position at AARP due to a corporate reorganization, was passed over for nine other positions for which she was qualified and then was terminated just before she would have become eligible for retirement benefits.  She alleges that AARP discriminated against her because of her age and her status as caregiver for her elderly father.

“How ironic that AARP has failed to follow its own goals in the treatment of older employees,” said Brady’s attorney.  Brady seeks compensation for lost wages and benefits, statutory penalties and attorneys’ fees.

AARP has yet to officially comment.  Stay tuned to see how this plays out.

Our COBRA, Equal Pay Act, ERISA, FCRA, FLSA, Harassment, NLRA, OSHA, PDA, Section 1981, Title VII, USERRA and WARN Cheat Sheets are now available here or by clicking on “Cheat Sheets” under ”Tools & Tips” on the left side of the Blawg.

Hope you find them helpful.  I’ll be adding more throughout the day in preparation for our free July 30 webinar, entitled Every Employment Law in 60 Minutes or Less.  To register for the webinar, click here.

Approximately 2 million Americans will get a raise today as the federal minimum wage increases 70 cents, from $5.85 to $6.55 an hour. 

The increase is the second of three annual raises required in a 2007 law passed by Congress.  Next year, the minimum wage will rise to $7.25 an hour.

Today, the EEOC released a new Compliance Manual Section regarding religious discrimination in the workplace.  Click here to download the new section, here for answers to FAQs and here for employer and employee best practices.

The new section covers many key issues, including:

• what constitutes “religion” for purposes of Title VII
• reasonable accommodation of religious practices
• religious harassment
• religious expression
• disparate treatment
• retaliation

“Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 seeks to ensure that applicants and employees enjoy the freedom to compete, advance and succeed in the workplace, irrespective of their religious beliefs,” said EEOC Chair Naomi Earp.  “This Compliance Manual Section serves as a valuable resource for employers, employees, practitioners and EEOC staff seeking information on Title VII’s prohibition against religious discrimination.”

Religious discrimination charges filed with the EEOC have more than doubled over the past fifteen years, from 1,388 in 1992 to a record 2,880 last year.

So, what does the EEOC suggest for employer best practices?  Here are the highlights:

• Policies and Procedures.  Employers should have a well-publicized and consistently applied anti-harassment policy that (1) addresses religious harassment, (2) clearly explains what’s prohibited, (3) describes the process for bringing harassment to management’s attention and (4) assures complainants that they will be protected from retaliation.  The process should include (1) multiple avenues for complaints, (2) prompt, thorough and impartial investigations and (3) prompt and appropriate corrective action.
• Religious Expression.  Religious expression should be allowed to the same extent as other types of personal expression that aren’t harassing or disruptive.
• Remediation.  Employers should take prompt and appropriate action to address potentially harassing religious conduct, including conduct by customers, vendors or contractors.
• Reasonable Accommodation.  Employers should make reasonable efforts to accommodate employees’ religious practices.  However, employers aren’t required to provide the employee’s preferred accommodation if there are other effective alternatives.  Suggestions are given for how to deal with specific accommodation situations, including schedule changes, voluntary substitutions, change of job assignments, transfers and permitting prayer, proselytizing and other forms of religious expression.
• Training.  Managers should be trained on how to deal with all of the above, including the necessity of avoiding retaliation.

 Stay tuned for more.