DOL ISSUES NEW PROPOSED FMLA RULES

The Department of Labor (DOL), on February 11, 2008, proposed an overhaul of the rules and regulations of the Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993 (FMLA). The proposed regulations are not law, however, employers would do well to familiarize themselves with the proposed regulations,

The DOL proposes restructuring and reorganizing several sections of the regulations and rewording the titles of the regulatory provisions so that they are statements rather than questions. The DOL also proposes a number of substantive revisions, including amending language in the regulations to clarify that employees may independently settle FMLA claims without the approval of the DOL or a court, in response to the Fourth Circuit’s decision in Taylor v. Progress Energy.

The DOL also proposes eliminating language in the regulations stating that an employee who does not receive proper notice of his or her FMLA rights will be deemed to be eligible for FMLA leave. The DOL states that it believes this provision is invalid in light of the U.S. Supreme Court decision in Ragsdale v. Wolverine World Wide, Inc., 535 U.S. 81 (2002), in which the Court held that any categorical penalty for a violation of notice and designation provisions in the regulations exceeds the Department’s statutory authority.

Some of the other proposals include:

FLSA's Agriculture Exemption Precluded Plaintiff from Receiving Overtime Pay

In this case, a service truck driver sued his employer, an agricultural cooperative association, and related entities, alleging failure to pay for overtime in violation of the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA).  The United States District Court granted summary judgment for the defendants.  On appeal, the 11^th Circuit affirmed, holding that:

2008 Employment Conference Has Been Scheduled For April 23rd at Prairie Meadows in Altoona

The 2008 Iowa Employment Conference will be held on April 23 at Prairie Meadows in Altoona from 8:15 a.m. until 4 p.m.  This one-day premier conference will feature powerful and informative concurrent sessions presented by leading human resource and training consultants, attorneys and benefit consultants on the most critical employment issues likely to affect Iowa employers in 2008.

A “Good-Faith” Workplace Investigation

Everett Young, an African American, worked as an investigator at Dillon Companies' King Soopers grocery stores in Colorado.  According to his employer's timekeeping procedures, he was supposed to complete all time records in a manner that reflected the true hours he worked.  His shift was scheduled to run from 2:00 p.m. until 10:30 p.m.

Dillon began investigating Young because of allegations that he was abusing telephone privileges during work hours.  Its investigation included reviewing store security videos.  As part of that review, his supervisor, Jon Lesley, saw images on the videos indicating that he left the store two hours before the end of his shift on January 11.

Lesley investigated Young's timekeeping records.  He was required to "punch out" at the end of every shift through an electronic timecard system and record his hours in a transfer log on the last day of each workweek.

New OSHA Rule May Require Employers to Pay for Personal Protective Equipment

Many Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) standards require employers to provide their employees with protective equipment, including personal protective equipment (PPE).  These requirements address PPE of many kinds: hard hats, gloves, goggles, safety shoes, safety glasses, welding helmets, goggles and so forth.  The provisions in OSHA standards that require PPE generally state, that the employer is to provide such PPE.  However, some of these provisions do not specify that the employer is to provide such PPE at no cost to the employee.  In this rulemaking, OSHA is requiring employers to pay for the PPE provided, with exceptions for specific items.  The rule does not require employers to provide PPE where none has been required before.  Instead, the rule merely stipulates that the employer must pay for required PPE, except in the limited cases specified in the standard.  This final rule becomes effective on February 13, 2008.  The final rule must be implemented by May 15, 2008.

This OSHA action requires employers pay...

Approaching Deadlines for Human Resource/Payroll Professionals

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