Inside this Issue:
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NLRB Clarifies
Standards for "Supervisor" Status
The National Labor Relations Board has set forth
guidelines for determining whether an individual is a supervisor
under the National Labor Relations Act and thus ineligible for union
membership. The guidelines came in three highly awaited decisions
involving the supervisory status of “charge” nurses in healthcare
facilities and “lead” persons at a manufacturing facility.
In the main case, the Board held that the permanent
(as opposed to rotating) charge nurses employed by the Oakwood
Heritage Hospital, an acute care hospital, exercised supervisory
authority in assigning employees within the meaning of the labor
relations act. In reaching its decision the Board interpreted the
terms “assign,” “independent judgment” and “responsibly to direct”
as they are set forth in the act.
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Bus Driver’s Back Injury Did Not "Substantially Limited" A Major Life
Activity
A bus driver for the Denver
Regional Transportation District (RTD) who suffered a
work-related back injury failed to show he was disabled by a
physical impairment under the Americans with Disabilities
Act (ADA). The driver contended that his work-related back
injury "substantially limited" the major life activity of
sitting.
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Forecast For Unions Sees Fewer Employees Available To
Organize
According to the Labor
Research Association (LRA), a union-backed think group,
organizing workers and bargaining for wage and benefit
improvements will become more difficult over the next
decade, as labor market trends continue to undercut the
unionized sectors and job growth occurs primarily at the
lower end of the wage spectrum.
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States are Acting on Minimum Wage
On November 7, voters in
six states will decide whether to raise their minimum wage.
Already this year ten state legislatures have voted to
raise the minimum wage above the federal level of $5.15 per
hour, continuing an unprecedented two-year trend of state
action on an issue that remains deadlocked in Congress.
If half of the six states
(Arizona, Colorado, Missouri, Montana, Nevada, and Ohio)
where the minimum wage hike is on the ballot approve an
increase, for the first time a majority of the states will
require higher pay than the federal rate.
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2006 Saw Lowest Increases in Health
Care Cost in Eight Years
Employers
this year saw the lowest health care cost increase in eight
years, but the overall rate of the increase continues to be
a concern for employers and employees. In 2006, according
to a recent survey by Hewitt Associates, a human resources
services company, average health care rate increases were
7.9 percent. For 2007, Hewitt is projecting a 7.7 percent
average increase for employers.
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Approaching Deadlines for Human
Resource/Payroll Professionals
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Latest Department of Labor Numbers
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Benefits Benchmark
Information Now Available!
With the release
of the "2006 Iowa Employer Benefits Study" in September,
updated detailed information is now available for Iowa employers to
compare their employee benefits against 923 other employers who
participated in the Study! In addition, you can compare your
organization to one of ten industries represented within this study:
To learn more
about this unique (and patented benchmark tool), please log on to
the following website: www.dplabenchmark.com.
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