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Showing posts for: Karen Davis

Mar 27 2014
Affirmative Action

Ensure disabled applicants aren’t accidentally excluded from hiring process

Online application systems can pose a major barrier to individuals with disabilities if they’re not designed correctly, according to a recent webinar offered by the Job Accommodation Network (JAN). Many web developers have no idea that their beautiful web designs pose frustrating obstacles to applicants with visual, hearing, mobility, or cognitive impairments. For example, if…

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Mar 19 2014
Affirmative Action

President signs Executive Order for contractors to pay $10.10 minimum wage

On February 12, 2014, President Obama signed Executive Order 13658, which will require certain federal contractors to pay at least $10.10 per hour beginning January 1, 2015. Federal agencies will incorporate this minimum wage requirement into new federal contracts for construction or services. Affected contractors must then turn around and include the minimum wage requirement…

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Feb 13 2014
Wage and Hour

FMCSA allows leeway on rest breaks for drivers who exceed short-haul exception

If drivers of commercial motor vehicles unexpectedly have to drive further or work longer than the short-haul exception allows, they won’t get in trouble for failing to take a 30-minute rest break on time as long as they take certain steps, said the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) in regulatory guidance. Most property-carrying commercial…

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Feb 11 2014
Immigration

E-Verify improves detection of SSN fraud

The agency will use a combination of algorithms, reports, and analyses to look for instances of valid SSNs that appear to have been stolen or purchased. For example, an employer checking a Social Security card might not notice a problem, as long as the name and number match the Social Security Administration’s database. But if…

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Feb 06 2014
Safety and Health

Even inaccurate safety complaints by truck driver protected

A commercial truck driver who was fired after raising safety concerns and inaccurately reporting a mechanic’s assessment of his truck can take his case to trial, ruled the Seventh Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals. The driver refused to drive a semi-dump truck whose tail pan was caked in asphalt, and complained that another truck’s steering…

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Jan 29 2014
Wage and Hour

ALERT: Supreme Court says CBA can exclude payment for putting on protective gear

The U.S. Supreme Court ruled yesterday that an employer and union may agree that workers aren’t entitled to be paid for their time donning and doffing most protective safety gear at the beginning or end of the workday. Normally employers would have to pay for this time, if it is integral and indispensable to employees’…

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Jan 22 2014
Disability

Employer failed to consider accommodations under the ADA

An employer’s hasty decision that an employee with a disability could not perform the “essential functions of the job” ended up backfiring in an expensive way. That was the result of a federal district court’s ruling, which allowed the employee’s case to proceed to trial. One of the employee’s main tasks was to regularly lift…

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Dec 30 2013
Affirmative Action

Affirmative Action: Construction contractor nailed for hiring discrimination

Following an affirmative action audit by the OFCCP, construction contractor M.C. Dean agreed to pay $875,000 in back wages and interest to be shared by 381 African American, Hispanic, and Asian American applicants. As a result of the case, the company will extend 39 job offers as positions become available, train its personnel, and periodically…

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Dec 19 2013
Affirmative ActionDisability

Affirmative Action: OFCCP updates FAQs on new disability and veterans rules

The Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP) has released more FAQs on its web pages providing guidance on the new rules regarding protected veterans and people with disabilities. Some of the answers are helpful; others are downright baffling. First, the helpful ones: • In job ads, when you indicate that you are an Equal…

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Nov 21 2013
Wage and HourWashington

WASHINGTON: 2014 minimum wage to be $9.32 per hour

The minimum wage in Washington will rise from $9.19 to $9.32 per hour, effective January 1, 2014. The 13-cent increase was announced by the Washington Department of Labor and Industries (L&I), which evaluates the minimum wage in the fall each year, based on changes in the Consumer Price Index. Tips: Washington employers aren’t required to…

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Oct 17 2013
Affirmative ActionHiring

Bank ordered to pay over $2 million to rejected applicants

The Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP) announced that Bank of America has been ordered by an administrative law judge to pay $2,181,593 in back wages and interest to disappointed African American job applicants. It all started on November 24, 1993, when the OFCCP notified the bank it had been selected for a random…

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Oct 17 2013
Labor RelationsQ&A

NLRA protects workers’ complaints and other activities

A: If he’s a supervisor or manager, absolutely. But if he’s a nonsupervisory employee, then his activity may be protected. Under the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA), most nonsupervisory employees have the right to band together for mutual aid and protection to address concerns about wages, hours, and working conditions. If the employee is voicing…

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