The Sperry Law Blog

The U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration is launching a local emphasis program in Idaho aimed at reducing injuries and fatalities associated with the operation of powered industrial trucks, including forklifts and lift trucks.

OSHA compliance offices will begin conducting inspections in early June to identify and evaluate hazards of operating powered industrial trucks, or PITs, such as being struck by and caught between PITs, which could lead to serious employee injuries or death.

 » Read more about: Safe Operation of Powered Industrial Trucks is Focus of OSHA’s New Local Emphasis Program in Idaho  »

On May 9, 2013,the U.S. Department of Labor obtained a consent judgment in federal court ordering Bowlin Group LLC and Bowlin Services LLC to pay 196 employees a total of $1,075,000 in back wages and liquidated damages.

This very issue is the subject of Sperry Law Office’s next training class, sign up now!  The following is excerpted from the DoL’s Wage and Hour news release:

 » Read more about: DoL Recovers Over $1 Million for 196 Employees Improperly Classified as Independent Contractors  »

Fabricut, Inc., one of the world’s largest distributors of decorative fabrics, will pay $50,000 and furnish other relief to settle a disability and genetic information discrimination lawsuit filed by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC). This is the first lawsuit ever filed by the EEOC alleging genetic discrimination.

In its lawsuit, the EEOC charged that Tulsa-based Fabricut violated the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) when it refused to hire a woman for the position of memo clerk because it regarded her as having carpal tunnel syndrome,

 » Read more about: EEOC Settles its First Genetic Information Discrimination Case  »

House Bill 1406, the Working Families Flexibility Act, passed the House yesterday with a vote of 223-204.  The bill would give private employers and their employees the ability to do what governmental employers and employees have long been able to do:  take compensatory time off in lieu of being paid overtime.  H.R. 1406 authorizes compensatory time off at a rate of no less than one and one half hours for each hour of overtime worked.

 » Read more about: House Passes “Comp” Time Bill for Private Employers  »

As I first reported, earlier this year the City of Boise passed an anti-discrimination ordinance, prohibiting discrimination based on sexual orientation or identity. Three other Idaho cities have considered the issue.  

Sandpoint was actually the first city in the state to pass this type of ordinance on December 21, 2011 (Ordinance No. 1261).  On April 1, 2013, the Moscow City Council passed Ordinance No.

 » Read more about: Pocatello Declines to Join Boise, Moscow and Sandpoint in Anti-Discrimination Ordinance  »

The following is excerpted from OSHA’s national newsite:

The U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration has cited Good Neighbor Care Centers LLC, doing business as Four Seasons Assisted Living in Coeur D’Alene, with three serious and two other-than-serious safety and health violations. OSHA conducted an inspection under the agency’s National Emphasis Program for Nursing and Residential Care Facilities.

Four Seasons was cited for three serious violations: failing to protect workers from musculoskeletal injuries to the back,

 » Read more about: Coeur D’Alene’s Four Seasons Assisted Living Cited by OSHA  »

A federal jury has returned a unanimous verdict awarding a total of $20,251,963 to eight former employees of Four Amigos Travel, Inc. and Top Dog Travel, Inc., a former Florida vacation agency with offices in Largo, Orlando and Lake Lauderdale, Fla., who suffered sexual harassment and retaliation, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) announced today.

According to the EEOC’s suit, travel agency owner Ronald Schlom and male managers working at Four Amigos / Top Dog’s Largo facility subjected a class of female employees to egregious sexual harassment on a daily basis.

 » Read more about: EEOC Wins over $20 Million Jury Verdict for Eight Employees  »

I hope that you can join us on June 13, 2013, for our latest educational opportunity: “If it Quacks Like a Duck: Properly Classifying Employees and Independent Contractors.”

The improper classification of employees as independent contractors may be one of the most common errors that employers make. The Department of Labor and the Internal Revenue Service have recognized this, have teamed up, allotted additional enforcement resources, and are dramatically increasing their enforcement efforts.

 » Read more about: Sperry Law Presents: “If it Quacks Like a Duck: Properly Classifying Employees and Independent Contractors”  »

Last month, I wrote about the NLRB’s decision to appeal the Noel Canning case to the U.S. Supreme Court.  In Noel Canning, the D.C. Court of Appeals ruled that President Obama’s 2012 NLRB appointments were unconstitutional.

Last week, the House of Representatives passed H.R. 1120:  Preventing Greater Uncertainty in Labor-Management Relations Act.   H.R. 1120 requires the NLRB to cease all activity that requires a quorum and prohibits the NLRB from enforcing any action taken on or after January 4,

 » Read more about: Wrangling over the President’s 2012 NLRB “Recess” Appointments Continues in Congress  »

President Obama’s 2014 budget proposal includes increased funding for nearly every federal employment agency.  Below is a summary of the proposed increases over 2012:

• Department of Labor–$12.1 billion, up $20 million
• Wage and Hour Division–$243 million, up $17 million
• Office of Federal Contract Compliance Program–$108 million, up $3 million
• OSHA–$571 million, up $4 million
• Office of Labor Management Standards–$47 million, up $6 million
• Employee Benefits Security Administration–$189 million
• National Labor Relations Board–$285 million,

 » Read more about: Administration Proposes Funding Boosts for Federal Employment Agencies  »