Business, Employment and Real Estate Law in Ohio » Business, Employment and Real Estate in Ohio

NLRB delays new NLRB labor poster until April 12, 2012

Ryan Rivchun — Mon, 23 Jan 2012 20:50:06 +0000

As noted in my earlier post, the National Labor Relations Board set January 31, 2012 as the deadline for the new posting requirements. The recently postponed the effective date of the employee rights notice-posting rule until April 30, 2012 by its press release available here. Thanks to the attorneys are Meyers Roman getting the word out in their client alert.

Where can I find a copy of the proposed notice? A copy of the proposed notice is available here.

What are the consequences for not posting the notice? There are a variety of consequences including (a) the extension of the 6 month statute of limitations for a charge of unfair labor practices and (b) the failure may be considered evidence of unlawful motive in an unfair labor case.

Where can businesses find additional information? The NLRB has a FAQ site that answer common questions and has links the laws.

Employees are protected from retaliation for making a verbal complaint under the Wage and Hour Laws (FLSA)

Ryan Rivchun — Tue, 22 Mar 2011 20:34:38 +0000

The US Supreme Court just held employers are prohibited from firing employees that made a verbal (not written) complaint alleging violations of the Fair Labor Standards Act (29 USC 201) in the case of Kasten v. Saint-Gobain Performance Plastics Corp. A copy of the opinion, decided today, is available here. A good discussion of the oral arguments is available from John Hyman’s blog available here. This decision resolved a split of the Circuit courts about whether or not oral complaints where covered under the anti-retaliation clause of the FLSA.

In this case, the Supreme Court address conduct by the employer involving the use of time clocks in an inconvenient location that resulted in the employees not receiving credit for work time spent donning and doffing (putting on their work gear). Kasten made a verbal complaint to the company about the time clock location but did not submit a written complaint. This decision is consistent the anti-retaliation protections available to workers under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act and is consistent with the position advanced by the US Department of Labor.

What does this mean for employees?

This is a significant win for employees. Previously employees often had to rely on written documentation of a complaint to their employer to substantiate a claim for a retaliatory termination. Now, employees will be able to rely on verbal testimony where they may or may not be formal written records of a complaint.

What does this mean for employers?

There will likely be increased claims for a retaliatory termination under the FLSA based upon verbal complaints to supervisors. Employers will need to be diligent in having a consistent policy of documenting all verbal, oral, email or written complaints under the FLSA. Employers may want to demonstrate (i) has a consistent policy of documenting all verbal and written complaints, and (ii) the absence of any record of a complaint (oral or written) from the terminated employee.

Time for employers to audit their hiring records for immigration and Form I-9 compliance

Ryan Rivchun — Tue, 11 Aug 2009 21:57:09 +0000

The US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agency has indicated it is kicking off a new initiative to audit and inspect the hiring records of employers and that it recently issued 652 Notice of Inspection to businesses across the country.

All employers are required to complete and retain a Form I-9 for each individual they hire for employment in the United States. This requires employers to review and record documents showing the employee’s identity and to determine if the documents reasonably appear to be genuine and related to the individual. ICE publishes a handbook available to assist employers in understanding their obligations.

ICE compliance (including the correct completion of the Form I-9) is not a small matter. Failure to comply with the laws and regulations may result in civil and/or criminal fines and charges. For example, ICE recently reported a $40,000 fine settlement with Krispy Kreme for violation of immigration laws.

Businesses should be proactive in response to the ICE’s new initiative. Now is a good time to review employee records to make sure you can produce the necessary information in response to an audit or inquiry request from ICE. Employers also need to make sure they are correctly completing and retaining the current Form I-9 for all new employees.

ICE recently indicated here that the current I-9 form will continue to be valid despite listing its expiration date of 6/30/2009.

In addition, employers may also consider participating in the ICE’s IMAGE program and using the E-verify program.

In the event these links are no longer valid, the ICE’s website has the forms available here.

Resources for updating workplace posters

Ryan Rivchun — Fri, 24 Jul 2009 16:08:34 +0000

Determining which employment posters to display is becoming an increasingly difficult task. Luckily, there are multiple government has published multiple websites on this topic.

The Business.gov website has a section dealing with workplace posters and provides links to the various states websites discussing workplace poster requirements.

The State of Ohio publishes this section of their website making various posters available for download.

The US Department of Labor has a compliance website to assist employers in displaying the appropriate workplace posters.

New Federal Minimum Wage increases today

Ryan Rivchun — Fri, 24 Jul 2009 13:00:07 +0000

The federal minimum wage increased today to $7.25 per hour from $6.55 per hour. The US Department of Labor has useful information about the increase.

The State of Ohio has different minimum wage requirements and the Ohio minimum wage laws are available here. The Ohio Department of Commence has published the new minimum wage poster which includes the new federal minimum wage information. Ohio’s minimum wage is currently $7.30 per hour with a few exceptions.

The Wage and Hour Counsel blog has discussed issues relating to the increase in the federal minimum wage here and here.