News Briefs

OSHA Announces Proposed Changes to Allow Union Representatives and Others During Workplace Inspections

By Rebecca Naser posted 5 days ago
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On August 29, 2023, t he U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) announced a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking to amend its regulations to allow employee-authorized third-party representatives to accompany OSHA officials during facility inspections. Th e proposed rule would revive a 2013 Obama-era policy that allowed employees to designate non-employee third-party representatives to accompany OSHA inspectors on walkaround inspections of their employer’s workplace. Current OSHA r egulations allow an employee who is a union representative to participate in the investigation. ...
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What Employers Need to Know as COVID-19 Cases Rise, New Vaccine Rolls Out

By Lorrie Ray posted 5 days ago
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With federal and state public health emergency (PHE) orders no longer in place, many employers are wondering how to respond to the recent rise in COVID-19 cases . Employers may find the following information helpful . Vaccinations, Testing The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) recently approved an updated COVID-19 vaccine , and as of September 15, 2023, some major pharmac y chains were already accepting appointments for the shots . In a news release , t he Centers for Disease Control and Prevention ( CDC ) recommend ed the updated vaccine for everyone 6 months ...
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Trend of Child Labor Violations by Employers Continues

By Diane Boldt posted 6 days ago
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The trend in significant child labor violations across the United States continues , several of which have made national headlines . Meanwhile , some states are looking to relax local child labor laws to ease their labor shortages . The result is an age - old conflict between state and federal laws and conflicting messages to employers . T his summer , seve ral child labor violations were investigated at M cDonald’s franchise s in Louisiana, Texas, and Kentucky . Minors were working longer and later hours than the law permit s . Addit ionally , there were minors performing jobs ...
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National Labor Relations Board Issues Slew of Union-Friendly Decisions

By Community Manager posted 12 days ago
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The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) has released several union -friendly decisions in the past few weeks that may significantly alter the nation’s labor landscape in favor of unions. When taking office, NLRB General Counsel Jennifer Abruzzo outlined that she wanted to overt urn ro ughl y 50 b oard precedents. The majority Democratic B oard has already adopted several of her desired changes to labor law, including protections for workers using profanity and limiting handbook provisions that could interfere with employees’ rights to organize. In late August 2023, multiple decisions were ...
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Student Loan Assistance: The Employee Benefit You Can’t Afford to Ignore

By Kirsten Ellis posted 12 days ago
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Federal s tudent l oan payments are ramping up again , resuming in October 2023 after a three -year interest -free pause due to the COVID-19 p andemic. Debt is stressful, and about half of students who borrowed money to attend school are still paying off loans 20 years later, according to the Education Data Initiative . The Biden a dministration’s effort to forgive b illions of dollars of student loans w as blocked by the Supreme Court in June 2023 . Many of your employees may have been banking on loan forgiveness to ease their debt burden. Y our employees may turn to you for ...
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New FAMLI Rules on Wage Definitions and Local Governments Take Effect on January 1, 2024

By Community Manager posted 13 days ago
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On January 1, 2024, Colorado employees can begin receiving benefits under the Family and Medical Leave Insurance Program (FAMLI). Also at that time, the FAMLI program will change its definition of wages for benefits and premiums. The recently announced amended premium s rule s try to make it simpler for employers and employees to calculate premiums by simplifying the definition of “wages.” I nstead of using the same definition used for unemployment insurance, the term will now be defined as “gross wages.” Th e rule will become effective on January 1, 2024. At that time, empl oyers will need to update their ...
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Employers Can Access Multi-State Laws on Employers Council Website

By Community Manager posted 13 days ago
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State employment laws are proliferating at an increasing rate due to the number of issues that are being confronted in the workplace . Each state has its own legislation to contend with employee concerns and employment practices that become popular with employers. Some states ’ employment laws follow federal laws , some follow the lead of other states, and still others pass laws with cutting-edge language to tackle emerging issues. Th e result is a complicated patchwork of laws for employers with employees working in different states and , sometimes , different counties or municipalities. The most common ...
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DOL Proposes Rule to Increase Salary Threshold for Exempt Employees

By Community Manager posted 20 days ago
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A U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) proposal would , among other things, increase the salary threshold for being exempt from overtime rules under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) for certain types of white-collar jobs . Currently, salaried employees earning $684 a week ($35,568 per year) are exempt. The proposal calls for that salary threshold to rise to $1,059 per week ($55,068 per year ), which the DOL estimates would affect more than 3 million workers. The DOL’s proposed rulemaking , announced on August 30, 2023, is titled Defining and Delimiting the Exemptions for Executive, Administrative, Professional, ...
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Doctor-Prescribed Methadone Use Protected in the Workplace

By Lorrie Ray posted 20 days ago
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The opioid epidemic continues to show up in the workplace. Methadone is often prescribed to help those addicted to opioids. For many , the ir problems started when they were prescribed oxycodone hydrochloride for pain, sometimes to help with workplace injuries. Th e drug proved to be highly addictive. Recent news stories center on employees who complain of being discharge d shortly after the supervisor or human resources staff learned they were on prescription methadone. A recent case , Godwin v. The George Washington, LP , involv ed Jeanna Godwin , who applied for a job at ...
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NLRB Issues New Rule Allowing for Quicker Union Elections

By Dustin Brown posted 20 days ago
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The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) has finalized a ru le significantly shortening the time it takes to hold union elections. The new rule, scheduled to take effect on December 26, 2023, reverses a 2019 Trump a dministration rule that lengthened the election process and returns key election procedures put in place in 2014 under the Obama administration to expedi te the election process . The new rule s ultimately reduce the time it takes to get from petition to election in contested elections and expedite the resolution of any post-election litigation. N otable changes under the new ...
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Economic Perspective September 2023

By Cory Martin posted 21 days ago
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Employers Council has prepared this Economic Perspective summary to assist the decision-makers of member organizations. The economic data in these charts summarize the most commonly watched economic and compensation indicators. The data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics can be used in conjunction with Employers Council’s compensation and personnel practices surveys to provide a more complete picture. Refer to Employers Council’s various surveys for information on average pay increase projections, turnover rates, cost of benefits, average salaries for close to 3,500 jobs, and insured and paid-time-off benefits.  ...
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Case Serves as a Warning to Employers on Employment Contracts

By Dustin Brown posted 08-17-2023
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The Colorado Court of Appeals recently affirmed a breach - of - contract case highlighting the importance of carefully drafting employment agreements , especially for highly paid employees . In June 2019 , Zuni Payments , LLC , d/b/a Banctek Solutions , LLC , entered into an employment agreement with their new e xecutive v ice p resident of s ales (EVP) . T he parties negotiated a $200,000 annual base salary , and t he agreement included a non-solicitation and exclusivity clause. The agreement allowed termination for “cause” based on the EVP’s negligence “of his material ...
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Many Employers Will Need to Physically Inspect Documents Supporting Form I-9

By Dean Harris posted 08-17-2023
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The new Department of Homeland Security rule allowing for virtual inspection of documents used to support Form I-9 took effect on August 1, 2023. Unfortunately, it may not be the panacea some employers, particularly those with remote employees, hoped it would be. The new rule allows only employers in good standing with E-Verify to electronically review documents used to support Form I-9. All other employers must physically inspect documents used to support an employee’s I-9, including those of remote employees. An E-Verify employer who conducts remote document inspection must follow the following “alternative ...
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Prepare Now for 2024 Increases in State and Local Minimum Wages in Colorado

By Community Manager posted 08-17-2023
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The statewide minimum wage for Colorado — currently $13.65 — will increase on January 1, 2024 , in line with the cost of living (COLA) to an amount not yet determined. The state is not alone in its upcoming minimum wage hike. During the 2019 legislative session, Colorado passed House Bill 19-1210 , which allowed local governments to enact a minimum wage higher than that of the state. The Legislature did so because the cost of living can vary significantly from one community to another. The law enables local governments to address the minimum needs of the workers and businesses in their jurisd ictions . ...
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Do Colorado Employers Still Need Bereavement Leave Policies?

By Laurie Enke posted 08-17-2023
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Recently, Colorado join ed a handful of states , including California, Illinois, Maryland, Oregon, and Washington , and municipalities that include bereavement as a qualifying reason for employees to use accrued paid sick and safe leave. That became possible after the qualifying reasons were expanded under Colorado’s Healthy Families and Workplaces Act (HFWA) . Some employers in Colorado are now asking if they need to keep their current bereavement polic ies . Many organizations have traditionally included bereavement leave in their total rewards offerings. ...
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Updated Davis-Bacon Rules Change Wage Cost Landscape

By Lorrie Ray posted 08-17-2023
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Federal construction contractors now have access to the U.S. Department of Labor’s (DOL ’s ) recentl y issued final rule titled Updating the Davis-Bacon and Related Acts Regulations. Many changes are taking place, and the DOL has a long list of frequently asked questions for construction contractors that work on federally funded projects. The DOL explained that the rule will be eff ective 60 days after its publication in the F ederal R egister , which is scheduled to happen on August 23, 2023 . The DOL has stated that this is the new way of determining ...
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EEOC Issues Proposed Rules to Implement the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act

By Dustin Brown posted 08-11-2023
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On August 7, 2023 , the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) issued a Notice of Pr oposed Rulemaking (NPRM) to implement the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act (PWFA) , which was signed into law by President Biden in December 2022 and took effect on June 27, 2023 . The PWFA requires an employer to provide reasonable accommodations, absent undue hardship, to a qualified employee or applicant with a known limitation related to, affected by, or arising out of pregnancy, childbirth, or related medical conditions that the employee or the employee’s representative has communicated to the covered entity whether or not ...
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NLRB Takes a New Perspective on Workplace Rules

By Mary Bell posted 08-11-2023
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So far this year , we have seen the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) issue opinions revers ing or significantly alter ing labor law standards established under the previous White House administration . On August 2, 2023, the NLRB continued this trend by adopt ing a new legal standard for evaluating employer work place rules challenged as facially unlawful under Section 8(a)(1) of the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA) . The NLRB’s decision in Ste ricycle, Inc . heightens scrutiny of employers’ workplace rules and policies, impacting both unionized and non-union employers. Under ...
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EEOC Updates Visual Impairment Guidance Considering Technological Advances

By Lorrie Ray posted 08-10-2023
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On July 26, 2023, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) updated its American s with Disabilities Act (ADA) guidance regarding visual impairments . Th e update was done in part to catalog new technology to help employers more easily accommodate visual impairments using software that is not cost-prohibitive under the ADA. The framework of the guidance has not changed . The following is a partial list from the EEOC website of common software and technologies that can assist with accommodations: Screen readers (or text-to-speech software) that c o nvert written text ...
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OSHA Will Reinstate Rules for Reporting Worker Injuries in January 2024

By Sonia Chowdhury posted 08-10-2023
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T he Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) recently announced that on January 1, 2024 , the Biden A dministration w ill reinstat e a 2016 Obama-era rule for reporting requirements on worker injur ies and illness es . Under the rule , which can be found here , employers with 100 or more employees working in industries with the “highest injury rates , ” as defined by OSHA , w ill be required to electronically file additional documentation on worker injur ies and illness es . The i ndustries include farming, food production and manufacturing, health ...
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