HR Forum

Internships: To pay or not to pay?

As you interview and start to fill summer internship positions with energetic, young college students, think about how you plan on compensating their work.

To pay or not to pay? - The big internship question.

Many businesses pay interns well for their work, but unpaid internships do still exist across non-profit and for-profit organizations alike.

A new study by the National Association of Colleges and Employers (NACE) found that college students can make a decent hourly salary if they land the right internship. The 311 employers who participated in the survey reported offering their undergraduate interns $16.33 an hour on average and almost $25 for interns with Masters’ degrees.

Many factors can impact intern salaries, including the student’s degree level, year in school, field of study and organization’s industry and location, according to NACE.

Ann Bares at the Compensation Force blog notes that students in the NACE survey report less satisfactory experiences with unpaid internships, often citing lack of pay as a major reason for dissatisfaction.

She offers some “food for thought” while you fill internship spots for this summer:

“My guess is that, while the lack of pay may indeed be a dissatisfier, there is probably an interplay of factors at work here: organizations that are not paying their interns may be less motivated to invest in creating the support and structure necessary for a worthwhile experience - for both parties.”

Veterans return to tough job market

Finding a job in the U.S. amidst talks of recession and the weakening dollar is tough for many Americans, even harder for returning veterans.

Compared to civilians of similar age and education, veterans have less of a chance of being hired.

Eighteen percent of the veterans recently back from overseas tours of duty are unemployed. Of employed veterans, 25 percent earn less than $21,840 a year, according to the Department of Veterans Affairs.

The data was compiled from a survey of 1,941 veterans who left the military between December 2004 and January 2006. The survey matches up with Census Bureau and other data showing employment rates and wages are lower for troops returning from the Iraq and Afghanistan war zones than their civilian peers. Read the full article in the Washington Post.

With soldiers returning to work, there are federal laws businesses must abide by. Particularly, the Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act of 1994, most commonly known as USERRA.

Recently, the Justice Department filed a lawsuit against Wal-Mart to defend the employment rights of an Air Force veteran.

The Air Force veteran claims that Wal-Mart denied him of his civilian employment position as a cashier in Orange City, FL. Subject to certain limitations, USERRA requires that individuals who leave their jobs to serve in the military be reemployed by their civilian employers in the same position that they would have held had they not left to serve.

Read the full Department of Justice press release.

Workplace weight discrimination rivals racial bias

Discrimination against overweight and obese people is as common as racial discrimination, according to a study by the Rudd Center for Food Policy & Obesity at Yale University.

Overweight women, in particular, report weight discrimination twice as often than overweight men in the workplace.

“These results show the need to treat weight discrimination as a legitimate form of prejudice, comparable to other characteristics like race or gender that already receive legal protection,” said Rebecca Puhl, research scientist and lead author of the study, which appears in the March 4, 2008 issue of the International Journal of Obesity.

The study compared self-reported weight discrimination to experiences of discrimination based on race and gender among a nationally representative sample of adults between 25 and 74-years-old.

Findings also reveal that women are twice as likely as men to report weight discrimination. Women also reported that weight discrimination in the workplace and interpersonal mistreatment due to obesity is common.

Currently, Michigan is the only state that includes weight and height in its anti-discrimination law.

Without any specific protections in state law, people claiming discrimination must show in court that their obesity is a type of disability, protected under state anti-discrimination law, according to Lillian Mojica, G.Neil Research Attorney.

Family issues top reason for “Mental Health” days

Some wise words from Michael Scott, the boss at Dunder Mifflin (from NBC’s The Office):

“Society teaches us that, having feelings and crying is bad and wrong. Well, that's baloney, because grief isn't wrong. There's such a thing as good grief. Just ask Charlie Brown.”

Well, there may not be such a thing as “good grief,” but grief and family issues do have an impact on employees in the workplace.

Just like calling in sick with the flu, many employees use unplanned absences for mental health days, according to a recent survey by ComPsych.

What exactly is a mental health day? When “you have no physical ailment but you know you can’t focus on the job” and need a day to re-energize, according to David Campbell, senior VP of quality and customers at ComPsych.

Generally, mental health days are unplanned and in response to a crisis at home or to prevent burnout at work.

Campbell advises employers to create a culture where it’s acceptable and encouraged to take vacations and unplug from work. Employees with too many vacation days saved up should raise a red flag and that the employee may not be taking needed time off.

“If you take regularly scheduled time off … it’s going to keep you sharp all the time,” Campbell said. “Take more than a day [at a time]; take those vacations on a routine, regular basis.”

Remember that having a healthy workplace environment includes mental health. Not all workplaces are the same, and you should implement policies and practices regarding mental health days that fit your situation.

What is your opinion on mental health days? Do you think it’s a legitimate excuse to take time off work, or just baloney?

Employee 401(k) loans on the rise

Increasingly more employees are damaging their financial futures by borrowing against their 401(k) plans. Retirement plan participants are taking out loans on their investments at an accelerated rate, as reported in Workforce Management.

Researchers from Boston College expect that the trend will continue and companies should expect to see more employee 401(k) loans this year.

With our country’s credit crisis and poor housing market, if they need the money, why shouldn’t employees take out a loan on their 401(k)?

The author of the Retirement Plan Blog explains why it’s a bad idea:

They’re losing the earnings on their accounts since there’s less money to invest.
The tax shelter advantage is lost since the loan is paid back with after-tax dollars.
The interest paid on the loan is not deductible since it’s considered regular consumer debt.
If the participant terminates employment prior to paying off the loan, the loan has to be repaid or it’s considered a taxable distribution with a 10% penalty tax if the participant is under age 59 1/2.

Some employees don’t even have the benefit of taking out a loan against their 401(k). Less than 50 percent of the workforce, ages 25 to 64, has any kind of defined benefit or defined contribution plan, according to the director of the Boston College Center for Retirement Research.

According to the research, of those eligible to participate in defined contribution plans:

89% do not contribute the maximum
20% to 25% do not contribute at all
45% do not rollover their investment when changing jobs

In companies that have automatic 401(k) enrollment, 86 percent of employees participate.

Automatic enrollment may not always be enough. Participants generally fail to increase the amount of their default contributions over time. According to the research, 61 percent do not increase their contributions above the default.

Educate your employees on why they should contribute to the company's 401(k) plan and coach them on how to effectively manage their money.

Free product and service listings at TrainingTime.com

TrainingTime.com, a new vertical search and shopping website, is offering free advertising opportunities for employee training and development solutions providers through September 1, 2008.

TrainingTime.com provides a one-stop resource for businesses to find, compare and select different types of employee training and employee motivational products within an intuitive, easy shopping experience. It also gives providers of training products and human resource seminars a highly targeted, engaged audience of professionals ready to buy.

“TrainingTime.com lets you shop for training products, classes for training consultants and employees, and the best business seminars the same way you’d shop for the latest electronics on familiar sites like PriceGrabber and Shopzilla.”

In addition to training providers, TrainingTime.com welcomes training consultants, professional speakers and meeting planners to promote their services — allowing them to explore new, faster ways to reach a more targeted audience.

Read the full press release here.

Alcoholism in the workplace

Excessive alcohol use and alcoholism costs U.S. employers an estimated $134 billion in lost productivity. On average, nine percent of workers have drinking habits that contribute to absenteeism, higher health care costs and lost productivity.

Hospitality, construction and wholesale industries have significantly higher alcohol abuse rates and cases of alcoholism in the workplace, according to a recent report.

The findings are from a report on alcohol abuse by Ensuring Solutions to Alcohol Problems at the George Washington University Medical Center.

Younger employees are also at risk. More than 18 percent of young workers between the ages of 18 and 25 have an alcohol-related problem, compared to just seven percent of workers older than 25.

Alcohol abuse poses a difficult challenge in the workplace because it is often hidden. With a small investment in effective prevention and treatment for alcohol problems, employers can reduce costs and help employees, according to Ensuring Solutions.

Ensuring Solutions has created a helpful calculator to help employers estimate the impact of alcohol problems and the potential cost savings to be gained through screening and intervention.

What can you do to help employees with alcohol problems at your office?

Teach the difference between safe and risky drinking.
Screen for alcohol problems.
Cover treatment through health insurance.
Support treatment and recovery.

Friday HR Humor - HIPAA/HIPPA

HIPAA - One of the most misspelled acronyms in the HR vocabulary.

What it stands for (if you don’t know already): Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act.

HIPAA or HIPPA? You say tomato, I say tomahto? Potato, potahto?

Instead of calling the whole thing off, here’s some ideas for what HIPPA could stand for:

For bureaucrats:

Help in Paper Proliferation Acceleration

Help Incompetents Push Paper Around

For cautious optimists:

Hopefully Inclusive Patient Protection Act

For realists:

Hopelessly Incomplete Patient Protection Act

For health care big business:

Healthy Individuals Push Profits Away

For the rest of us:

Hospitals Inspire Patently Pitiful Appetites

How is Paperwork Protecting Anybody

Hell’s Infernal Paperwork Proliferation Act

How Intelligent People Prevaricate Administratively

Possible jail time for noncompliant recruiting practices

The Immigration and Customs Enforcement policy can put recruiters in jail for workplace immigration law violations, as reported in a recent Workforce article.

Employers who have not fully trained their recruiters in new state regulations and federal I-9 compliance could be looking at stiff penalties and possible jail time, according to the article.

Until new federal legislation is enacted, recruiters are being caught up in the nationwide crackdown on undocumented workers.

The current Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) policy allows for criminal arrests for workplace immigration law violations. In 2007, ICE made 863 work-site criminal arrests of corporate officers, managers and contractors, and 4077 administrative arrests.

“ICE commonly stage raids at the workplace and then move straight to corporate headquarters.”

As of December 26, 2007, employers must be using the updated Form I-9 that was released by the Department of Homeland Security in November. Read previous HR Forum posts regarding the updated I-9 form.

Read our new Form I-9 FAQ for more information on the revisions.

The right to bear arms ... at work?

The “bring your guns to work” bill (H.B. 503/S.B. 1130), has resurfaced in the Florida legislature, and appears headed toward passage. The bill would make it illegal for businesses and other private property owners to have policies prohibiting firearms on their private property.

It would make it unlawful for an employer to “discriminate against” an employee for exercising their constitutional rights to bear arms and of self defense, when the gun is used only in a lawful, defensive way. The legislation protects customers, employees and anyone invited on the property.

Florida is not the only state to consider this type of legislation. There was a bill pending in Georgia and a bill is currently pending in Tennessee.

Like always, we’ll keep watching this and other bills that could affect your business. Keep coming back for updates.

For more detail on the “bring your guns to work” bill, read the full article.

Going green at the office? Start with your printers

If you can’t make the leap to a fully paperless office, start with printing less paper.

GreenPrint is a new software program to help you take the first few steps to going green at the office. The program is designed to analyze what you send to the printer, eliminating blank pages or pages with only a few lines of text.

“Saving money today, trees tomorrow,” according to the GreenPrint site.

Along with saving paper, you’re also saving on expensive toner. GreenPrint also allows users to exclude images from a print job, cutting back on ink costs. It can even turn documents in to PDFs, eliminating printing all together.

The best part, the software will track the amount of pages printed and money saved.

It could be one small way offices around the world can do their part to waste less and go green.

High OSHA violations? You've been warned

Earlier this month the Occupational Safety and Health Administration notified 14,000 employers across the country that their injury and illness rates were considerably higher than the national average.

The notifications come as a proactive step to encourage employers to take action now to reduce and improve safety and health conditions in their workplaces. Read the full OSHA press release.

“A high injury and illness rate is costly to employees and employers in both personal and financial terms,” said OSHA Assistant Secretary Foulke. “Our goal is to make them aware of their high injury and illness rates and to get them to focus on eliminating hazards in their workplace.”

As reported in a previous post, the top OSHA violations in 2007 included:

Scaffolding
Hazard Communication
Fall Protection
Respiratory Protection
Lockout/Tagout
Powered Industrial Trucks
Electrical - Wiring
Ladders
Machine Guarding
Electrical - General

HR Legal Outlook: Hottest bills

Last week, HR professionals came together to hear the Society for Human Resource Management’s analysis of the hottest bills before Congress at SHRM’s 2008 Employment Law and Legislative Conference in Washington D.C. (Read the full article).

The key issues to watch, according to Michael P. Aitken, SHRM Director of Governement Affairs, are:

Employment eligibility verification
FMLA military leave
Proposed FMLA regulations
ADA restoration

A brief overview of the issues:

Employment eligibility verification - A new bill would make the current electronic verification system for employment, E-Verify, the permanent system for use by employers. If passed, employers would have to check each new employee’s work eligibility using E-Verify within three days of hire. Employers would have to verify work eligibility of previously hired employees within four years of the bill’s enactment.

Another bill on the same topic would create a new electronic verification system for employment within three years of enactment.

FMLA military leave - Signed into law in January, The National Defense Authorization Act expanded the FMLA act, allowing eligible employees to use leave when an immediate family member is called for active duty in the military or is injured in the line duty. (Read a previous HR Forum post on this topic)

Proposed FMLA regulations - The proposed regulations address questions regarding notice requirements for employers and employees, medical certification requirements, privacy interest in health information, intermittent leave, medical certification, and what constitutes a "serious health condition" under the FMLA.

ADA restoration - the ADA Restoration Act of 2007 aims to redefine the term “disability” in the ADA to eliminate the requirement of “substantial limitation” of a major life activity. Under the proposed amendment, an ADA-qualifying “disability” would simply be a “mental or physical impairment.” Any impairment, regardless of how temporary, intermittent, or minor would be covered - including health conditions not previously covered. The proposed changes to the ADA would impact not just hiring, but all terms and conditions of employment, including healthcare plans.

(Read the full article here for more detail)

We'll keep watching these topics as they move through legislation. Visit the HR Forum often for updates.

March Madness Counterpoint: Team building

In order to keep the game fair, we must look at the counterpoint to a post from last week regarding how awful the March Madness basketball tournament is for employee productivity. Within reason, March Madness may actually benefit an office.

It’s important that employees work in enjoyable work environments. Office pools, and all the “my team is better” conversations can help build positive work relationships. As long as it doesn’t get too much in the way of work, you may just want to let March Madness run it’s course.

In a Workforce Management post this week, the author claims productivity lost to March Madness is just another urban legend.

“All of this talk about lost productivity because of March Madness is nonsense. I haven’t seen any credible research that supports the premise, and the ‘data’ that is used to make the point is soft and suspect.”

After covering the same topic last year, readers wrote to the author telling him that March Madness boosted employee bonding and office morale.

“There is no more evidence of workplace productivity losses because of March Madness than there is evidence of alligators in the sewers, Elvis living with aliens, or the Loch Ness Monster. I like fairy tales, but March Madness as a workplace problem is ridiculous.”

Workplace bullying more harmful than sexual harassment

Workplace bullying may inflict more harm on employees than on-the-job sexual harassment, according to a recent research study. Researchers presented their findings earlier this month at the Seventh International Conference on Work, Stress and Health.

Bullying includes persistently criticizing employees’ work, yelling, repeatedly reminding employees of mistakes, spreading gossip or lies, ignoring or excluding workers, and insulting employees’ habits, attitudes or private life.

Both sexual harassment and bullying will create negative environments at work, but bullying may create the most negative of the two. Employees who experienced bullying were more likely to quit their jobs, have lower well-being, be less satisfied with their jobs and have less satisfying relations with their bosses than employees who were sexually harassed, according to the researchers.

Bullied employees also reported more job stress, less job commitment and higher levels of anger and anxiety.

“Bullying is often more subtle, and may include behaviors that do not appear obvious to others," said lead author M. Sandy Hershcovis, PhD, of the University of Manitoba. “For instance, how does an employee report to their boss that they have been excluded from lunch? Or that they are being ignored by a coworker? The insidious nature of these behaviors makes them difficult to deal with and sanction.”

How do you deal with and document harassment in the workplace? The “Ask an HR Expert” section of G.Neil.com answers the question.

First, take a preventative stance and have a strong “zero-tolerance” harassment policy. Train managers and employees on the specifics of your policy. If harassment does occur, start an investigation immediately.

See the full entry.

Workplace harassment and civil rights, comply or pay

Last week, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) announced the settlement of a race and national origin harassment lawsuit for $1.9 million against Allied Aviation Services, Inc. The lawsuit was on behalf of African American and Hispanic workers who were targets of racial slurs, graffiti, cartoons, and hangman’s nooses at a the Dallas/Ft. Worth airport. Read the full press release.

According to the EEOC’s charges, African American and Hispanic employees of Allied were verbally harassed in a racially hostile work environment on a daily basis. The harassment included racial graffiti, clearly visible on fuel tanks, employee restrooms and written on aircrafts. A manager kept an offensive cartoon, belittling a Hispanic worker, under glass on their desk for months. In addition to those offenses, an employee in a mixed race marriage was subjected to racial abuse.

“It is appalling that racial harassment remains a persistent problem at some job sites across the country in the 21st century, more than 40 years after passage of the landmark Civil Rights Act,” said EEOC Chair Naomi C. Earp. “Employers must be more vigilant and make clear that race discrimination, whether verbal or behavioral, has no place in the contemporary workplace.”

Title VII of the Civil Rights Act bans discrimination in any aspect of employment because of a person’s race, color, religion, sex, or national origin. It covers employers with fifteen or more employees, but many states have comparable laws covering companies with fewer employees.

In “Workplace Danger: Harassment,” the rules regarding Title VII are explained further along with ways to stop harassment now in your workplace.

G. Neil in the News

G. Neil's very own compliance attorney, Ashley Kaplan, was quoted today in a Pittsburgh Post-Gazette article.

A Pennsylvania company recently settled with the state's Attorney General's office for fraudulent marketing practices. After confusing companies into thinking it was a government agency, Mandatory Poster Agency Inc. has agreed to pay $10,000 in civil penalties, another $10,000 toward future protection and will offer refunds to more than 400 companies that bought its food service compliance posters.

Posting compliance in the service industry may sometimes be confusing because of changing laws in the industry.

Ms. Kaplan's advice [when buying labor law posters] is that employers should make sure they are dealing with a reputable firm, which they can check with the Better Business Bureau. They also should make sure the company from which they are buying posters has attorneys on staff to research the posting requirements and they should make sure the posters they put up meet the requirements in terms of font size and colors.

Read the full article.

Please also read our recent post regarding the temporary FMLA poster and fraudulent claims.

Do English-only workplaces discriminate?

Are English-only workplace policies discrimination? An article on SHRM today examines the issue.

Many U.S. employers support English-only rules as a way to ensure good employee relations and a safe work environment. But recently such rules have become a political lightning rod.

Some employee advocates have accused employers of enacting English-only policies to discriminate against immigrants.

The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) enforces federal rules associated with this issue. The Commission allows U.S. employers to require English in the workplace, but the policy can not be in response to a certain group and must be for a specific business-related reason.

“Prohibiting people from speaking their primary language at all times can create an atmosphere of intimidation and inferiority,” according to an EEOC spokesman.

The article points out situations that would justify an English-only rule:

Communications with customers, co-workers or supervisors who speak only English.
Emergencies or other situations in which workers must speak a common language to promote safety.
Cooperative work assignments in which the English-only rule is needed to promote efficiency.
To enable a supervisor who speaks only English to monitor the performance of an employee whose job duties require communication with co-workers or customers.

The EEOC recommends that before employers adopt an English-only rule, weigh business justifications against all possible discriminatory effects of the rule.

Does your company have a workplace language policy? Do you think English-only policies are discriminatory or unfair?

Internet monitoring "Madness"

March 16 is Selection Sunday for the NCAA March Madness basketball tournament. You may be wondering what is this post doing on a blog for HR topics? There’s good reason, keep reading ...

This year CBS has made it easier than ever for your employees to watch games from the comfort of their desk chairs. If you’re the owner of a small or midsized company, you should be concerned with more than just employees slacking off. When a large number of employees are streaming live video of the basketball games, they will slow or even crash your computer networks.

Starting next Tuesday, all but one of the 63 tournament games will be available online for the first time. First-round games fall on Thursday and Friday during business hours. CBS is setting up links to the games from more than 200 websites, including ESPN, Sports Illustrated, Yahoo Sports and Facebook.

We all trust that employees will remember to record the games on their TiVos and hold back from watching basketball at work. But, if you’re worried about high bandwith use and low employee productivity, maybe it’s time to invest in filtering technology for your network.

We would like to hear your feedback on this present and growing workplace issue regarding employee internet monitoring and filtering.

What’s your opinion on internet filtering at work? How does your company handle inappropriate internet use by employees?

Mental Health Parity Bill passes House, on to negotiations

On March 5 the House of Representatives approved a bill designed to boost mental health benefits, called the Paul Wellstone Mental Health and Addiction Equity Act of 2007. The legislation now moves to House-Senate negotiations to decide on a final bill.

The proposed bill would require group health plans offering benefits for the treatment of mental health and substance addiction disorders to provide the same level of benefits for those conditions as they do for physical illnesses.

The bill also includes provisions for the Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act of 2007, passed in April 2007, that would ban discrimination by employers and health insurers against employees on the basis of genetic information, and would prohibit insurers from requiring genetic tests.

On the same day the bill passed the House, the Bush Administration issued a statement indicating its opposition to the mental health and addiction act. The Administration said the act would “effectively mandate coverage of a broad range of diseases and conditions and would have a negative effect on the accessibility and affordability of employer-provided health benefits and would undermine the uniform administration of employee benefit plans.”

Check our blog frequently for further news as the bill travels through the legislative process.

For more information read this article on SHRM.

401(k) Education: Taking plays from the NFL

Three weeks after joining the NFL, young recruits are sent for training off the football field and in the classroom. Each year, over 100 NFL players participate in college-level programs on various business topics. The programs are designed to teach players how to manage their money so they can still live comfortably once their football career is over.

“It's a way for the league to help ensure financial stability for these players beyond their primes,” according to a recent Forbes article.

While employees at corporations across the US generally make a small fraction of the money a NFL player would, it’s just as important they know what to do with their money. Automatic enrollment in the company’s 401(k) plan isn’t enough anymore.

In 2007, 34 percent of large employers offered automatic 401(k) enrollment. The average employee contributed 4.5 percent of their salary to a plan, which may not be enough for a comfortable retirement.

Some of your employees may need a little extra coaching when it comes to a retirement plan. Strongly encourage your employees to contact the financial organization that handles your plan for advice. If you’re up to the challenge, hold your own workshops during to educate employees on the best way to manage their money.

Don’t just assume your employees know exactly what to do with their 401(k). Many employees would be surprised to know how much more they would retire with if they contributed a slightly higher salary percentage than leaving it at the automatic level. You signed them up for the program, now show them how to use it.

Take a lesson from the NFL playbook and educate your employees on how successfully managing their 401(k) will score a touchdown when their prime is over.

Get ready for Diabetes Alert Day - March 25, 2008

Here’s a chance to kick-off or jump-start your employee wellness program - the American Diabetes Association’s 20th Annual American Diabetes Alert Day is Tuesday, March 25, 2008.

The Association created the “one-day wake-up call” to motivate the country to take the initial steps to finding out if they are at risk for developing type 2 diabetes. They even offer free, downloadable materials on their site to help you promote the event at your workplace.

Diabetes is only one of many health issues facing our employees today. With the direction health care costs have been moving in recent years, it’s time for companies to step in and help their employees.

Improve your employees’ overall health and you may cut down on your health care costs. Invest just a small amount of resources into an office wellness program and they will pay you back.

Surveys have proven that when offered, wellness programs are popular with workers. And, experts in the health care industry suggest that companies that implement wellness programs are showing returns on their investments, mainly in the form of lower health care costs.

You won’t see the money in your pocket tomorrow, but stick with a workplace wellness program. Over time you may find that you’re spending less on health care and those who matter the most, your employees, will cash in on the greatest benefit - their health.

DOL Issues Temporary FMLA Poster - Beware of Fraudulent Claims

On February 11, 2008, the Department of Labor issued a temporary poster containing the guidelines of the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) expansion to be displayed along side the existing FMLA poster. The G.Neil legal team has confirmed with the Department of Labor that the temporary FMLA poster is recommended and employers will not be fined for not posting it.

Please be aware that you may receive messages from other labor law poster providers classifying the temporary FMLA poster as a required poster. You can be confident that our team of attorneys is continually monitoring for news regarding the posting requirements for the FMLA expansion and we will communicate any new information as we receive it.

To learn more about the FMLA expansions visit our FMLA FAQ page.

- Gabe Cox
G.Neil Poster Guard Team

President Signed FMLA Expansion Bill Yesterday

Yesterday, President Bush signed into law the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2008 (H.R. 4986), which includes two provisions that expand the benefits of the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) to assist service members and their families.

The military family leave provisions included in H.R. 4986 is the first expansion of the FMLA since the law was first enacted in 1993.

Read our FMLA FAQ to learn more about how these changes could affect you.

Check out TrainingTime.com!

For 20 years, we have provided businesses like yours with practical tools to help meet your HR and employee management needs. But, we realize that G.Neil may not always have the perfect product that solves your specific need - in which case, we'd still like to help out by letting you know about other valuable resources to find your solutions.

Training and development has been repeatedly identified as one of your biggest challenges, largely due to the time it takes to do it effectively. Feedback from people like you is the driving force behind the launch of TrainingTime.com.

We introduced you to the catalog and now we'd like to introduce you to the new shopping portal. In partnership with G.Neil, TrainingTime.com was created to bring buyers and sellers together to help you find, compare and select the right training solutions for your business — without all the clutter of the general search engines.

Whether your company is a local mini-mart or a global corporation, TrainingTime.com makes it easier to find your training solutions...and lose the excuses that hold you back from keeping your employees skilled, well-informed and productive.

Whereas before, a business owner or supervisor would have to search a variety of different sources to find the right training tool, TrainingTime.com offers a one-stop source for everything you need. Multiple providers offer their products and services on both the site, so all you have to do is click their links to get what you need, directly from them.

The site covers the full range of timely topics in today’s training world, new technologies, ideas and information, tips and tools. You'll find products, seminars, industry events, custom providers, articles and whitepapers, and more.

Vendors, consultants and other unaffiliated companies can call 888-883-0988 or visit TrainingTime.com to learn more about featuring their business on the site, and start promoting their products and services.

Ongoing site enhancements based on user feedback are anticipated throughout 2008, as well as a more comprehensive catalog. The goal is to ensure TrainingTime.com provides a valuable experience for all those tasked with business training and development, regardless of their current expertise.

FMLA for Military Families Passes Congress

As expected, the Senate moved quickly on January 22, 2008 to approve a bill with provisions to expand the Family Medical Leave Act (FMLA) to include family members of U.S. soldiers.

The proposed expansion of the FMLA would allow eligible employees to use leave when an immediate family member is called for active duty in the military or is injured in the line duty.

The legislation now moves on to the White House, where officials have indicated that President Bush will sign the bill into law quickly. Specifically, the new legislation will require businesses to offer up to 26 weeks of unpaid leave to employees who are providing care to U.S. soldiers wounded in the line of duty. The measure also will require employers to provide 12 weeks of FMLA leave to the immediate family members (spouses, children or parents) of military personnel and reservists who have a "qualifying exigency." The Department of Labor will define "qualifying exigency."

The military family leave provisions included in the bill will be the first expansion of the FMLA since the law was first enacted in 1993.

House Introduces Working Family Flexibility Act

On December 6, 2007, the U.S. House of Representatives introduced the Working Family Flexibility Act (H.R. 4301), which will give working Americans the right to request flexible work options in order to balance the demands of their jobs and home life. The legislation is patterned on similar laws in Europe that have been implemented with great success.

Under this legislation:

An employee may request to modify his or her hours, schedule, or work location.
Employees and employers will engage in an interactive process to discuss the employee's needs and how to address them with no or minimal disruption to the employer’s business.
Employers who deny a request must explain the grounds for the denial.
Employees who make requests are protected from retaliation.
Small businesses are exempt from the law.
The Department of Labor will develop regulations to smoothly administer the process, while ensuring the protection of employees' legal rights.

"Between trying to make ends meet and carving out time to care for their young children and aging relatives, parents across America are often stretched thin and need flexibility at work," Senator Clinton said, "I'm pleased to join Senator Kennedy in introducing this important piece of legislation to support our nation's working families."

DHS Requires Employers to Begin Using the New Form I-9 No Later Than 12/26/07

On 11/7/07, the Department of Homeland Security released a new Form I-9, the form employers must fill out for every new hire to verify identity and eligibility for employment in the United States under the Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986 (IRCA). The new Form I-9 reduces the number of documents employers may accept from newly hired employees during the employment eligibility verification process.

The DHS expected employers to begin using the new Form I-9 for new hires and for any reverifications immediately upon release. However, to give employers time to transition to the new form, on 11/26/07 it announced a 30-day grace period during which no fines will be levied for using the previous version. This grace period ends 12/26/07.

After 12/26/07, noncompliance with these new Form I-9 requirements may result in hefty legal and financial consequences in the case of an audit, the risk of which has increased greatly due to the government's renewed emphasis on illegal immigration.

Order your updated forms here.

Form I-9 in a nutshell - What you need to know…

The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) issued a revised form I-9 on November 7, 2007. The most significant change to the form was a reduction in the number of documents that employees may present to establish their identity and work eligibility (also known as "List A" of the List of Acceptable Documents on the back of the Form I-9).

All new employees, including U.S. citizens, must verify work eligibility with a Form I-9 when they are hired. Completed forms do not need to be submitted to the government, but employers must hold on to them. Employers are required by law to keep on file a hard copy or electronic version of the Form I-9 for three years after the employee's date of hire or for one year after the date the employee leaves the company (whichever date is later).

The new acceptable List A documents are:

U.S. passport (unexpired or expired)
Permanent Resident Card or Alien Registration Receipt Card (Form I-551)
An unexpired foreign passport with a temporary I-551 stamp
An unexpired Employment Authorization Document that contains a photograph (Form I-766, I-688, I-688A or I-688B)
An unexpired foreign passport with an unexpired Arrival-Departure Record, Form I-94, bearing the same name as the passport and containing an endorsement of the alien’s nonimmigrant status, if that status authorizes the alien to work for the employer

You can no longer accept:

A Certificate of U.S. Citizenship (Form N-560 or N-561)
A Certificate of Naturalization (Form N-550 or N-570)
An Alien Registration Receipt Card (I-151)
An unexpired Reentry Permit (Form I-327) or
An unexpired Refugee Travel Document (Form I-571)

The new form must be used starting 11/7/07.

Order your updated forms.

Updated Form I-9 Q & A

The federal government has released the new Form I-9. Among the mandatory revisions, the new Form I-9 reduces the number of documents that employers can accept to confirm the identity and work eligibility of their employees. The new form must be used starting 11/7/07. The following are some common questions and answers regarding the Form I-9.

Q: What is the difference between the revised Form I-9 and the old one?

A: Five documents have been removed from List A of the List of Acceptable Documents:

Certificate of U.S. Citizenship (Form N-560 or N-561)
Certificate of Naturalization (Form N-550 or N-570)
Alien Registration Receipt Card (I-151
Unexpired Reentry Permit (Form I-327)
Unexpired Refugee Travel Document (Form I-571)

One document was added to List A of the List of Acceptable Documents:

Unexpired Employment Authorization Document (I-766)

All the Employment Authorization Documents with photographs that are in circulation are now included as one item on List A:

I-688, I-688A, I-688B, I-766

Instructions regarding Section 1 of Form I-9 now indicate that the employee is not obliged to provide the Social Security Number in Section 1 of Form I-9, unless he or she is employed by an employer who participates in E-Verify. The section on Photocopying and Retaining Form I-9 now includes information about electronically signing and retaining I-9 forms.

The estimated reporting burden under the Paperwork Reduction Act has changed to reflect the latest estimates and, finally, the format, font, organization, and grammar of the text have been improved to make Form I-9 more readable and user-friendly.

Q: Can I accept documents that used to be on the Form I-9 but aren’t now?

A: No. Employers may only accept documents listed on the List of Acceptable Documents on Form I-9. When re-verifying employees, employers should ensure that they use the new Form I-9 with its updated list of acceptable documents.

Q: Are there any changes in the way the new Form I-9 is completed?

No. The updated form should be completed exactly the same way as the old one was. The only difference is the types of documents that employers may accept in Section 2.

Q: Is the Form I-9 available in different languages?

A: The Form I-9 is available in English and Spanish. However, only employers in Puerto Rico may have employees complete the Spanish version for their records. Employers in the 50 states and other U.S. territories may use the Spanish version as a translation guide for Spanish-speaking employees, but must complete the English version and kept it in the employer’s records. Employees may also use or ask for a translator/preparer to assist them in completing the form.

Q: Are employers in Puerto Rico required to use the Spanish version of Form I-9?

A: No. Employers in Puerto Rico may use either the Spanish or the English version of the new Form I-9 to verify employees. Employers in Puerto Rico may not use the expired 1988 Spanish or English edition of Form I-9.

Q: What versions of Form I-9 are valid for use?

A: As of November 7, 2007, the Form I-9 with a revision date of June 5, 2007 is the only version of the form that is valid for use. The revision date is printed on the lower right corner of the form and states “(Rev. 06/05/07)N”. All previous versions of Form I-9, in English or Spanish, are no longer valid. The 1988 version of Form I-9 in Spanish expired in 1991.

Q: When should employers begin using the version of Form I-9 marked with a revision date of “(Rev. 06/05/07)N”?

A: Employers must use the amended Form I-9 (Rev. 06/05/07)N for all individuals hired on or after November 7, 2007. However, DHS recognizes that employers should be afforded a period of time to transition to the amended Form I-9. DHS will publish a Notice in the Federal Register announcing that it will not seek penalties against an employer for using a previous version of the Form I-9 during a 30 day transition period that begins on date of publication of the Notice. After the transition period, employers who fail to use Form I-9 (Rev. 06/05/07)N may be subject to all applicable penalties under section 274A of the INA, 8 U.S.C. 1324a, as enforced by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).

Q: Do I need to complete the new version of Form I-9 for all my employees or just the new ones?

A: Employers only need to complete the new version of Form I-9 (Rev. 06/05/07)N for new employees. Employers do not need to complete new forms for existing employees. However, employers must use the Form I-9 (Rev. 06/05/07)N when their employees require re-verification.

Order your updated I-9 forms.

New Form I-9 Just Released

The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced today that a revised Employment Eligibility Verification Form (better known as the Form I-9) is now available for use. All employers are required by law to complete a Form I-9 for each employee hired in the United States.

The new form is effective immediately, however, there will be a grace period for companies not yet in compliance.

The document was revised to reflect a reduction of the number of documents an employer can accept to confirm the identity and work eligibility of their employees.

Order updated forms today.

Top 10 OSHA Violations in 2007

We still have two months to go until the new year, but the Director of OSHA's Directorate of Enforcement Programs, Richard Fairfax, decided to preview the top OSHA violations for 2007 a little early. Fairfax presented the list on October 16 at the National Safety Council's 2007 Congress and Expo.

Most violations follow the same trends as previous years. The top 10 OSHA violations for 2007 are:

Scaffolding - 7,592 violations
Hazard Communication - 5,099 violations
Fall Protection - 5,095 violations
Respiratory Protection - 3,145 violations
Lockout/Tagout - 2,973 violations
Powered Industrial Trucks - 2,577 violations
Electrical - Wiring - 2,412 violations
Ladders - 2,113 violations
Machine Guarding - 2,054 violations
Electrical General - 1,848 violations

G. Neil's OSHA solutions help you understand and comply with OSHA, and also assist in training your employees on various OSHA standards.

Celebrate Halloween at Work

BOO! Halloween is right around the corner (next Wednesday, 10/31). This widely celebrated holiday is no longer just for the kids. Many businesses across the country, including our G.Neil team, will celebrate Halloween at work this year.

Holiday celebrations at work can be great occasions to promote teamwork, improve morale, and add some old-fashioned fun to the workday. Celebrating the holidays also can foster a positive company culture in which employees look forward to and enjoy their time at work.

Here are some ways we celebrate Halloween at work:

Best decorated workspace and costume contest. In the past, departments have transformed into Latin nightclubs, Italian neighborhoods and hospital emergency rooms.
Department pumpkin-carving competition. Each department receives a pumpkin and carving set. Team members work together to come up with funny, scary and some downright disgusting designs.
During lunchtime, we set up a "Goodies Table" in the main lunchroom with Halloween-themed treats for all to enjoy.
Senior management judges all contests and awards prizes to the lucky winners.

Don't be afraid to get creative and have some fun at the office this Halloween!

New Recruitment Trend: Video

Do you agonize over writing job descriptions? Struggle to find the right words to attract the perfect applicant?

Why not show them how great you are? - make a video.

Popular recruiting sites are joining the YouTube revolution by incorporating video into online recruitment ads. Writing job descriptions may be a thing of the past.

Recently, the online job network Monster.com began offering video-hosting services. Along with written advertisements, companies can post a video to show job candidates what they can offer.

Another site, CareerTV, allows companies to entertain while recruiting job candidates. Google, Disney, BMW and even the FBI have posted videos to grab the attention of promising applicants.

And it works both ways. Job seekers also can post video resumes. All videos are open to the public to rate on a 1-5 scale. Videos can be viewed by highest-rated, most viewed, and how recently they were posted.

More than just a job description, videos allow insight into a company's culture and can help potential applicants make more informed decisions when job hunting.

Video recruiting is the next big thing for the latest generation of employees, so make a video and show your future employees what you’ve got to offer.

Drug-Free Work Week: Top 5 Affected Industries

Drug abuse is a serious problem in America and especially within our country’s workforce. In 2005, almost 75 percent of drug users in America were employed.* Substance abuse contributes to lower productivity, causes workplace accidents and injuries, and increases health care costs.

The most at-risk industries:

Construction and mining
Food preparation and food service
Arts, design and entertainment
Sales
Installation, maintenance and repair

Small to medium-sized businesses are the most affected by employee drug-use. Smaller businesses are less likely to have an established drug-free workplace program. Without a drug-free policy, businesses seem more attractive to a drug user.

In the spirit of Drug-Free Work Week, why not start a drug-free workplace program of your own? This Drug-Free Workplace Kit helps you get started with eye-catching posters and drug-free policy stickers.

*Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (2006)

Healthy Employees Shape-Up Your Bottom Line:
New Methods for Controlling Health Care Costs

It’s always a struggle to keep the rising costs of health care in check. US industry loses $13 billion and 39.3 million workdays every year due to employees’ obesity-related health problems¹. Studies also found that 65 percent of American adults are overweight and spend half their waking hours on the job². With figures like these, companies are looking to new methods for controlling health care costs and improving employees' physical health.

Five easy ways to promote a healthy workplace:

Swap out high fat/high sugar foods in lunchroom snack machines with healthy alternatives. Or, hold a weekly lunchroom fruit-sale. Proceeds can benefit a local charity.

Sponsor a monthly, company-wide event promoting healthy lifestyles. G.Neil employees participate in a monthly "Walk for Wellness," where employees walk as a group around the company’s neighborhood, during company time. When employees return, reward them with healthy snacks, fruit and water.

Team up with a local weight-loss center to hold weekly meetings at the office. We hold weekly, on-site Weight Watchers meetings for our employees. Your local Weight Watchers or similar organization can usually work out agreements to offer employees discounted, or even free memberships.

Contact local gyms and fitness centers to find out if they would give your employees discounts. In return, allow the fitness center to set up a table in the lunchroom to promote their business.

When its time for an office celebration, opt for healthier alternatives as opposed to pizza or donut parties.

¹ Department of Health and Human Services

² Centers for Disease Control

6 simple ways to participate in Drug-Free Work Week (Oct. 14-20)

Mark your calendars: Drug-Free Work Week, an initiative sponsored by the Department of Labor (DOL), takes place nationwide October 14-20. This event helps workplaces reinforce the fact that being drug free is the key to protecting workplace safety and health. Also use this week to encourage employees to seek help for alcohol and drug problems.

Here are 6 simple ways to participate:

1. Launch a drug-free workplace program. If your company doesn’t have one already in place, turn the week into an opportunity to launch a new one.

2. Promote your existing drug-free workplace program. Remind employees about the program, and how it helps keep them safe at work. Use posters, pamphlets or company e-mails to get the word out.

3. Offer your employees free health screenings during company time.

4. Volunteer in a community event promoting drug-free education. Reach out in your community to help inform children about the dangers of drugs and the benefits of following a drug-free lifestyle.

5. Create a drug-free display in a high-traffic area. Use G.Neil's Drug-Free Workplace Poster to send a powerful drug-free workplace message.

6. Organize a social event during company time, such as a bake sale or barbeque celebrating safety and health.

DHS to Step Up Enforcement of Immigration Laws

Fines will increase for employers who knowingly hire illegal immigrants

Who needs Congress to pass a comprehensive immigration reform bill? The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has implemented its own priorities using the laws already on the books. The DHS issued a fact sheet titled "Improving Border Security and Immigration Within Existing Law" on Friday that explains the government's plans.

The fact sheet listed 26 reforms. Some worksite enforcement reforms are detailed below:

The DHS issued "no-match" regulations on Friday that will help employers ensure their workers are legal and help the government identify and crack down on employers who knowingly hire illegal workers.
In the coming months, the DHS will publish a regulation that will reduce the number of documents that employers must accept to confirm the identity and work eligibility of their employees on Form I-9.
As a civil counterpart to the DHS's strategy of using criminal investigations to deter illegal employment, the DHS will raise the civil fines imposed on employers who knowingly hire illegal immigrants by approximately 25 percent.
The DHS will continue to expand criminal investigations against employers who knowingly hire large numbers of illegal aliens.

The entire fact sheet is available at http://www.dhs.gov/xnews/releases/pr_1186757867585.shtm.

Work/Life Balance Should Fit Workplace

Work/life balance is a hot topic these days, but whether it's providing dry cleaning, allowing flexible work hours, or encouraging "casual Friday," organizations should be careful and consider the relevance of any perks they are offering employees.

Organizations should consider the following tips before putting together a work/life balance program, according to Ilyse Shapiro, founder of the job search web site MyPartTimePro.com:

Make sure your organization's culture supports work/life initiatives. "Flexibility" shouldn't be just a catchphrase but a concept embraced throughout the organization.
Effective work/life balance programs are nondiscriminatory, available to all employees, male or female, with or without children, regardless of income level, job title, exempt/nonexempt status or marital status.
Career advancement and training opportunities should be offered to those with flexible schedules as well as to those with traditional schedules.

"If your organization is not currently addressing work/life issues, it will soon be losing out, if it isn’t already," Shapiro said in a press release, noting that firms that offer flexible arrangements are better able to retain current employees and attract new ones.

The Impact of the Federal Minimum Wage Increase on States

Most employers nationwide felt barely a blip when the federal minimum wage increased on July 24, 2007 from $5.15 to $5.85 an hour. That’s because most employers run their business out of one of the 30 states and the District of Columbia that already had minimum wage rates higher than $5.85 an hour.

But the number of states with higher minimum wage rates will decline as the new federal minimum wage increases to $6.55 next year and to $7.25 in 2009. Unless states change their minimum wage laws, only around 20 states will be above the federal minimum wage in July 2008 and around 11 will be above in July 2009. (You can pretty much count on a number of states continuing to change their laws over the next couple of years, though).

Many of the states with higher minimum wages increased them in the last couple of years when attempts to raise the federal minimum wage were being held up in Congress. States that currently have a higher minimum wage than the new federal minimum wage of $5.85 an hour are:

Alaska ($7.15); Arizona ($6.75); Arkansas ($6.25); California ($7.50); Colorado ($6.85); Connecticut ($7.65); Delaware ($6.65); District of Columbia ($7.00); Florida ($6.67); Hawaii ($7.25); Illinois ($7.50); Iowa ($6.20); Maine ($6.75 — will increase to $7.00 on October 1, 2007); Maryland ($6.15); Massachusetts ($7.50); Michigan ($7.15); Minnesota ($6.15) (for employers with annual receipts of $625,000 or more; $5.25 for employers with annual receipts of less than $625,000 — if these employers are covered by the FLSA, they must comply with the increased minimum wage rate); Missouri ($6.50); Montana ($6.15) ($4.00 for employers with $110,000 or less in gross annual sales); Nevada ($6.33) (for employers that do not provide health benefits); New Jersey ($7.15); New York ($7.15); bla bla bla, are you still reading this list?; North Carolina ($6.15); Ohio ($6.85); Oregon ($7.80); Pennsylvania ($7.15); Rhode Island ($7.40); Vermont ($7.53); Washington (7.93); West Virginia ($6.55); and Wisconsin ($6.50).

Clearly, more employers will feel the effect of the next two increases scheduled over the next two years, since those rates will be higher than many state minimum wage rates.

Keep in mind, even where you are covered by the state minimum wage because it is higher, if you are an FLSA-covered employer you need to post the new federal minimum wage poster in addition to your state minimum wage poster. This last paragraph brought to you by Poster Guard Compliance Protection.

Federal Minimum Wage Posting Language Released by DOL

The Department of Labor has issued the final language for the required Federal Minimum Wage postings, which reflect the recent minimum wage increases.

Many G.Neil customers at the SHRM Conference & Expo were asking if we had the new Federal Minimum Wage posting yet. We were expecting the release last week, but it finally came through today.

In response to your questions, orders placed for the new Federal EasyPost®, along with replacements covered by Poster Guard™ Compliance Protection, will begin shipping the week of July 9.

We will follow up with more information, but in the meantime, feel free to visit our Federal Minimum Wage Increase Question & Answer page of the G.Neil website.

G.Neil President Ranks Among Top 10 of 50 Leading Women-Led Businesses in Florida

The Center for Leadership at Florida International University, partnering with The Commonwealth Institute South Florida, recently surveyed Florida’s female business leaders to gain a better understanding of how they achieved success as senior executives and how they balance their professional and personal lives. The report focused on a variety of issues, such as business strategies, business challenges, career history, personal motivation and leadership style.

We're proud to announce that Susan Drenning, President of Everglades Direct (which owns the G.Neil brand) came in at Number 9 on the list — and was featured in the Business section of the Sun-Sentinel on June 14, 2007.

Congratulations, Susan!

You can read the report and review the list of top 50 executives here:
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/media/acrobat/2007-06/30514731.pdf

Misleading Poster Sales Pitches - More Businesses Being Duped!

Remember that posting from a couple of months ago, Beware of Deceptive Claims? Well, those deceptive claims are rearing their ugly heads again. The Associated Press reported about a Lansing, Michigan company called the Mandatory Poster Agency that sent out stern warnings to restaurants and convenience stores to convince them they needed to display posters on proper hand-washing or face fines. You can read the article here: Businesses Bilked by Poster Company.

Please keep this in mind, with the new minimum wage law — we anticipate there will be an onslaught of misleading marketing offers from poster companies to businesses of all sizes. You have a number of choices for purchasing your updated Federal Labor Law poster. Many companies have similar sounding names making it difficult to know who's-who and to verify their quality and service standards. Before you buy from any company you don't know through first-hand experience,you should take the following steps:

Verify whether posters meet exact agency specifications for font size, poster size, color and layout.

Confirm with the seller that the people who monitor changes are labor law experts and attorneys qualified to interpret the posting requirements and ensure any changes are properly communicated.

Check with the Better Business Bureau to ensure the seller has a satisfactory rating or if they have a rating at all. You should investigate further any business that is without a rating as it may be an indication that they don't have a proven track record.

When you are dealing with Compliance issues, you don't want to take any chances — you should demand unimpeachable service and uncompromised standards.

If you have received any sales or marketing pitches that leave you suspicious, please feel free to contact us at 800-999-9111 and we'll look into it for you!

President Signs War Spending Bill - Increases Federal Minimum Wage

On Friday, President Bush signed the Iraq war spending bill that included language that will increase the federal minimum wage for the first time in a decade.

Title VIII - Fair Minimum Wage and Tax Relief, from the new law, will increase the minimum wage to $7.25 an hour from $5.15 in three stages over two years. The increases will be done in three phases of 70 cents more an hour. The first increase will bring the minimum wage up to $5.85 an hour, 60 days after signing. The other increases will follow a year apart and will be completed by the summer of 2009.

On Friday, Senator Edward M. Kennedy, Chairman of the Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, released the following statement in response to the President signing the minimum wage increase into law.

"While I know that many Americans are deeply troubled about the bill the President has signed today, there is one thing in this legislation that we can all celebrate – a long-overdue increase in the minimum wage. Minimum wage workers have been waiting for this raise for ten long and difficult years. They have worked more than one job. They have saved every penny they can for the future of their children. They have decided each day what food they can afford to buy and what bills they can afford pay. Today, these hardworking Americans have hope for a brighter future. And we are one step closer to becoming the America we want to be – where anyone who works hard and plays by the rules can build a better life for their family."

Please head over to gneil.com to see what that means for federal labor law posting requirements or read our Federal Minimum Wage Increase Q & A and learn more.

War Bill Signed: Minimum Wage Increase Now Law

President Bush signed the bill which contained the provisions for the increase in the federal minimum wage. We'll be keeping you updated on how this will affect your business, and what you'll need to do to comply with the new law.

But it's Saturday, and it's a three-day weekend, so we'll get back to that on Tuesday.

Enjoy your weekend!

- Helene Kopel, G.Neil Blog Queen

SPECIAL UPDATE: Federal Minimum Wage Passed in Congress

This is it...almost. Last night, Congress approved the first increase in the federal minimum wage, in over a decade. This measure would raise the federal minimum wage to $7.25 an hour from $5.15 in three stages over two years. The bill includes $4.84 billion in tax breaks for small businesses. President Bush has already said he's ready to sign it and once that happens, the wage increase will become law.

We'll be keeping you updated on what this means to you, and how you can ensure compliance with the new laws, so sign up for blog updates on the right side of this page to stay informed (or save this page to your "Favorites" and check back soon)!

You can read more about the news here:
Congress Passes Increase in the Minimum Wage

Federal Minimum Wage - Clearing Up Confusion

Recently, an anonymous comment was left on an old post, Federal Minimum Wage Update: House Combines Minimum Wage Increase to War Spending Bill:

"All of this minimum wage stuff is confusing. Has there or has there not been a bill passed that increases the minimum wage? If so, what is the name/number of the bill?"

As expected, President Bush vetoed HR 1591, which attached the federal minimum wage increase to the emergency war spending bill. Democrats have vowed that the minimum wage increase and small business tax package will happen, one way or another. House and Senate leaders met with the President last week to try to work out a compromise bill and are hoping to wrap it up by Memorial Day recess.

So the answer to the question is – No, a bill to increase the federal minimum wage has not yet been passed. However, analysts are predicting that it should happen within the next month or so.

Can The "I Know It When I See It" Test Be Applied to The Dress Code?

In 1964, Justice Potter Stewart tried to explain "hard-core" pornography, or what is obscene, by saying, "I shall not today attempt further to define the kinds of material I understand to be embraced...but I know it when I see it..."

Now, you're asking, what does porn have to do with my office?

Ever come across an employee that seems to dress just a little too sexy, or has a few too many holes on their face to be dealing with the customers, or is dressed for a day at the ballpark instead of the office park? You review your company dress code and discover that, technically, there are no rules being broken. You've added a general catch-all for "inappropriate attire" to your formal policy, but how do you define it? Return to Justice Stewart..."I know it when I see it."

One of your employees keeps walking back and forth to the copier in her form-fitting dress and spiked heels, causing raised eyebrows from some and lascivious leers from others. In the same department, another employee wears a similar outfit - yet with a different fit and figure, doesn't cause a stir. There is nothing in either case that would technically violate the dress code, item by item - and only one of the ladies is creating a distraction and making people feel uncomfortable. And there is nothing in your policy that specifically spells out what constitutes "inappropriate attire." Does "I know it when I see it" allow you to address the one employee?

Bigger question: can you or should you address only the one causing the stir; or does it create a fairness issue with regards to the other employee not being addressed?

Beware of deceptive claims

As a general rule, I appreciate strong competition. After all, healthy competition is good for our business and for our customers. It keeps us focused on what customers really want and need, and on continually improving our quality and service levels.

But lately we've been hearing about deceptive tactics being used by some labor law poster providers that, frankly, have me incensed. And I'm not alone. This information came to our attention as a result of customers calling us for reassurance and to express their outrage.

One customer received a personal visit to his business from an individual who showed a badge and implied that he was with the worker's compensation department to gain access to the business premises. He proceeded to "audit" the company's postings and then offered posters for purchase.

Another customer was threatened with fines and jail time if she failed to order posters from a caller by 5 p.m. that day. When the customer told the caller that she ordered her posters from G.Neil, she was told that G.Neil was no longer in business.

A corporate manager for one of our larger Poster Guard customers received a call from a branch in another state. A person visited the branch and misrepresented himself as an employee of G.Neil, saying that the branch was not covered by Poster Guard and they were out of compliance.

Unscrupulous tactics like these give our entire industry a bad name. In fact, the Attorneys General in several states are specifically targeting deceptive labor law marketers. Here at G.Neil, we're joining the fight to clean up our industry and we're asking for your help.

If you have had a similar experience with one of these companies, please consider taking the time to file a complaint with your State Attorney General or Consumer Protection office. Click here for direct links to file a complaint online, download a complaint form, or find instructions on filing a complaint in your state.

And finally, selecting a reliable, trustworthy provider for your labor law posters and labor law poster services is critical to protect your business. Before you make a buying decision, be sure to check the seller's Reliability Report from the Better Business Bureau by visiting search.bbb.org. We also invite you to view G.Neil's Reliability Report.

Where to File a Complaint

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Federal Minimum Wage Bill Gets Nudge from Iraq War Vote

On March 29, 2007, the Senate passed the Iraq war spending bill that included language that will increase the federal minimum wage for the first time in 10 years. The raise in the federal minimum wage, however, is unlikely to pass with this legislation since President Bush has vowed to veto it since the bill calls for a March 2008 pullout of U.S. troops from Iraq.

The addition of the minimum wage issue to the Iraq spending bill, however, allows House and Senate Democrats to begin negotiations on the size of small business tax cuts that have divided House and Senate Democrats. In early March, House Democrats attached the federal minimum wage legislation to the budget bill in order to speed the agreement between chambers on the size of the package of small business tax breaks.

Although the federal minimum wage increase is likely doomed when the bill reaches the White House, minimum wage supporters see value in its inclusion. Once a compromise on the size of the tax breaks is hammered out, a new minimum wage bill can be brought forward later and possibly passed, either as stand alone legislation or as part of a less controversial budget package.

Bill Samuel, of the AFL-CIO, said “This is a step forward but not a final one.” Samuel predicts another minimum wage bill could be produced by mid-to-late April. By then, the tax-breaks would presumably be worked out between the House and Senate.

Stay tuned...

Federal Minimum Wage Update: House Combines Minimum Wage Increase to War Spending Bill

So when will the minimum wage bill finally be passed? The answer unfortunately remains uncertain but the House of Representatives is trying a new approach. This week, the House will discuss an emergency spending bill for the Iraq war. The emergency spending bill would pay for the war until October, but require U.S. troops to be out of Iraq by the end of August, 2008.

What does all this have to do with minimum wage? Well, in an attempt to gather the votes necessary to pass the emergency spending bill, the House has been adding lots of extras to the bill, including an amendment to increase the federal minimum wage. The amendment would increase the minimum wage to $7.25 an hour from $5.15 over two years and grant $1.3 billion in tax breaks for restaurants and other affected businesses.

This approach has been criticized by both Democrats and Republicans, and is not likely to succeed. However, there is some light at the end of the tunnel. Don Stewart, spokesman for Senate republican leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, stated that, regardless of what happens to the Iraq spending bill, Congress would give final approval to the minimum wage increase bill before the spring is out.

Workplace Harassment or Compliment?

A colleague of mine was recently presented with a hypothetical situation on her group message board:

A woman walks into work and a male mid-level manager, from another department, smiles and says "good morning." She later gets a voice mail message from him saying "you know, I hope this doesn't offend you, but i just wanted to say you have a nice smile and it really started my day off on a positive note."

I've always thought that in order for a comment to be considered harassment,
a) the receiver has to say "no" in some way - no response constitutes acceptance of the comment.
b) the commentor must continue to make such comments.
c) as long as the comment is not job-related and commentor has been asked to stop, this could be construed as harassment.

Would this exchange constitute harassment?

The quick response is no, it does not.

The reason is not so quick:

This exchange, alone, does not amount to illegal workplace harassment. For workplace harassment to be illegal under federal law, the person who has been offended must prove three things:

1) The harassment must be based on a characteristic protected by law (e.g., gender, race, color, religion, national origin, age or disability). A comment that is sexual in nature usually satisfies this requirement.

2) The harassment must be "unwelcome." "Unwelcome" means the person regarded the conduct as undesirable and did not solicit or incite the conduct. A person is not required to complain or say anything at all to satisfy this requirement, but the reaction will be examined as evidence of whether it was welcomed or not. (As a separate issue, a company can escape liability for a manager's harassment in some cases if the company has a policy in place encouraging employees to report harassment and an employee fails to do so.)

3) The harassment was sufficiently "severe or pervasive" to create a hostile, intimidating or offensive work environment, to unreasonably interfere with a person’s work performance, or to otherwise adversely affect the terms, conditions or opportunities of a person’s employment.

In this scenario, the conduct is not sufficiently "severe or pervasive" to meet the third part of the test. The EEOC maintains that anti-discrimination statutes are not a "general civility code." Federal law does not prohibit simple teasing, offhand comments, or isolated incidents that are not extremely serious. This type of conduct may be inappropriate and should be discouraged by the employer's zero-tolerance harassment policy, but it is not illegal.

How would you have handled it, if the person had complained to you?

It's Not Me, It's You

Have you ever talked to your employee about performance issues and they decided it was a personal attack?

"My boss just hates me. Joe makes mistakes and he never gets in trouble."

It never crosses their mind that there is an actual problem with their work or their attendance or their attitude. "She just doesn't like me" is the only plausible explanation for why they've been written up. Heaven forbid it may be that they actually made mistakes, broke rules or caused problems.

And somehow, they also know any discipline or lack of discipline that everyone else in the company has had. "Sally screws up all the time but she hasn't gotten any warnings." Our victim must have special supernatural powers - the ability to know everything that goes on in your files, your office and your mind. Pretty impressive. I bet if you knew they had that power, you wouldn't have bothered telling them to stop coming in an hour late and leaving fifteen minutes early. Especially since you let Sally and Joe do it all the time!

Accountability...there are just some employees that just don't have any idea what that is or desire to take it on. The ones that take accountability for their mistakes actually stand a chance. As for the ones that don't, if fear isn't a driver that puts them back on track, then it's only a matter of time before they're gone...or you'll wish they were.

I'm sure there are a few horror stories out there...anybody want to share?

New OSHA Poster Released — Replacement NOT Required

Ashley Kaplan, G.Neil Compliance Attorney

Yesterday, OSHA announced the publication of its new "It's The Law" poster. Since that announcement, we've heard from a number of concerned customers who have received calls from companies promoting sales of their versions of the new poster. Some of these companies have implied that it is mandatory to replace their old poster.

As stated in the news release, issued by the Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), "the OSHA poster, also known as the OSHA notice of employee rights, is required to be displayed in every workplace in America. The current edition of the OSHA poster is still valid; employers are not required to replace their existing poster with the new version."

For clarity, the federal OSHA poster was updated with additional language and new graphics. The poster now depicts a variety of employees in various settings – from the medical field to the construction industry – and precisely explains how employees may file a complaint, report an emergency, or seek OSHA advice.

For more information, visit http://www.osha.gov/index.html.

Federal Minimum Wage Update - Back to the House

It's been quite a busy week for our Compliance and Research Attorneys, here at G.Neil. They're working hard to track the Federal Minimum Wage bill and what that will mean for us and for you, so they've asked me to relay the latest update.

With two key developments in the Senate this week, the potential for the federal minimum wage increase in 2007 has strengthened. We mentioned that on Tuesday, the U.S. Senate voted to add a package of tax breaks for small businesses to the bill - this was approved on Thursday in a 94-3 vote. The modified bill is now headed back to the House. Analysts are pretty sure that the Senate and House will reach a compromise and that the final bill will go to President Bush to be signed.

President Bush issued a statement regarding the latest developments that shows his support of the bill. You can read it here.

Helene Kopel, G.Neil Blog Guru

Important Federal Minimum Wage Update

Federal Minimum Wage Bill Still Alive as Senate Moves to Add Tax Breaks for Small Businesses

With the latest development in the Senate this week, the federal minimum wage change is one step closer to being passed in 2007.

On Tuesday, the U.S. Senate voted to add a package of tax breaks for small businesses to the bill — this move may ultimately lead to its approval and signing by President Bush.

If the bill passes the vote in the Senate, which is expected to happen this week, it will go back to the House for "discussions." When the House passed the minimum wage bill earlier this month, it was without any tax breaks, so it's got to go back for agreement. Then, if the House and Senate agree on a final version of the bill, it will head to the President.

Leading analysts predict that with the addition of those tax breaks for small businesses, the President is much more likely to sign the bill.

Keep coming back, we'll keep you posted.

Federal Minimum Wage Bill Still in the Senate

Many of you have read that the Senate did not pass the bill to raise the federal minimum wage, this week. (Tax breaks sidetrack minimum wage bill - Yahoo! News) I've gotten a few questions here at the office about what exactly that means, so I imagine some of you are wondering the same.

The bill is still alive. Yesterday, the Senate voted on a motion to end debates on the House's clean minimum wage bill. The House's minimum wage bill only contained an increase to the federal minimum wage (clean increase) and did not include any tax breaks for small businesses. The Senate voted yesterday on whether to end debates (meaning no amendments could be added to the bill like a tax break) and whether to keep the bill as a clean increase.

Unfortunately, the Senate voted against the motion to end debates. This means that now debates will begin to either add an amendment to the House bill that includes a tax break for small businesses or the Senate may introduce their own minimum wage bill. (You can already read about the first failed amendment here: Senators Kill Minimum Wage Amendment)

The Senate's goal was to pass the minimum wage bill this week but now the issue will be debated; it is going to take a bit longer to pass.

Hot Topic: Federal Minimum Wage Increase Passed in the House

There have been talks of a possible federal minimum wage increase for years now and it looks like it may actually come true. On January 10, 2007, the House of Representatives overwhelmingly passed a bill to increase the federal minimum wage. The last time the federal minimum wage was increased was in 1997.

The bill, which now goes to the Senate, would raise the federal minimum wage by $2.10 from its current $5.15 an hour in three steps over 26 months. It would go to $5.85 an hour 60 days after signed into law by the President, to $6.55 a year later, and to $7.25 a year after that. It is expected that additional minimum wage increases will follow on a state level. There are currently about 15 state minimum wage increase bills pending. If a state raises its minimum wage to a rate higher than the federal minimum wage (as is the case in most states), employers are required to pay the higher rate.

President Bush recently announced he supports a minimum-wage increase if Congress offers tax and regulatory incentives for small businesses. The Senate is expected to vote on the bill by the end of next week. We are closely monitoring the minimum wage developments on a state and federal level, and will post updates here as new information arises.

EEO-1 Report Revised for 2007

The Employer Information Report (EEO-1) changed last year and covered employers should now be using the revised EEO-1 Report format for 2007. Our New Hire EEO-1 Data Sheet complies with the new requirements and was updated to include the new race, ethnicity and job categories for 2007.

Earlier last year, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) announced the implementation of the first major changes to the EEO-1 Report. The EEO-1 Report must be filed annually by employers with 100 or more employees, or employers with federal government contracts of $50,000 or more and 50 or more employees.

You can learn more about the EEO-1 reporting requirements on the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission Web site.

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