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OFCCP Stepping Up Enforcement

Earlier this year, the Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP), which is responsible for ensuring that entities doing business with the federal government take affirmative action as required by Executive Order 11246, released its fiscal year 2011 budget request and enforcement initiatives. OFCCP director Patricia A. Shiu said she plans to implement full-scale aggressive […]

DOL Finalizes FMLA Military Exigency Rules, Including Intermittent leave

The U.S. Department of Labor on Feb. 5 finalized a long-awaited rule ensuring that families of eligible veterans have the same right to job-protected FMLA leave as families of military service members. The final rule also ensures the rights of military families to take leave to attend to financial matters and other types of day-to-day issues […]

Proposed FMLA Rule Changes on Forms and More

Yesterday, we looked at some of the proposed changes to the federal Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) in areas relating to military leave. Today, a look at the other proposed changes, courtesy of Mark Schickman and Cathleen Yonahara, both attorneys at Freeland Cooper & Foreman LLP in San Francisco.

Bathroom Etiquette Should Not Influence Hiring

By Robert P. Tinnin, Jr. Q: This morning I interviewed an applicant for a clerical position in our company. She appeared to be an attractive, personable young woman and was very engaging during the interview. However, I soon learned that “she” is really a “he,” at least anatomically. She told me she is preparing to […]

More than 300 counties now “majority-minority”

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, nearly one in every 10 of the nation’s 3,141 counties has a population that is more than 50 percent minority. The two largest counties passing the threshold are Denver County, Colorado, and East Baton Rouge Parish, Louisiana, with total populations of 566,974 and 429,073, respectively. Three other counties were […]

News Notes: Federal Court Defines Duty To Notify Employees About Proposed Benefit Plan Changes

We reported in April on a federal court decision from Kentucky involving IBM which held that under federal law, if you’re seriously considering changes to a retirement benefit plan, you must tell your employees. Now, in a pair of new cases, the federal Ninth Circuit Court of Appeal has reached the same conclusion, explaining that […]

Congress, Stakeholders Challenge OFCCP’s Proposed EEO Quota

Members of Congress are questioning whether the Department of Labor has the authority to require employers to set goals for hiring hiring disabled workers. The inquiry concerns the propriety — and practicality — of proposed rules announced late last year by DOL’s Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs requiring federal contractors to institute hiring goals. […]

OFCCP toughens rules on compensation audits

by David S. Fortney and Judith E. Kramer Effective February 28, the U.S. Department of Labor’s Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP) is changing its approach to compliance audits and enforcement proceedings related to how contractors pay their workers. The changes effectively open nearly every federal contractor’s actions, policies, and practices on compensation to […]

News Notes: NLRB Rejects “30%” Wage Hiring Rule

  Contractors Labor Pool is a major supplier of construction trade labor to nonunion contractors in the western United States. CPL implemented a new hiring guideline, based on a company retention study, under which it refused to hire applicants whose most recent job was at a pay level that was more than 30% above starting […]

Ask the Expert: We have a time clock system that automatically deducts lunch hours from only one department. Is this legal?

November 11, 2010 Employers are not required to pay employees for time spent during bona fide meal periods. Bona fide meal periods are ordinarily breaks that last at least 30 minutes, but they may be shorter under special conditions. They do not include coffee or snack breaks; these are rest periods that may have to […]