Personnel Concepts Clears Up the Paperwork Tangle

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Posted by LaborLawGuy | Posted on 15-04-2009

Category : Federal Labor Law, Personnel Concepts, Random Musings, State Labor Law

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I got a sneak peak at a beta version of Personnel Concepts’ new office software assistant called the Ea-zY Forms CD-ROM.

I feel a little dimwitted in having had to ask them what that first word stood for, but when they explained things to me, it made sense. You pronounce it like “easy,” and the “a-z” part means the software contains everything from A to Z, kind of like the city of Azusa, Calif. — “Everything in the USA from A to Z.”

It appears that the product went live today, and you can order it now at Personnel Concepts online.

It’s pretty handy, especially for a small business that doesn’t have a lot of personnel who can keep forms on hand and update them all the time. You can open the software, find the form you need–say an attendance record–type in the data and then save or print it or both.

The package even includes the new I-9 employee verification form, the COBRA subsidy forms, and the revised FMLA forms.

I’m not sure there’s a form in there to represent every letter of the alphabet, but you’ve got to hand it to them for implying comprehensibility, even if the method they chose — “Ea-zY” — isn’t so readily comprehensible.

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Proposed Law Extends FMLA to Part-Time Workers

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Posted by LaborLawGuy | Posted on 23-01-2009

Category : Federal Labor Law, Random Musings, State Labor Law

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Under the existing provisions of the Family and Medical Leave Act, employees at a firm with 50 or more employees within a 75-mile radius need to have worked 1,250 hours in the previous 12-month period to qualify for 12 weeks of unpaid leave (26 weeks if related to military service).

Representative Tammy Baldwin (D-Wisc.), however, has now introduced the Family Fairness Act of 2009 (H.R. 389) to eliminate the “hours of service” requirement, but not the 12 months of employment, so that both part- and full-time workers would qualify for FMLA leave.

“An important piece of labor law, the Family and Medical Leave Act, contains deficiencies that are harmful to working women, especially those with young children or elderly parents who rely on them,” Baldwin said. “The Family Fairness Act will move us closer toward equality for all workers.”

In 2007, almost 25 million people worked part-time and represented 16 percent of the workforce with two-thirds of these part-time workers being women. Many of them have small children or are attending school full time and do not have any choice but to work fewer than 35 hours a week, according to Baldwin. 

What next, 12 weeks of paid leave?

Anything’s possible in the current political environment, so if you’re an employer, hang on for a wild ride–or just retire now and enjoy the view from afar.

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FMLA, Minimum Wage Changes Abound in 2009

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Posted by LaborLawGuy | Posted on 10-12-2008

Category : Federal Labor Law, State Labor Law

Tags: , ,

I won’t even begin to get into the changes to the Family Medical Leave Act (FMLA) coming into force on Jan. 16, 2009, but as many have mentioned, the FMLA Final Rule (registered on Nov. 17) is a boon to families of service members and to employers, the latter of whom now get a better structure for dealing with FMLA requests.

More on that perhaps another time.

For now, let’s look at changes coming to the minimum wage.  In addition to Puerto Rico and the District of Columbia, 25 states will be raising their minimum wages in 2009, with Washington topping the list at $8.55.  Compare this to the new federal minimum wage, which kicks in July 24, of $7.25

Incredibly, the two highest minimum wage laws are in cities, and both take effect Jan. 1, 2009.  San Francisco is upping its minimum to $9.79 an hour, while Santa Fe is pegging its rate at $9.92 an hour.

I’ve heard some talk (probably wishful thinking) coming from Obama supporters of upping the federal minimum wage to become a living wage (in the neighborhood of $11 or so an hour).  We’ll just have to wait and see on that one.

There’s also the little matter of the Employee Free Choice Act (EFCA), which would legalize unionization of a company by “card check.”  As soon as more than 50 percent of employees sign these cards, zap–here comes the union to start negotiation.

EFAC, needless to say, has many employers more than a little concerned.

Again, more on that in a future post.

For now, thanks to Ann Barnes at the Compensation Force blog for compiling the list of  25 states’ raising their minimum wage.

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Big Labor Law Changes Coming in 2009

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Posted by LaborLawGuy | Posted on 05-12-2008

Category : Federal Labor Law

Tags: , , ,

I’ve been following the News Alerts and other features at Personnel Concepts and note that big changes are coming labor’s way next year even before the new president is sworn in on Jan. 20.

First, there are a lot of clarifications and updates to the Family Medical Leave Act (FMLA).  For one, it now covers not only private-section employees but also  service members’ families, allowing them up to 26 weeks of unpaid leave in certain situations.   (Everyone else gets up to 12 weeks, which can be taken intermittently.)

The so-called FMLA Final Rule also tightens up employer and employee communication standards.  Gone are the days when an employee could disappear for a length of time and return to announce s/he had been on FMLA leave.  Everything has to be done just as sick days and vacation requests–no more disappearing acts.  For further details, read this.

The new FMLA regulations take effect on Jan. 16, 2009, but on New Year’s Day we’ll all be greeted with the implementation of the Americans With Disabilities Act Amendments Act (ADAAA).

One labor lawyer whose advice I read announced, after reading the ADAAA, only half in jest that everyone now qualifies for a disability.  From my reading of parts of the ADAAA, I would say that, yes, it’s now much simpler to seek “accommodations” for just about anything physical or mental.  I just wonder how far some employees will go to test the limits of these workplace accommodations and looser definitions of disability.

For more details, read this.

Again, thanks to Personnel Concepts for keeping me updated on all these issues.  The alerts and other information are all free at their Web site, www.PersonnelConcepts.com.

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