Workforce Bulletin

by Jennifer A. Goldman and Peter M. Panken

Since the Wage Theft Prevention Act (“WTPA”) became effective April 9, 2011, New York employers have faced harsher penalties for failing to pay employees minimum wages and overtime.  As reported in two previous Act Now Advisory’s, (December 15, 2010, and April 4, 2011) the WTPA, which amended New York’s Labor Law, significantly increased employers’ penalties for unpaid wage and hour violations, among other things.

Prior to the effective date of the WTPA, liquidated damages were capped at 25 percent of the unpaid wages due. Under ...

Our colleagues Douglas Weiner and Meg Thering at Epstein Becker Green recently posted the following on the Wage & Hour Defense Blog:

On October 20, 2011, the Computer Professionals Update Act (“the CPU Act”) – one of the first potential pieces of good news for employers this year – was introduced in the U.S. Senate. If passed, the CPU act would expand the computer employee exemption of the Fair Labor Standards Act (“FLSA”). S. 1747.

Unlike much of the other legislation affecting employers that has been proposed or passed this year, the CPU Act would make business easier for ...

By:  Casey Cosentino

There is an on-going trend by the U.S. Department of Labor (“DOL”) to leverage popular technology to increase public and consumer awareness of the laws and regulations it enforces. Indeed, the DOL is continually exploring creative ways to share information with the public using the fastest and most-wide reaching means available. Through technology, the DOL is intentionally providing employees and consumers with enforcement data about companies, particularly hotels and restaurants, so that they can make informed employment and patronage ...

By Eric J. Conn, Head of the OSHA Group at Epstein Becker & Green

OSHA is signaling a major departure from its position on acceptable exceptions to the Lockout/Tagout requirements in the agency’s electrical safety standards.  Historically, employers have been permitted to conduct electrical maintenance near energized parts in data centers that host critical business operations (i.e., operations which must stay live 24/7), under an “infeasibility” exception to the general rule that electrical equipment must be deenergized and locked out before maintenance is permitted.  ...

By Amanda Strainis-Walker

OSHA’s recent string of hotel inspections in response to formal safety and health complaints filed by UNITE-HERE and others on behalf of hotel housekeepers is under serious scrutiny from the House of Representatives Subcommittee that oversees OSHA’s operations.  OSHA leadership is defending its decision to inspect hotels, and is signaling that OSHA will not shy away from inspecting employers in the midst of organizing campaigns and/or contentious bargaining over labor agreements.

Over the last year, OSHA received a number of formal, written ...

By:  Amanda Strainis-Walker

OSHA’s recent string of hotel inspections in response to formal safety and health complaints filed by UNITE-HERE and others on behalf of hotel housekeepers is under serious scrutiny from the House of Representatives Subcommittee that oversees OSHA’s operations.  OSHA leadership is defending its decision to inspect hotels, and is signaling that OSHA will not shy away from inspecting employers in the midst of organizing campaigns and/or contentious bargaining over labor agreements.

Over the last year, OSHA received a number of formal, written ...

By Casey M. Cosentino and Eric J. Conn

On June 2, 2011, OSHA launched an enforcement National Emphasis Program  focused on employers and hazards in the Primary Metals Industries (“Primary Metals NEP”).  Establishments in the primary metals industries are those involved in extracting and refining metals from rocks containing iron, lead, nickel, tin and other primary metals, and smelting ferrous and nonferrous metals, including ore, pig and scrap, during rolling, drawing, casting and alloying metal operations.  Some products manufactured in this sector include nails ...

by Michael S. Kun, Eric A. Cook, and Jennifer A. Goldman

California Governor Jerry Brown has signed two employment-related bills into law, raising the stakes for employers doing business in California. The two laws, which increase the penalties for employers that wrongly classify employees as independent contractors or engage in "wage theft," both go into effect on January 1, 2012.

Misclassification of Workers as Independent Contractors

The first of the new laws, SB 459, directly impacts employers that classify workers as independent contractors. Referred to by critics as the ...

by Christina J. Fletcher

The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (“EEOC”) has increased its efforts to encourage large corporations to enter into Nationwide Universal Agreements to Mediate (UAM).  To date, more than 200 private-sector employers, including several Fortune 500 companies, have entered into UAM agreements with the EEOC at the national level.  Additionally, EEOC district offices have entered into 1,743 mediation agreements with employers at the local level.

The EEOC’s focus on UAMs, which apply to individual-charges of discrimination, but not to class ...

By:   Elizabeth Bradley

Most employers are well versed in the FMLA requirements; however, I recently received a call from one of our hospitality clients seeking guidance on administering intermittent FMLA  leave.  Specifically, the hotel was seeking advice on how to manage a Housekeeping Department employee who was approved for intermittent FMLA leave and had recently increased the frequency of his days off with little or no notice of the need for leave. 

Notably the FMLA and supporting regulations do not provide much guidance for employers. It is clear from the regulations ...