The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), the agency responsible for enforcing the federal laws that make it illegal to discriminate against a job applicant or an employee, has recently issued two guidance documents for employers, one on employer requirements that applicants have a high school diploma and the other on the employment of veterans with disabilities. The guidance addresses the effect that the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) has on each hiring issue.
With several agencies sharing the task of issuing regulations and guidance regarding the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA), many questions are finally being answered about how the requirements of the 2010 law will actually be administered.
The U. S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division (WHD) recently released an updated version of its elaws Advisor regarding the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA), a federal law that entitles eligible employees of covered employers to take unpaid, job-protected leave for specified reasons.   The FMLA elaws Advisor was revised to reflect recent statutory changes to the FMLA and corresponding regulatory changes that became effective in January 2009.
On Feb. 21, 2012, the U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division and Employment and Training Administration issued a final rule implementing stricter guidelines regarding the H-2B temporary nonagricultural worker program, a program that allows foreign workers to enter the U.S. on a temporary basis when qualified U.S. workers are not available and when employment of those workers will not adversely affect the wages and working conditions of U.S. workers. The rule will affect H-2B applications filed on or after April 23, 2012.
On March 2, 2012, a federal court in Washington, D.C., upheld most of the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) notice posting rule. The posting rule is described here, here, and here.
Íæż½ã½ã is seeking presentations for two of Íæż½ã½ã’s most sought-after annual conferences, the HR Professionals Conference and the Training, Education and Development (TED) Conference. For 2012, the conferences will be co-located in San Antonio, TX, Oct. 15-17, with separate tracks for each conference. A federal construction HR workshop will be held Oct. 17-18 in conjunction with the HR Professionals Conference.
On Feb. 9, 2012, the IRS released guidance and forms that employers may use to claim the newly-expanded tax credit for hiring veterans as outlined in the Veterans Opportunity to Work (VOW) to Hire Heroes Act of 2011.
Íæż½ã½ã of America’s 93rd Annual Convention will offer several sessions on labor and human resource matters open to all Convention registrants. The Convention will take place March 13-17, 2012, in Honolulu, Hawaii.
On Feb. 21, 2012, Íæż½ã½ã submitted comments on the Dec. 9, 2011, Office of Federal Contract Compliance Program’s (OFCCP) notice of proposed rulemaking, which would implement significant revisions of the regulations governing affirmative action requirements for direct federal contractors and their subcontractors with respect to individuals with disabilities as required by Section 503 of the Rehabilitation Act. Íæż½ã½ã fully supports OFCCP’s stated overall goal of increasing employment opportunities for individuals with disabilities; however, Íæż½ã½ã believes the requirements of complying with this rule, if implemented, would be extremely burdensome on construction contractors due to the unique nature of the construction industry. As a result, Íæż½ã½ã’s comments ask OFCCP to exempt the construction industry from the requirements of the proposed rule, with 125 Íæż½ã½ã member-companies requesting the same via comments submitted through Íæż½ã½ã’s online Action Center.
The percentage of construction workers represented by a union rose very slightly in 2011, to 14.9 percent from 13.7 percent in 2010, according to the latest data released by the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS). The median weekly earnings of workers in the industry also increased over the year, according to BLS – from $735 to $746.