WHAT DO THESE CASES MEAN TO YOU?

Jordan v. City of Cleveland, 464 F.3d 584 (6th Cir. 2006)
Oncale v. Sundowner Offshore Svcs., Inc., 523 U.S. 75 (1998)
Boumehdi v. Plastag Holdings, LLC, 489 F.3d 781 (7th Cir. 2007)
EEOC v. Sunbelt Rentals Inc., 521 F.3d 306 (4th Cir. 2008)
Diaz v. Swift-Eckrich, Inc., 318 F.3d 796 (8th Cir. 2003)
EEOC v. Applebee’s Neighborhood Grill & Bar of Ga., Inc., No. 02-CV-829 (N.D. Ga. July 10, 2003)
Quiles-Quiles v. Henderson, 439 F.3d 1 (1st Cir. 2006)

HERE ARE 2 HINTS: 1. The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) takes the position that conduct constituting harassment of any of the protected classes covered by Title VII is unlawful as a discriminatory term or condition of employment.
2. The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) takes the position that conduct constituting harassment of any of the protected classes covered by Title VII is unlawful as a discriminatory term or condition of employment.

Just click CWE to get "the rest of the story."

DID YOU KNOW . . .?

All these actions have happened since the beginning of 2009
     Amendments to the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA)
     New Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA)
     You now need to add a particular federal poster to your handbook
     Requirements for Military-related Leave
     New procedures for obtaining medical documentation
     The new Fair Pay Act
     Changes to COBRA
     Increased enforcement of FLSA and FMLA
     Stimulus Bill Imposes More Stringent HIPAA Requirements
     Court Strikes Blow Against Employers’ Right to Set Workplace Rules on Guns
     President Obama Signs 3 Orders Impacting Federal Contractors
     Non-displacement of Qualified Workers
     Notification of Employee Rights under Federal Labor Laws
     Government Contracting Costs

DID YOU KNOW . . .?

These are already in the works
     New ADA regulations
     The Employee Free Choice Act
     The Paycheck Fairness Act
     The Healthy Families Act
     The Employment Non-Discrimination Act
     Amendments to the FMLA
     A bigger increase to the minimum wage

Give us a call, 440-533-5187, or Email us, cwe@c-w-e.org, to get the details

APPROACHING DEADLINES

7/24/09
Minimum Wage: the federal minimum wage increases to $7.25 per hour.

8/17/09
HIPAA: By this date, under amendments to the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA), the Secretary of Health and Human Services must issue interim final regulations governing a health plan's duty to notify individuals whose protected health information has been breached. The duty to notify requirement would apply to breaches discovered on or after 30 days of these regulations being issued.

9/30/09
VETS-100A Report: By this date, federal contractors must file the VETS-100A Report for government contracts of $100,000 or more that were entered into or modified on or after Dec. 1, 2003, as well as the VETS-100 Report for any unmodified government contracts of $25,000 or more that were entered into prior to Dec. 1, 2003.

10/9/09
Health insurance: Michelle's Law goes into effect on this date.

11/21/09
GINA: the employment provisions of GINA (Title II) take effect.

OHIO GOING AFTER EMPLOYEE MISCLASSIFICATION

Ohio is going after employers who misclassify employees as independent contractors, pay them off the books and thereby deny them the protections that would otherwise come with employee status, such as eligibility for workers’ comp and unemployment benefits.

Ohio Attorney General Richard Cordray recently announced that his office would collaborate, along with three state agencies, to smoke out the “underground economy.”

The three agencies are the Department of Jobs and Family Services, the Department of Taxation, and the Bureau of Workers’ Compensation (BWC).

A Feb. 18 report from Cordray’s office states that at least some of the documents involved would include payroll information reported to the Department of Taxation and audits by the Unemployment Compensation Division of the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services.

Cordray concluded, “It is time to level the playing field for those businesses that play by the rules.”

BWC LOOKING AT BIG CHANGES The Ohio Bureau of Workers’ Compensation (BWC) has released a two-year study of its inner workings, and if its recommendations come to fruition, the changes will result in a more financially stable and equitable system for employers.

Among the recommendations is a proposal that BWC develop a system for balancing its financial reserves with employer premium levels.

The net assets in the various funds managed by BWC provide for a stable pricing environment, so that if adverse contingencies do arise, premiums don’t necessarily need to be immediately adjusted as much as might otherwise be required to maintain benefits payments.

The report also recommends that BWC address inequities between employers in purchasing groups and those that participate as individual companies.

What happens next? Now that the study is complete, next steps include an intense review and analysis of its recommendations by an internal review team. They will review the volumes of study findings, analyze the recommendations, and present a schedule prioritizing recommended changes, including legislative changes.

MANAGEMENT BY MYTHOLOGY or A CASE OF MYTH-MANAGEMENT

In the good old days when the gods were freeing fierce dragons and slaying fair maidens, they also played their little games.

The gods would compete against each other because they didn't have anything else to do.
The gods would create a game board with a start and a finish.
The gods would use mere mortals as their game pieces.
And the gods would develop strategies and wager on the outcome.

To make the game interesting, the gods would change rules; throw impossible obstacles in the way; ravage, pillage and reek havoc; harass, abuse and sadistically harangue; and they would always be ready to flick a game piece off the board.

If the gods stopped having fun, they would turn the game board upside down and start over.

The mere mortal game pieces would be hurtled into oblivion never knowing why they deserved the oblivion they were being hurtled into. And the mere mortal game pieces would curse the gods.

Thank heavens, times have changed.
Well, maybe not the times, but certainly the characters.
Well, maybe not all the characters.
The "gods" have changed into the "managers".
And the "mere mortal game pieces" have changed into the "mere . . mortal . . . game . . . . pieces" who are still being flicked and hurtled and are still cursing all the way to oblivion.

Take care, Managers, lest you are freeing fierce dragons, slaying fair maidens and playing your little games.

WHEN THERE'S NO PAY FOR PERFORMANCE

Organizations that operate under a pay-for-performance system might receive push-back from managers about doing performance appraisals when a decision is made to delay pay increases.

The lack of a pay increase is no reason to abandon performance evaluations.

The performance evaluation is an ethical obligation of leadership.

Every person who works for an organization wants the answer to two questions:
“What is it you expect of me?"
"How am I doing at meeting your expectations?"

The fact that there are no merit increases has no bearing on that obligation.

THE FLAVOR OF THE EMPLOYEE HANDBOOK, PART 1

The Employee Handbook is a venture. It is not a program or a process. The Employee Handbook is a practice.

It is the PHILOSOPHY, the aims, conduct, values, traditions, and vision for guiding the organization.
It is the CULTURE, the character of the organization; its qualities, integrity and reputation.
It is the STRUCTURE that gives life, direction, and flexibility to the organization.

"We are proud of our reputation in the marketplace and, therefore, were selective in hiring you who will be contributing to our growth. We expect this same pride and selectivity from you. This is the beginning of a mutual commitment. You are offering us your skills and personal motivation; we are offering you a share in our future."

"Each of us, in respecting our own dignity, must respect the rights and privileges of the organization and our fellow employees and the necessity of the entire business operation to achieve its fair and responsible objectives."

Is this the flavor of your handbook?

We'll help you with the recipe. Just click CWE.

THE FLAVOR OF THE EMPLOYEE HANDBOOK, PART 2

WORKPLACE HARASSMENT POLICY
"Management has the continuing role of monitoring the practice of non-harassment in all phases of employment, promoting sensitivity for all employees, and guaranteeing victims of harassment immediate protection and relief."

ATTENDANCE
"Mature, responsible adults report for work at the appropriate time and will make responsible decisions regarding time away."

Is this the flavor of your handbook?

We'll help you with the recipe. Just click CWE.

WHICH HR LAWS APPLY TO YOU?

     Many federal employment laws address a specific issue or problem and apply regardless of the number of employees you have. However, a number of them specify a size threshold and/or have limitations on coverage. Below is a list summarizing the most common of these laws along with the employee size designation.
     A quick review of these laws and their coverage can help you understand your obligations.
     No Employee Size Specified
           Employee Polygraph Protection Act (EPPA)
           Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA)
           Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA)
           Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA)
           Equal Pay Act (EPA)
           Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA)
           Immigration Reform and Control Act (IRCA)
           National Labor Relations Act (NLRA)
           Occupational Safety and Health Act (OSH Act)
           Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act (USERRA)
           Executive Order 11246
           Rehabilitation Act
           Vietnam Era Veterans’ Readjustment Assistance Act (VEVRAA)
     Employers with 15 or More Employees
           Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA)
           Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (Title VII)
     Employers with 20 or More Employees
           Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA)
           Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act (COBRA)
     Employers with 50 or More Employees
           Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA)
     Employers with 100 or More Employees
           Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act (WARN Act)

DICTIONARY OF CUSTOMER SATISFACTION

Customer: Person who buys goods or services, especially on a regular basis
Satisfy: Fulfilling a need
Contract: Agreement between two parties enforceable by law
Quality: Customer satisfaction; degree of excellence expected by the Customer
Standard: What can be accomplished by honest effort; degree of excellence established by contract
Inspection: Degree of excellence monitored as promised

How many times a day
do we speak the language of Customer Satisfaction ?