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Last week President Obama signed the National Defense Authorization Act of 2010 into law.  This new law is another expansion of the Family Medical Leave Act (FMLA).

The 2008 version of the NDAA first extended the protections of the FMLA to family members of those serving in the military by providing up to 12 weeks of family leave for “exigent” circumstances to employees who have a family member on active military duty in support of contingency operations. The 2008 NDAA also granted up to 26 weeks of “caregiver” leave to employees who have a family member who has been seriously injured while on active military duty.

The NDAA of 2010 has for major changes:

1. Originally only family member of service members in active duty with the Reserves and National Guard were allowed to take unpaid leave.  Now anyone who is or has an immediate family member on active full-time dute  in the Armed Forces are now qualified to take unpaid military leave under both circumstances.
2. The new amendments eliminate the requirement that a servicemember be called to active duty in support of a “contingency operation” for a family member to be entitled to leave for exigent circumstances. Instead, the servicemember’s active duty need only involve a deployment to a foreign country.
3. The definition of “Covered Servicemember” has changed.  The new definition includes not only current servicemembers who are being treated for a serious illness or injury incurred while on active duty, but also anyone “who was a member of the Armed Forces…any time during the period of 5 years preceding the date on which the veteran undergoes” treatment.  This expansion of FMLA leave for the care of a seriously ill or injured veteran was intended to address the increasing cases of mental illness, which often manifest many years after a servicemember’s duty is completed.
4. Lastly, the 2010 NDAA amends the FMLA’s definition of a “serious injury or illness.” The term now refers not only to a new injury or illness incurred by a servicemember while on active duty, but also to an injury or illness that “existed before the beginning of the member’s active duty and was aggravated by service in line of duty on active duty in the Armed Forces.”

In order to make sure that you are up to date.  I encourage that you review your FMLA leave policy in light of the new changes.  At the very least, you need to review the changes so you know how to administer military leave.

Source: Davis & Kleuthau Attorneys at Law

Starting November 21, 2009 employers are required to have the new revised ”EEO is the Law” poster posted for those employer who are qualified.  The revised poster includes: Genetic Information Non-Discrimination Act of 2008(GINA).  GINA makes it illegal for employers to discriminate against applicants or employees based on their genetic information.  This new poster also has Department of Labor updates.  In order to be qualified employers need to be:

• Private, State or Local government businesses/agencies with 15 employees or more
• Employment Agencies, Labor Unions, Joint-Labor Management Training Programs
• Congress and other Federal Executive Branches

To insure that you are up to date I am offering two posters for FREE!!  Just click on the link and the form will download.  You only need one of these.  I recommend that you download option number 2.  If you have multiple locations you must have at least one poster posted in each location.

1. The first one is a supplement poster that you can post next to your “EEO is the Law September 2002” poster.
2. The second one is the “EEO is the Law November 2009” poster.

If you have any questions about these posters or the laws please contact me.

Want to know what the top ten highest paying blue collar jobs are?  Here they are:

1. Elevator Installer – $87,518
2. Electrical and Electronics Repairer (substation, powerhouse, relay,etc.) – $68,084
3. Power Plan Operator, Distributor and Dispatcher – $65,846
4. Gas Plan Operator – $63,872
5. Locomotive Engineer – $63,125
6. Electrical Powerline Installer and Repairer – $60,354
7. Structural Iron and Steel Worker – $59,224
8. Construction and Building Inspector – $59,144
9. Boat and Ship Captain and Operator – $57,910
10. Radio and Telecommunications Equipment Installer – $57,149

Check out the full article at: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/33347186/ns/business

Here is a legal update for the NDAA.  Remember to the only way that your employees are qualified for this type of leave is if they are qualified for FMLA for military ”qualifying exigencies”. 

• All employers covered by the FMLA
• 50 or more employees within a 75 mile radius
• All employees eligible for FMLA
• 12-months of employment
• 1,250 hours worked in the 12-month proceeding the requested leave

What are the “qualifying exigencies”:

• Short-notice military deployment
• Military events related activities
• Childcare and school activities
• Financial and legal arrangements
• Counseling
• Rest and recuperation
• Post-deployment activities
• Additional activities agreed to by the employee and employer

Who are qualifying family members for “exigency” leave?

• Spouse = as defined under FMLA
• Parent = as defined under FMLA
• Son/Daughter = as defined under FMLA, but, that person will not have to be a minor (under the age of 18)

Certification for Exigency Leave:

• An employer may require an employee to produce the service member’s active duty orders the first time requests leave, but not for every subsequent request for leave associated with the particular activation.
• The approximate date on which the qualifying exigency commenced or will commence.
• If leave is requested for a single continuous period of time, the beginning  and end dates for such absence.
• If leave is requested on an intermittent basis, an estimate of the frequency and duration of the exigency.
• If the exigency involves a meeting with a third party, a brief description of the purpose for the meting and the contact information of the third party.
• If the exigency for which leave is requested involves a meeting or appointment with a third party, the employer may contact the third party without the employee’s permission to verify the schedule for the meeting or appointment and the nature of the same.
• The employer may also contact the appropriate unit of the Department of Defense to verify the active duty status of the employee’s military family member.

Military Injury Care-Giving Leave:

• An eligible employee whose spouse, parent, son, daughter, or “next of kin” is injured or recovering from an injury incurred while on active military duty is entitled to up to 26 work weeks of leave in a single 12-month period to care for that family member.

If you have any questions regarding NDAA or FMLA feel free to give me a call.  Go to: Contact Me to find my information and hours.

 As your organization takes steps to prevent the spread of the H1N1 (swine flu) virus this fall, it is also important to consider the potential for discrimination claims if any of your employees contract the illness.

The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission recently issued the following guidance pertaining to the swine flu and discrimination:

* Title VII of the Civil Rights Act prohibits employment discrimination on the basis of national origin (for example, discrimination against those of Mexican origin because the H1N1 break out started there).

* Title VII also prohibits national-origin discrimination against employees who work in the United States for covered employers, regardless of the employees’ citizenship or work authorization. While federal law prohibits employers from employing individuals lacking work authorization, employers who nonetheless employ undocumented workers are prohibited from discriminating against those workers.

* Title I of the Americans with Disabilities Act regulates medical examinations and disability-related inquiries of employees and applicants and only permits them if certain conditions are met. For more information, go to the EEOC website http://www.eeoc.gov/facts/pandemic_flu.html .

My Response to this:

Remember to have a well established workplace illness policy and to communicate it consistantly (once everyother week) during the flu season so that your employees know what your expectations are.  Perhaps having articles of interest on how to maintain a clean office space, how to wash your hands, hand sanitizer scattered throughout the office, tissues throughout the office, etc.  Remember under OSHA and every state requires that employers maintain and clean/ healthy work environment.

Source: hr.blr.com