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HR Matters
HR Matters - Volume XII, Issue 133
May 28, 2008
Labor & Employment NewsProposed Law: Ohio Healthy Families Act. This new proposed legislation which will likely be on the Ohio ballot initiative this November, would require an employer to provide 7 paid sick days per year to full time employees who work for an employer with 25 employees or more. If 7 mandated paid sick days doesn’t grab your attention, perhaps the other pro-employee provisions contained in the legislation will (e.g., liability to affected employees include wages, salary, benefits, or other compensation denied or lost, plus interest, multiplied by three). Please call us if you’d like more information about how this may affect your business.
Court Recognizes "Associational" Retaliation Claim. Plaintiff was fired just three weeks after plaintiff’s fiancée filed a sex discrimination claim against their common employer. The Sixth Circuit (the federal appeals court covering Ohioand Kentucky) decided that employers are prohibited from taking retaliatory acts against not only the person who engages in protected activity, but also anyone who is closely related to or associated with that person. Employers: Think twice before acting, or you could find yourself guilty of retaliation by association. Thompson v. North American Stainless, LP.
Wage Claims and Unionized Workers. A federal court in Pennsylvania recently determined that an employee's Fair Labor Standards Act ("FLSA") claim was not governed by his union’s collective bargaining agreement ("CBA"). Since the FLSA claim stands distinct from the CBA, the court allowed an employee to sue for FLSA violations without having to follow the CBA’s grievance procedures. Andrako v. United States Steel Corp.
Workplace Health & Safety News
State Fund Settlement: Now You Have It; Now You Don’t. Recently, the Ohio Supreme Court invalidated a settlement agreement between an injured worker and the worker’s "state fund" employer because the parties failed to state why the settlement was deemed desirable. The lesson for employers? Be sure to dot all your "i"s and cross all your "t"s when finalizing a settlement, especially in state fund workers’ compensation settlements. State ex rel. Wise v. Ryan.
Immigration News
Potential Extension for TN Visas. The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) is considering extending the allowable period of admission for a nonimmigrant Treaty Nation (TN) visa from 1 year to 3 years. If the rule is approved, employers who use TN visas will be relieved of the burden of having to renew the visa every year, reducing time and expense. Stay tuned for more information on this potentially positive development on the employment visa front!
Employee Benefits & Executive Compensation News
Restatements Required for Prototypes and Volume Submitter Plans. The IRS recently announced it would begin issuing Opinion and Advisory letters for EGTRRA defined contribution prototype and volume submitter plans. Sponsors of these plans will have until April 30, 2010 to restate their individual plans. If your defined contribution plan is on a Graydon Head sponsored document, don’t worry you won’t have to wait until 2010! One of our Employee Benefits attorneys will be contacting you later this year regarding your plan’s restatement.
Automatic Enrollment Poses Difficulties for Payroll and Plan Administrators. This year was the first year that some of the new, but complicated, rules for automatic enrollment could be implemented. Not surprisingly, some of these new features are proving difficult to administer, but advanced preparation can avoid undesired surprises. For example, if you want to use the new automatic enrollment safe harbor and avoid annual discrimination tests, you can begin deferring participants at 6% to avoid the otherwise required annual increase in automatic deferral rates. If you are thinking of adding auto-enrollment to your plan, please contact a Graydon Head benefits attorney to help determine the best design arrangement for your plan.
This Newsletter is a periodic publication of Graydon Head & Ritchey LLP and should not be construed as legal advice or legal opinion on any specific facts or circumstances. The contents are intended for general information purposes only, and you are urged to consult your own advisor concerning your situation and any specific legal question you may have.