A recent Department of Labor investigation uncovered that a Dallas-based printing company was liable to its employees for nearly $100,000 in overtime back wages due to the way in which the company was calculating its employees’ working hours. Instead of totaling all the hours each employee worked in their various capacities, the company was separately paying each employee according to the hours they logged on two different time clocks. As a result of these findings, the Department of Labor ordered the company to pay the amount in back wages as well as $26,000 in civil penalties.

Under the Fair Labor Standards Act, any employees not exempt from overtime pay are entitled to receive 1.5 times their regular wage for working more than 40 hours per week for the same employer. Even if an employee works in two or more capacities for the employer, the employee’s total hours worked in each capacity must be combined for the purposes of overtime wage laws.

The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission is requiring certain employers to file the Employer Information Report EEO-1 by September 30, 2012.

Private employers must file the EEO-1 Report if they have 100 or more employers; have fewer than 100 employees but are a subsidiary of a larger company; or are federal contractors with 50 or more employees or do more than $50,000 worth of business with the federal government annually. Companies required to file an EEO-1 Report should have already received notice by mail.

The EEOC’s preferred method for completing the EEO-1 Report is through its web-based filing system. Online filing requires you to log into your company’s database with a Login ID and Password.  If you cannot locate your Login ID or Password, contact the EEO-1 Joint Reporting Committee at e1.lostloginpassword@eeoc.gov. To learn more about the EEO-1 Report, visit: http://www.eeoc.gov/employers/eeo1survey/.

If you or your company have any questions about compliance with the EEOC’s regulations, feel free to contact one of DLM Legal’s attorneys at info@dlmlegal.com or 216.635.0002.

In a recent enforcement action, the National Labor Relations Board held that a company’s blanket policy requiring employee confidentiality during a human resources investigation violated Section 7 of the National Labor Relations Act. This section of the Act gives employees the right to “engage in concerted activity.”

The Board’s decision prohibited employers from placing intra-workplace gag orders concerning the matter under investigation on employees. Employers, however, will have to balance this NLRB ruling with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission’s guidelines which require employers to maintain confidentiality to the extent possible during HR investigations of employee conduct.

In light of this NLRB enforcement, employers and HR departments should review their confidentiality policies for workplace investigations. If you would like guidance in ensuring that your company’s policies comply with both EEOC and NLRB regulations, DLM Legal’s attorneys can help. Contact one of them by calling 216.635.0002 or emailing info@dlmlegal.com.

The National Labor Relations Board has filed a complaint against a fitness center in San Francisco. In the complaint, the Board takes issue with the center’s employee arbitration agreement. When hired by the center, employees receive a handbook indicating that they have 30 days to affirmatively opt-out of an implicit agreement to arbitrate any legal claim against the center. The NLRB alleges that this practice violates federal labor law because it denies workers the right to bring certain legal actions against the employer.

Specifically, the Board believes the center’s arbitration policy is coercive in that it hinders employees’ ability to sue the center as a class. This is a violation of the National Labor Relations Act, which gives employees the right to join a class action lawsuit. Several legal experts see this NLRB action as the beginning of a nationwide crackdown on coercive employer-employee arbitration agreements.

If you have a question as to whether your business’s arbitration practices are in compliance with federal law, DLM Legal’s attorneys can provide an answer. To get in touch with one of them, call 216-635-0002 or write at info@dlmlegal.com.

The Ohio Bureau of Workers’ Compensation is giving employers a chance to save on their workers’ compensation premiums through a new program known as “Destination: Excellence.” Ohio employers opting to participate will work with the Bureau to customize a risk-management plan that best suits their business needs.

Destination: Excellence is designed to address workplace safety through the incentive of lower workers’ compensation premiums for employers. Specifically, the Bureau hopes the program will reduce the number of accidents in Ohio workplaces and bring injured workers back to work sooner.

For information on how to enroll in Destination: Excellence, contact the Bureau at excellence.destination@bwc.state.oh.us. The deadline to apply for the program is April 30, 2012.

To learn more about the legal implications of workers compensation issues in your business, contact DLM Legal at info@dlmlegal.com or 216.635.0002.

The Occupational Safety & Health Administration (OSHA) has stated its intent to begin crafting a rule that will require covered employers to implement an injury and illness prevention program. OSHA hopes this new rule will help employers find and fix hazards in their workplaces.

OSHA has stressed that this program is not meant to be a “one-size-fits-all” requirement. Instead, to comply with the rule, employers will have to tailor their own program to the size and nature of their workplace. The motivation for passing this rule came from a Bureau of Labor Statistics study that found preventable injuries and illnesses cost American businesses about $1 billion per week. Violations of this new rule will only stem from employers’ failure to implement an injury and illness prevention program – all other OSHA rules be enforced normally.

For more information on this OSHA proposal and to learn about how you can participate in the rule making process, visit: http://www.osha.gov/dsg/topics/safetyhealth/index.html#stakeholder

If you have questions about your company’s compliance with OSHA regulations, feel free to contact DLM Legal for guidance at 216.635.0002 or info@dlmlegal.com.

At the end of January, the General Counsel for the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) issued a memorandum discussing the Board’s most recent rulings on cases in which employees were fired for posting on various social media websites (e.g. Facebook) about their jobs.

Specifically, the memo discusses the rules and regulations employers can have in place regarding the use of social media by their employees. The NLRB states that language prohibiting an employee from “making disparaging comments about the [employer]” through social media is overly broad and thus unlawful because such a regulation interferes with employees’ right to discuss openly the terms and conditions of their employment. The Board noted that employees are lawfully permitted to make statements about their employer not treating them fairly or paying them sufficiently.

NLRB cautions that, because there are no laws yet in place on this issue, employers should contact legal counsel when contemplating discipline arising from employee use of social media or when crafting employee social media rules.

To see the NLRB report yourself, visit: http://mynlrb.nlrb.gov/link/document.aspx/09031d45807d6567