Back now from its August Summer recess, the United States Congress has planned a busy Fall legislative agenda, considering a number of issues that will impact employment law and those who must deal with it. The Senate has passed a bill requiring parity of sorts in mental health benefits provided to employees. Another parity bill with differing provisions is pending in the House of Representatives. The House has held hearings on a bill precluding, on a national basis, job bias based on actual or perceived sexual orientation. This bill is not likely to pass this year, but may get new life depending on the outcome of the 2008 elections. Also pending are a bill prohibiting employment discrimination based on genetic status (passed by the House and pending in the Senate, where it likely will pass), a bill eliminating the use of arbitration in employment disputes and a bill seeking to overturn a Supreme Court case that imposed a rigid deadline on when gender wage discrimination lawsuits can be filed (this passed the House but President Bush says he will veto it). No further news regarding federal action on immigration reform, but watch for this to be a hot topic in various state legislatures. Past updates have discussed the new Department of Homeland Security regulations on what an employer should do when getting notice that an employee’s Social Security number does not match the government’s database. These have not yet gone into effect, due to a holding order issued by a federal judge presiding over a lawsuit challenging the legality of the regulations.

A New Jersey court has ruled that a union protester can be prohibited from hoisting a ten foot balloon in the shape of a rat during a labor protest. The court held that the town ordinance at issue was still enforceable even though it allowed large inflatable balloons at store grand openings, but not labor protests. The dissenting judge pointed out that the opinion was flawed, because a new Disney store could display a ten foot balloon rat to promote the movie “Ratatouille” but the same rat would be illegal at a labor protest. When told of the court’s opinion, the disappointed balloon-hoisting labor protester reportedly exclaimed, “Rats!”

In a break from my typical weekly HR Fact Friday 'topic related' posts, I thought it would be a nice diversion to test reader HR knowledge in the “exciting” world of FLSA, FMLA, age discrimination or military leave with this little HRN crafted HR trivia test. How many answers do you know to unrelated (unimportant?) HR questions?

For the second consecutive year HRN Management Group has been named by the Mountain West Capital Network as one of the top 100 fastest growing companies in Utah. HRN placed 81st in 2006 and we are looking to improve upon that ranking in 2007. Final results will be announced on October 22nd at an awards luncheon taking place at the Grand America Hotel in downtown Salt Lake City.

The Office of Federal Contract Compliance (OFCCP)  recently published its final rule implementing amendments to the Vietnam Era Veterans’ Readjustment Assistance Act (VEVRAA).  If you are an affirmative action employer you’ll want to take note.  The amendments made several changes and will apply to government contracts entered into on or after December 1, 2003.   The threshold government contract which is subject to VEVRAA has been raised from $25,000 to $100,000.  Additionally the amendments changed the categories of veterans protected and altered the required job listing requirements.  For more information go to the OFCCP website at:  http://www.dol.gov/esa/ofccp/index.htm.

According to a Salary.com survey employees say they waste as much as 20% of their workday.  Personal internet use (35%) was the biggest time waster among employees, followed by talking to coworkers (20%), or handling personal business (17%). Over 20% of employees said they wasted time because they didn’t have enough work to do, 14% indicated it was because of the long hours worked, 12% because they weren’t paid enough, and 11% because they weren’t challenged on the job.  Employees in their twenties wasted more time than any other age group.

Most organizations use some form of employee performance evaluation tool in their workplaces. They are critical communication devices, important pieces of documentation, and may be integral to compensation systems. However, many times appraisals or related processes are poorly designed or implemented. A few signs that an evaluation program isn’t working are discussed below. If you recognize any of these signs it may be time to consider a new solution. State-of-the-art, Internet-based automated programs, such as HRN’s Performance Pro, solve many of the problems that have haunted company employee performance management programs in the past.

The HR Daily Advisor recently included a very useful reminder about the most common manager "goofs" that lead to employment lawsuits.  Here is the list: (1) inappropriate questions asked during applicant interviews; (2) botched background checks; (3) EEO-1 form errors (note the new form this year); (4) incorrect overtime exempt/nonexempt classifications; (5) ignoring employee complaints of possible problems; (6) supervisor ignorance about employment laws; (7) being unduly "thrifty" in providing reasonable accommodations (HR Advisor says when in doubt, favor the worker); (8) unduly casual responses to government inquiries about possible compliance problems; (9) retaliation and actions that may be perceived as retaliatory; (10) discharges not justified by consistent and complete documentation; (11) missing or inadequate documentation generally.  Keep these points in mind as you prepare employment law training programs for your supervisors and otherwise try to minimize the risks of such lawsuits in your workplace.

Employee contributions through payroll deductions, especially for employees with dependents can add up to many hundreds of dollars per month and thousands of dollars per year. Add in additional out of pocket expenses for deductibles, copays, and exorbitantly priced, slickly marketed prescription drugs and what you have in effect is a growing percentage of employee compensation (and employer gross income) being allocated to health insurance expenses. A survey released Tuesday, August 28 of 1,223 employed U.S. adults by Harris Interactive and sponsored by human resources software firm Kronos, found exceptional health care coverage to be the most desired benefit currently not offered by employers. Among benefits employees currently do not have, 100 percent coverage of health care costs by the employer is considered a more desirable benefit to employees than competitive salary. The other dark side to the health care crisis in this country is that more and more employers simply cannot afford to provide coverage to their employees. The Census Bureau reported Tuesday, August 28, that the percentage of people covered by employer-based health insurance decreased to 59.7 percent in 2006, from 60.2 percent in 2005, a factor contributing to the rise in the number of uninsured throughout the population. The percentage and number of uninsured Americans rose in 2006 to 15.8 percent, or 47 million, up from 15.3 percent, or 44.8 million, in 2005. Similarly, the percentage of children under 18 without health insurance increased to 11.7 percent, from 8.7 percent in 2005. The percentage of Americans covered by government health insurance programs dropped to 27 percent, from 27.3 in 2005. The high cost of health insurance has for years been a top concern for American businesses.

The House of Representatives recently voted to overturn a recent United States Supreme decision limiting the time for bringing equal pay sex discrimination claims. The bill now goes to the Senate.  Both Houses of Congress are also considering bills to overturn some other Supreme Court decisions clarifying and limiting the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA).  A House Committee has unanimously approved a bill to prohibit employers from displaying Social Security numbers in any public manner.  Finally, the word on Capitol Hill in Washington is that Congress may consider raising the minimum wage again, this time to $9.50 per hour.  Current law will raise the minimum wage to $7.25 per hour in three 704 increments (effective July 24 of 2007, 2008 and 2009).  

Chances are you know someone who works for the Federal Government. The US Government is the single largest employer in the United States. Can you imagine being asked to conduct a human capital effectiveness survey of civilian Federal employees? How would you even begin to know how to reach everybody? Well this is exactly what the U.S. Office of Personnel Management does every year. The results for the 2006 Federal Human Capital Survey were recently published (http://www.fhcs2006.opm.gov/). I was particularly interested in the section focused on “Performance Culture, Items 22-35”. I have no knowledge of how the countless Federal Government agencies track, measure, report, and evaluate employee performance. I’d love to get them all set up with Performance Pro but so far everyone we call says they are not the right person to talk to and put us through to someone else’s voicemail. Here is a shameless plug . . . Call me. We can help.