Indianapolis faces a lawsuit over claims of discrimination in the
fire and police departments. The Greater
Indianapolis NAACP has accused the city of rigging the system to promote
favored candidates, many of whom are white. It also claims minorities are not
getting a fair shot at jobs and have begun leaving the departments. Twenty two
police officers and 10 firefighters are plaintiffs.
The
lawsuitalso contends that both
departments have failed to prepare black officers and firefighters for
promotions and are failing to recruit minorities. A city attorney denied that
the promotion practices were discriminatory. The suit cited no specific
examples of unfair treatment.
Currently,
officers and firefighters are ranked for promotion based on factors such as experience
and test results.
In
previous administrations, some white male officers on the list would be skipped
over in order to promote qualified women and minorities who were ranked lower
to achieve benchmarks resulting from a 1978 U.S. Department of Justice consent
decree intended to boost the numbers of minorities and women in the
departments.
Six
months ago, the city and the Justice Department terminated the decree. The
NAACP chapter has filed objections to the end of the consent decree since it
ended in August.
Both
fire and police departments have hired recruiters in an effort to hire more
minority applicants.
FMLA updates in effect
The
Department of Labor's Wage and Hour Division published a Final Rule under the
Family and Medical Leave Act. The final rule became effective on January 16,
2009, and updates the FMLA regulations to implement new military family
leave entitlements enacted under the National Defense Authorization Act for FY
2008. It also includes revisions in response to public comments received on the
proposed rule issued in February 2008. The Federal Register Notice and related
documents are available at Wage and Hour's FMLA Final Rule websitehttp://www.dol.gov/esa/whd/fmla/finalrule.htm
The
President signed into law H.R. 4986, the National Defense Authorization Act for
FY 2008 (NDAA), Pub. L. 110-181. Among other things, section 585 of the NDAA amends the Family and Medical Leave
Act of 1993 (FMLA) to permit a "spouse,
son, daughter, parent, or next of kin" to take up to 26 work weeks of
leave to care for a "member of the Armed Forces, including a member of the
National Guard or Reserves, who is undergoing medical treatment, recuperation,
or therapy, is otherwise in outpatient status, or is otherwise on the temporary
disability retired list, for a serious injury or illness." The NDAA
also permits an employee to take FMLA leave for “any qualifying exigency (as
the Secretary [of Labor] shall, by regulation, determine) arising out of the
fact that the spouse, or a son, daughter, or parent of the employee is on
active duty (or has been notified of an impending call or order to active duty)
in the Armed Forces in support of a contingency operation.” By its express
terms, this provision of the NDAA is not effective until the Secretary of Labor
issues final regulations defining “any qualifying exigency.” Additional information
and a copy of Title I of the FMLA, as amended, are available on the FMLA NDAA
Web site.
Eligible employees with a spouse, son, daughter, or parent
on active duty or call to active duty status in the National Guard or Reserves
in support of a contingency operation may use their 12-week leave entitlement
to address certain qualifying exigencies. Qualifying exigencies may include
attending certain military events, arranging for alternative childcare,
addressing certain financial and legal arrangements, attending certain
counseling sessions, and attending post-deployment reintegration briefings.
FMLA
also includes a special leave entitlement that permits eligible employees to
take up to 26 weeks of leave to care for a covered servicemember during a single
12-month period. A covered servicemember is a current member of the Armed
Forces, including a member of the National Guard or Reserves, who has a serious
injury or illness incurred in the line of duty on active duty that may render
the servicemember medically unfit to perform his or her duties for which the
servicemember is undergoing medical treatment, recuperation, or therapy; or is
in outpatient status; or is on the temporary disability retired list.
Source: DOL Web site
Senate Confirms Solis as Secretary of
Labor
The
U.S. Senate voted on February 24 80 to
17 in favor of confirming Hilda Solis to lead the Department of Labor.
When
President Barack Obama chose Solis, she was serving her fourth term in the U.S.
House of Representatives, representing the 32nd Congressional District of
California. Prior to her election to Congress, Solis served in the California state
legislature.
Solis
is a labor-friendly pick, which led to a long delay on the confirmation vote
because of Republican resistance. Solis voted in favor of raising the minimum
wage and supported the Employee Free Choice Act, which will make it easier for
unions to organize.
AFL-CIO
President John Sweeney said that she will restore the Department of Labor
mission of helping workers. Solis has voted in favor of labor 97 percent of the
time during her tenure in public office.
Source: BLR.com
Unions see more workers joining the chain of solidarity
As
the economy worsens, workers are turning increasingly to unions for hope of
added security. Union membership saw its largest gain in more than 25 years in
2008, jumping to 1.6 million and accounting for 12.4 percent of employed
Americans, compared with 12.1 percent in 2007, according to the Bureau of Labor
Statistics.
Some
union membership facts:
The
median weekly salary for full-time union workers was 28 percent higher than
that of nonunion employees in 2008.
Black
men had the highest union membership rate, 15.9 percent. Asian men had the
lowest, 9.6 percent.
Union
membership rates were highest among workers ages 55 to 64. The lowest
membership rates occurred among those ages 16 to 24.
Happy
employees don’t unionize. Have you measured your employee satisfaction lately?
Source: Indianapolis Star
Economic Stimulus Package has new HR
Requirements
The
new economic stimulus package includes a COBRA subsidy for laid-off workers and
other HR-related provisions.
COBRA
gives employees the right to continue health coverage after a layoff. The COBRA
subsidy will be 65 percent of the COBRA premium for a period of 9 months—employers
(or health plans if they administer COBRA benefits) will receive a credit
against payroll taxes to offset the subsidy. The premium subsidy will cover
workers who were affected by involuntary terminations occurring between
September 1, 2008, and January 1, 2010. There is an income threshold as an
additional condition on an individual's entitlement to the premium subsidy.
The legislation requires that information
on the COBRA subsidy be included in COBRA notices. Under the legislation, the Department of Labor will
create a model notice within 30 days of enactment.
The
legislation does include other HR-related provisions, such as an increase in
weekly unemployment benefits by $25. It also provides an extension of the
temporary emergency unemployment compensation program (which provides up to 33
weeks of extended benefits) through December 2009. Under the program, no
benefits will be payable for any week beginning after May 31, 2010.
The
legislation also provides unemployment compensation to workers who leave an
employer for reasons such as domestic violence, illness or disability of an
immediate family member, and the need to accompany a spouse to a place from
where it is impractical to commute resulting from a change in location of the
spouse's employment. The Department of Labor will define immediate family
member.
