EMPLOYERS COUNCIL HOSTS DOCUMENTATION SEMINAR – UMA MEMBERS INVITED TO ATTEND

Documentation is the basis for many employment decisions.  Done well, it can be the deciding factor in the outcome of an employment dispute or legal challenge.  Thus, it is fundamentally important to create timely documentation that is a reliable record of events.  Yet, even experienced HR professionals and company managers struggle when asked to document an event.  This information-packed seminar will provide practical tips and techniques to make documentation easier.  Topics to be covered include:
Why documentation is important from the legal perspective
Basic business writing skills: dos and don’ts
General documentation skills: tips for improvement
Best practices for handling documentation with non-native English speakers
How to effectively document employee discipline and performance management
How to create other common documents including daily logs, investigations, employee complaints, position statements, safety records, and hiring records
When to use electronic communication
Dates and Locations
Ogden - Tuesday, May 12 -- Comfort Suites  -- 2250 S 1200 W, Ogden
Salt Lake City - Thursday, May 14 -- Radisson Hotel -- 215 W South Temple, Salt Lake City

Time -- Seminar:  8:00 a.m. - 12:00 noon (registration & breakfast buffet:  7:15 to 8:00 a.m.) 
Cost -- $109 per Council member; $185 per non-member (discount: $95 per Council member when your company sends at least 3 people).  Registration includes training, materials, full breakfast buffet, and validated parking.

Call the Council office or email with registration information or with any questions.  You can download the registration form at http://www.ecutah.org/documentation.pdf.  Full refund or credit will be given if cancellation is received one week prior to meeting.

Certification:  This program is approved for 3.5 general recertification hours toward PHR, SPHR, and GPHR recertification through the Human Resource Certification Institute.

FEDERAL E-VERIFY DELAYED AGAIN!           (Source: Employers Council)

The effective date of federal rules that require federal contractors to use E-Verify has been delayed for the third time until June 30, 2009. This rule requires covered employers to electronically verify the employment eligibility of all persons hired to work in the U.S. during the term of a federal contract, as well as all persons assigned by the contractor to perform work within the U.S. on the contract. Federal contractors can find helpful info at http://www.uscis.gov/files/article/FAR_FAQ_- 13nov08.pdf.

UNION OFFICIALS, BUSINESSES PREPARE FOR FIGHT OVER GUEST WORKERS

The Wall Street Journal (4/15) reports, "Union officials are embarking on what is likely to be a protracted fight with business over the programs that enable immigrants to enter the country for temporary work." On Tuesday, leaders of "two rival labor federations announced a framework for overhauling the U.S. immigration system that includes setting up an independent commission to assess how many immigrants should be admitted to fill temporary and permanent jobs without displacing U.S. workers." The labor announcement is "expected to rekindle debate and give congressional Democrats and the Obama administration new leverage to try to push through legislation."

Business groups also "favor overhauling the nation's immigration laws and have found common ground with labor on a range of issues." The U.S. Chamber of Commerce "supports several of the labor coalition's proposals, as broadly outlined, including granting citizenship to many of the estimated 12 million illegal immigrants in the U.S., revamping the current system of verifying immigrants' credentials, and revising border policies."

ULTIMATE IRONY: DISPUTE WITHIN UNION

(Source: Employers Council)

For those of you attuned to labor unions and their tactics, you can't miss the exquisite irony of this one. The Service Employees International Union (SEIU), that is pushing the Employee Free Choice Act as a savior for workers, is having labor problems of its own. The Washington Post reported that workers of the SEIU (the "Union of Union Employees") are filing a grievance about layoffs. The workers say that the SEIU is engaging in the same kind of unfair practices that some businesses use: laying off workers without proper notice; contracting out work to temporary staffing firms; banning union activities; and reclassifying workers to reduce union numbers.

"It's completely hypocritical," said Malcolm Harris, president of the union. "This is the union that's been at the forefront of progressive issues around ensuring that working people and working families are taken care of, but when it comes to the people who work for SEIU, they haven't set the same standards."

SENATE MARKUPS ON HEALTH CARE SET FOR JUNE

In an April 20 letter to President Obama, Senate Finance Committee Chair Max Baucus (D-MT) and Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee Chair Edward Kennedy (D-MA) announced their Committees' plans to consider comprehensive health care legislation in early June. “We must act swiftly, because the cost of inaction is too high for individuals, families, businesses, state and federal governments,” the Senators wrote. The Senate Finance Committee on April 21 conducted the first of three roundtables sessions that focus on health care delivery system reform, coverage, and financing. The next two roundtables are set for May 5 and May 14. The NAM continues to work closely with Congress to ensure that manufacturers' concerns are addressed. Expectations are for the House and Senate to pass separate health care bills before the August recess.

Senate Health Plan “Options” Unveiled. On April 28, Senate Finance Committee leaders released a 48-page health care document that will likely form the basis for the legislation to be marked up by the committee in early June. It provides numerous options for overhauling the healthcare delivery system. Click here to view the document and here to view the Committee's press release. Senators on the Committee and their staff met behind closed doors on April 29 to discuss these options. Chairman Max Baucus (D-MT) insists that “nothing is set in stone.” The panel will conduct policy roundtables on May 5 and May 14 on the issues of health care coverage and financing. In related news, the Senate on April 28 approved, by a vote of 65-31, the nomination of Kansas Gov. Kathleen Sebelius to be Secretary of Health & Human Services. She was sworn into office later that evening.

FMLA FINAL RULES: SOME KEY PROVISIONS

FMLA rules changed in January. Key provisions include:

• Eligible employees with a covered family member serving in the National Guard or Reserves may use leave for "any qualifying exigency" due to the family member's active military duty or call to active duty. "Qualifying exigency" includes: short-notice deployment, military events and related activities, childcare and school activities, financial and legal arrangements, counseling, rest and recuperation, post-deployment activities, and additional activities agreed to by the employer & ee.
• Eligible employees who are family members (including next of kin) of covered service members may take up to 26 workweeks of leave in a “single 12-month period” to care for the service member with a serious illness or injury incurred in the line of duty.
• "Serious health condition" is clarified as follows:
• Incapacity and treatment: incapacity must be more than 3 consecutive, full calendar days with treatment 2 or more times within 30 days of the first day of incapacity (or 1 treatment, followed by a regimen of continuing treatment). The first in-person treatment must occur within 7 days of first day of incapacity.
• Chronic conditions: treatment at least twice/year.
• Employees must be given at least 7 calendar days to cure incomplete and insufficient medical certifications.
• HR may directly contact the health care provider.
• Fitness-for-duty certification may be required.
• New/revised certification forms: Certifications of Health Care Provider – one for Employee's Serious Health Condition (WH-380-E) and one for Family Member's Serious Health Condition (WH-380-F); Certifications of Qualifying Exigency (WH-384) and Serious Injury or Illness (WH-385) for Military Family Leave.
• New/revised notices to employees: General Notice (WHD Publ. 1420) – must be posted; Notice of Eligibility and Rights & Responsibilities (WH-381) – provide w/in 5 days of leave request or sufficient
knowledge that leave may qualify; and Designation Notice (WH-382) – provide w/in 5 days of of having
enough info to determine if leave is being taken for qualifying reason or not.

For more information, or to download the new forms and notices, visit  www.dol.gov/esa/whd/fmla/finalrule.htm.

WORKERS' COMP: "INTENT TO INJURE"

A recent decision of the Utah Supreme Court reminds employers that an "intent to injure" is an exception to the usual protections from liability afforded by the Utah Workers' Compensation Act. According to the facts recited in the opinion, the worker's refinery-employer had sent her, without protection or safety measures, to an open-air pit in the second attempt that day to use a less expensive method to neutralize caustic sludge. To add to the danger, she was not informed that the day's first attempt had released toxic fumes that had drifted across the premises, setting off alarms and causing several coworkers (some hundreds of yards away) to become ill and be sent home. Predictably, toxic fumes were again released, which seriously and permanently injured her.

Overturning the dismissal of her suit for intentional injuries, and after extensive legal analysis, the court ruled that there is an "intent to injure" if an employer knew or expected an act would cause injury. The court concluded that although such intent does not require a motive to injure, it does require more than merely a high probability of injury.

MAY 2009 BULLETIN

Click on the following links to view the May 2009 Bulletin