The U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration tomorrow will reopen the public record on a proposed rule to revise the Occupational Injury and Illness Recording and Reporting Requirements regulation. Notice of the reopening will be published May 17 in the Federal Register.
House Republicans have launched a business-backed effort to block corporate whistleblowers from going directly to financial regulators with reports of wrongdoing. At the center of the effort is a bill drafted to amend last year’s Dodd-Frank financial oversight law by requiring whistleblowers to report problems internally before going to the Securities and Exchange Commission.
A new law could significantly change the way an employer faces charges from the Division of Occupational Safety and Health, according to employment law experts. Assembly Bill 2774 went into effect Jan. 1 of this year. The law has the potential to bring about a “sea change” at Cal/OSHA, with significant alterations to the burden of proof standard for employers facing citations or claims against them from employees.
Last week, Vermont became the latest state to take a more aggressive stance against healthcare workplace violence. The Associated Press reports that a new law in the Green Mountain State bumps up a misdemeanor assault to a felony when the victim is a healthcare worker on the job, with penalties ranging from up to a year in prison for first-time offenders to up to 10 years for repeat offenders. New York and Massachusetts recently passed similar laws, and the Emergency Nurses Association (ENA) says that several other states are focusing on the problem. Will these laws end healthcare workplace violence? No.
Following the recent debate surrounding keratin hair-straightening products, 10 members of Congress have sent a letter to the Food and Drug Administration expressing their concern and asking the agency to take immediate action to protect workers and consumers.
Nearly eight months after a Napa State Hospital patient strangled a psychiatric technician, lawmakers and employee groups are pushing proposals aimed at reversing a worsening safety trend at California’s mental health facilities. Among them are bills that would enable officials to better assess patients’ potential for violence, speed up the process to involuntarily medicate certain individuals and punish those who funnel contraband — such as tobacco and cash — to patients, feeding a black market that goes hand-in-hand with assault and extortion.
In some of the poorest neighborhoods across the city, immigrants hoping to land jobs through employment agencies have routinely been cheated out of money. They are often charged hundreds of dollars in fees, promised jobs that do not exist, and sent to abusive working environments.
The Council of Prison Locals (CPL) of the American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE) secured a significant victory in its fight to have all Bureau of Prisons (BOP) correctional officers outfitted with stab-resistant vests. BOP recently dismissed its opposition in the U.S. Court of Appeals, allowing the union’s proposal for stab-resistant vests to be negotiated through collective bargaining.
Want to make sure you’re getting paid what you’re due? Now there’s an app for that. The U.S. Labor Department announced last week its first application for smartphones: a time sheet to help employees independently track the hours they work and determine the wages they are owed.
In the more desirable seats at Yankee Stadium, an already pricey $10.50 draft beer will run you an eye-popping $12.60 thanks to an involuntary 20 percent “service fee” tacked on to the original price. If the sticker shock doesn’t make that brew bitter enough, consider this: Despite what you might expect, that extra $2 and change isn’t going to the hustling server who sold it to you, according to a new lawsuit.
