This year, the U.S. Department of
Labor has taken great strides to modernize the office and
better serve the public. The new website is only part of
that.
This week, the DOL has begun a series of webchats with the public discuss the 2010 regulatory agenda and other issues facing the Department of Labor. They continue through Wednesday. You can find them all here.
You can also submit questions to the DOL via Twitter using the hashtag #dolregs to designate your post. (If you have no idea what a ha...
The federal agencies have released their Regulatory Plan and Unified Agenda of Regulatory and Deregulatory Actions (known as the "Unified Agenda.") Twice a year, federal agencies must provide this information to let the public know what regulatory actions they're planning and to coordinate rulemaking among the agencies.
The Unified Agenda can be somewhat daunting, both in length and in jargon (OMB Watch, a nonprofit that works to promote greater transparency in federal regulatory and budget matters, has a nice guide to some of the terms used in the Unified Agenda). Each federal agency that's included in the Unified Agenda must indicate what rulemaking it has planned in coming months. The list of agencies in the ...
Earlier this week, the Department of Labor (DOL) announced its regulatory agenda for Spring 2010. As always, the plan includes a number of discrete areas where the DOL plans to draft or revise regulations (for example, to require coal mine operators to inspect areas where miners will be working). This time around, the agenda also includes a broad paradigm shift: The DOL wants to replace what it calls a "catch me if you can" model, in which violations are stemmed only if and when the DOL steps in, to a "plan/prevent/protect" model, in which employers take the lead in finding, fixing, and preventing workplace problems.
What will this mean in practice? It's not entirely clear, as the DOL hasn't yet issued any pr...
There's about 24 hours to go to sign up for the next free monthly webinar. It's set for tomorrow, Wednesday, October 14th at noon. You can register for it here.
A few weeks ago, the EEOC released new proposed regulations interpreting the ADA Amendments Act. These proposed regulations and the Act have raised questions for employers even well-versed on disability-related issues. Many want to know: What disabilities are covered? How should we deal with requests for accommodations in light of the new laws and proposed regulations?
We'...
California's Fair Employment and Housing Commission (FEHC) has published proposed regulations concerning California's pregnancy disability leave requirements. The proposed regulations cover issues such as eligibility for leave, length of leave and minimum increments of leave, reasonable accommodation issues such as job transfers, use of paid time off during leave, and the parameters surrounding the right to reinstatement upon return from leave. The FEHC is holding public
It's not as if the government is trying to "trick" employers into not complying with the law. And it's not like the Department of Labor is only geared towards employees; there are plenty of resources geared to employers -- particularly smaller ones.
And yet, employers seem shy about this. It's almo...
