Recently, employers have been impacted by issues regarding federal contractor compliance, health care, immigration enforcement, and employee safety and health. Here are four areas to remain aware of:
1. House Joint Res. 37. President Donald Trump signed a Joint Resolution revoking the Fair Pay and Safe Workplace Executive Order signed by former President Barack Obama. Federal contractors will not be mandated to comply with the executive order’s requirement to reveal violations of 14 federal workplace laws and their state equivalents in the last three years. Additionally, federal contractors will not be forced to implement paycheck disclosures to laborers concerning hours worked, overtime, additions or deductions from pay, and formal notice to an individual, if that person is classified as an independent contractor. Further, the ban against mandatory arbitration of specific Title VII, sexual assault or harassment claims is no longer in effect.
2. Affordable Care Act. The ACA continues to remain in effect. Companies must operate under the law until there is a change in the law or regulations. Accordingly, stay with current compliance strategy, maintain documentation efforts in accordance with the law and plan to comply with the ACA for 2018.
3. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Trump plans to hire 15,000 additional officers to protect U.S. borders and ensure business compliance with immigration law. Since nearly 11 million people reside in the country illegally, the probability an enterprise has undocumented workers is considerable, specifically in industries such as manufacturing, hospitality, agriculture and construction.
Form I-9 is the key enforcement tool, which requires organizations to check a new hire’s ability to work in the U.S. ICE has the power to examine company records. Corporate noncompliance results in fines of thousands of dollars per violation, and federal contractors may lose contracts.
The greatest protection against fines and contractual losses is ensuring accurate completion of Form I-9s and performing a regular audit of the records. If an employer discovers an associate is an illegal alien, the individual must be terminated.
Businesses need to be aware of their rights beforehand. To start an investigation, ICE must provide a subpoena in the form of a Notice of Inspection. An enterprise that is subpoenaed has at least three business days to release Form I-9s and the associated, substantiating documentation.
Organizations should take steps now to prepare for an ICE inspection. Appoint a staff member who will be responsible for interacting with ICE agents, and train in four areas: 1) Notify human resources and legal counsel immediately. 2) Cooperate with ICE officers without simultaneously putting staff at risk. 3) Keep ICE agents in a location that eliminates interaction with clients or personnel; ICE officers may not talk to employees or walk around the premises without a proper warrant. 4) Do not turn over documents without a subpoena or warrant.
4. Occupational Safety and Health Administration. OSHA announced the 10 most often cited safety and health violations that happened during the last fiscal year. They are fall protection, hazard communication, scaffolds, respiratory protection, lockout/tag-out, powered industrial trucks, ladders, machine guarding, electrical wiring and electrical general requirements.
Lynne Haggerman, M.S., is president/owner of Lynne Haggerman & Associates LLC, a Springfield firm specializing in management training, retained search, outplacement and human resource consulting. She can be reached at lynne@lynnehaggerman.com.
