November 23rd, 2009 | By Paul Cherner
The EEOC, like the NLRB, has several presidential nominees to the agency who are waiting for confirmation by the U.S. Senate.
In July, 2009 President Obama nominated Jacqueline A. Berrien, associate director-counsel of the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, to serve as Chair of the EEOC. In September, 2009, the President nominated Chai R. Feldblum, a professor of law and director of the Federal Legislation Clinic at the Georgetown University Law Center in Washington, D.C., to be an EEOC Commissioner.
Recently, the President nominated Victoria A. Lipnic, the former Assistant Secretary of Labor for Employment Standards, to be an EEOC Commissioner. Lipnic’s nomination, if confirmed by the Senate, would fulfill the requirement that two of the five commissioners not be from the President’s political party. Constance Barker, whose term expires in 2011, is the other Republican Commissioner.
In late July, 2009, the Senate confirmed President Obama’s nomination of EEOC Vice Chair Christine Griffin as Deputy Director of the Office of Personnel Management, but, according to the rules governing the EEOC, Griffin will remain an EEOC Commissioner until her successor is confirmed by the Senate. On October 22, 2009, President Obama nominated P. David Lopez to be General Counsel of the EEOC . Lopez has worked for the EEOC for 13 years and is currently a Supervising Trial Attorney in the EEOC’s Phoenix District Office.
November 13th, 2009 | By Paul Cherner
The Centers for Disease Control and prevention (“CDC”) has just issued a report indicating that in the past six months 22 million Americans have become sick with the H1N1 influenza virus (a/k/a the “swine flu”), of which 4,000 have died. As this pandemic shows no signs of abating, employers are faced with many legal issues in addition to being concerned about the health and safety of their workers, customers and clients, while at the same time attempting to determine how best to carry on their businesses under these circumstances.
An excellent reference source for most questions pertaining to this pandemic is the federal government’s website http://www.flu.gov., which contains very useful and specific information, as well as links to issues of specific concern to various businesses.
The U.S. Department of Labor has just issued two sets of questions and answers concerning the impact of the Fair Labor Standards Act (“FLSA”) and the Family and Medical Leave Act (“FMLA”) on issues pertaining to employees absences from work and payment to employees who are directly or indirectly affected by the H1N1 flu virus. Additional guidance is provided by the EEOC with respect to the impact of the Americans with Disabilities Act (“ADA”) on this pandemic situation.
As this situation has evolved, the federal government has continued to issue additional information and guidelines, some of which modified prior guidance. Accordindly, continued monitoring of the main website - www.flu.gov is advised.
November 2nd, 2009 | By Paul Cherner
The EEOC has revised its required employer postings to reflect recent changes in the EEO laws. The new poster includes two new laws, the Americans with Disabilities Act Amendments Act of 2008 (“ADAAA”) and the Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act of 2008 (“GINA” – effective November 21, 2009.) The revised poster also includes updates from the Department of Labor and should be posted as soon as possible.
Employers may obtain the new required postings by either :
- Printing the EEOC’s supplemental posting and posting it next to the EEOC’s September 2002 “EEO is the Law” poster or the OFCCP’s August 2008 “EEO is the Law” poster, or
- Printing and posting the EEOC’s comprehensive November 2009 version of the “EEO is the Law” poster, or
- If you need multiple copies and/or non-English language versions, ordering the new poster through the EEOC Clearinghouse (the posters are on “back order” now, but are expected to be available before GINA becomes effective on 11/21/09.)
