Employment Law Communiqué
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Federal Minimum Wage Federal Minimum Wage is Raised Workers making less than $5.85 per hour will be seeing a boost in their paycheck beginning with work performed on July 24, 2007. The federal government, after more than a decade, has raised the federal minimum wage from $5.15 to $5.85 per hour. This means that most employees must make at least $5.85 per hour. Certain occupations, establishments and classes of employees are exempted from this requirement. The minimum wage will then increase to $6.55 on July 24, 2008 and $7.25 per hour on July 24, 2009. As a result of this change, employers must post a revised federal minimum wage poster. This free downloadable poster can be found at http://www.dol.gov/esa/regs/compliance/posters/flsa.htm. New EEO-1 Report Must Be Used Starting In September 2007 The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission has revised its EEO-1 Report. This form is a government-mandated report which requires certain employers to track the ethnicity, race, gender and job classifications of each of its employees. The EEOC uses the information to analyze employment trends. This form must be filed with the EEOC by September 30th of each year. Employers subject to this reporting must begin using the new form this year. Besides updating the ethnic classifications and the job category classifications, the EEOC now "strongly" encourages employers to have employees "self-identify" their race and ethnicity. For employers, what this really means is employers must now have a form which allows employees to tell the employer the employee's ethnicity and race. The form must state that completion of the self-identification form is completely voluntary and will have no impact on the employee's employment. This form should be given to employees after they have been hired. In addition, this form should be kept separate from the employee's personnel file. If an employee refuses to self-identify, you will then be allowed to complete the EEO-1 Report based on your visual observation of that employee. For employees, this change means you may receive a "self-identification" form from your employer (if the employer is required to complete the EEO-1). You have the opportunity to fill it out or you can choose not to. It is completely voluntary and has no effect on your employment. If you fail to fill out the form, the employer may complete the form based on their visual observation of you. Unemployment Compensation Employees and employers often ask us about unemployment compensation benefits and when an employee may or may not be entitled to unemployment benefits. With respect to unemployment benefits, there are two categories of employees; i.e. those who voluntarily quit and those who are fired. If an employee voluntarily quits his or her employment without good cause in connection with the work, he or she is generally not entitled to unemployment benefits. If an employee is fired, whether that employee is entitled to unemployment benefits will depend on if the employer had "good cause" to terminate the employee. In Indiana, "good cause" is defined by statute. The statute gives nine reasons which are considered "good cause" for terminating an employee, but these reasons are not all inclusive. The nine reasons articulated in the statute are the following:
If you have questions or concerns about the new minimum wage, EEO-1 Report, any part of the unemployment benefit process, please contact Mallor Clendening Grodner & Bohrer LLP’s Labor and Employment Practice Group. 812-336-0200 www.mcgb.com |
