SC Immigration Verification Information
Posted: 06/13/2008
Governor Mark Sanford on June 4, 2008 signed H.4400, giving South Carolina some of the toughest laws in the country in cracking down on illegal immigration.
The primary feature of the bill is the implementation of the e-verify system, which requires employers to verify the legal status of employees through the Department of Homeland Security or with a South Carolina driver's license. The bill also contains enforceable penalties - including fines and loss of business licenses - for failing to get that verification or for knowingly hiring an illegal immigrant.
"Through all of the back and forth on this bill, I'd give credit to the House and Senate for coming to the table with this administration to put forth a bill with meaningful verification and strong enforcement," Gov. Sanford said. "We've said from day one that while we're a nation of immigrants, we're also a nation of laws - and that South Carolina shouldn't be in the business of sanctioning illegal activity with a wink and a nod."
Here are some highlights of the "South Carolina Illegal Immigration Reform Act":
* All employers within five business days after employing a new employee must either check the new hire's Social Security number through the U.S. Department of Homeland Security's online database called E-verify or hire workers with a driver's license from South Carolina or another state where the license requirements are at least as strict as those in South Carolina.
* Employers caught not checking their workers can be fined between $100 and $1,000 per worker, and if an investigation finds they knowingly hired an illegal immigrant, their business can be temporarily shut down, up to 30 days on first offense and revoked if caught a third time.
* The state Department of Labor, Licensing and Regulation will investigate complaints and can randomly audit companies.
* Businesses with fewer than 100 employees have until July 1, 2010, to comply with the new law. The deadline for compliance by businesses employing 100 or more workers is July 1, 2009.
* The bill authorizes the State Law Enforcement Division (SLED) to enter into agreements with the U.S. Departments of Justice and Homeland Security that allow state and local law enforcement to enforce federal immigration laws. It also establishes a hotline, website, and database for reporting and tracking alleged violations of immigration laws. In addition, it requires jails to verify legal status of inmates.
* The law requires state and local agencies to verify lawful status of anyone over the age of 18 who applies for public benefits, with some exceptions for emergency-related situations.
* It allows local governments to pass stricter immigration laws, but prevents local governments from prohibiting law enforcement from enforcing state or federal immigration laws.
FMLA Changes for 2008
Posted: 06/13/2008
On February 11, 2008, The US Department of labor issued a change to the Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993 (FMLA) to permit a "spouse, son, daughter, parent, or next of kin" to take up to 26 workweeks of leave to care for a "member of the Armed Forces, including a member of the National Guard or Reserves, who is undergoing medical treatment, recuperation, or therapy, is otherwise in outpatient status, or is otherwise on the temporary disability retired list, for a serious injury or illness."
The legislation creates two new qualifying events to the original four of FMLA:
1) Leave During Family Member's Active Duty -- Employees who have a spouse, parent, or child who is on or has been called to active duty in the Armed Forces may take up to 12 weeks of FMLA leave yearly when they experience a "qualifying exigency." By its express terms, this provision of the NDAA is not effective until the Secretary of Labor issues final regulations defining "any qualifying exigency."
2) Injured Service member Family Leave -- Employees who are the spouse, parent, child, or next of kin of a service member who incurred a serious injury or illness on active duty in the Armed Forces may take up to 26 weeks of leave to care for the injured service member in a 12-month period (in combination with regular FMLA leave). This provision is effective with signing. The Department of Labor is preparing updated information.
Steps employers should take now to comply:
* All employees should be notified of the new leave entitlements.
* You should revise your current FMLA policies and procedures to reflect these changes to the FMLA. This will include requests for FMLA forms, response forms and medical certification forms.
OSHA Protective Equipment Ruling 02/13/08
Posted: 05/28/2008
OSHA ANNOUNCES EMPLOYER-PAID PERSONAL PROTECTIVE EQUIPMENT FINAL RULE
WASHINGTON -- The U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) today announced a final rule on employer-paid personal protective equipment (PPE). Under the rule, all PPE, with a few exceptions, will be provided at no cost to the employee. OSHA anticipates that this rule will have substantial safety benefits that will result in more than 21,000 fewer occupational injuries per year.
"Employees exposed to safety and health hazards may need to wear personal protective equipment to be protected from injury, illness and death caused by exposure to those hazards," said Assistant Secretary of Labor for OSHA Edwin G. Foulke Jr. "This final rule will clarify who is responsible for paying for PPE, which OSHA anticipates will lead to greater compliance and potential avoidance of thousands of workplace injuries each year."
The final rule contains a few exceptions for ordinary safety-toed footwear, ordinary prescription safety eyewear, logging boots, and ordinary clothing and weather-related gear. The final rule also clarifies OSHA's requirements regarding payment for employee-owned PPE and replacement PPE.
Basically, many Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) health, safety, maritime, and construction standards require employers to provide their employees with protective equipment, including personal protective equipment (PPE), when such equipment is necessary to protect employees from job-related injuries, illnesses, and fatalities. These requirements address PPE of many kinds: hard hats, gloves, goggles, safety shoes, safety glasses, welding helmets and goggles, face shields, chemical protective equipment, fall protection equipment, and so forth. The provisions in OSHA standards that require PPE generally state that the employer is to provide such PPE. However, some of these provisions do not specify that the employer is to provide such PPE at no cost to the employee.
In this ruling, OSHA is requiring employers to pay for the PPE provided, with exceptions for specific items. The rule does not require employers to provide PPE where none has been required before. Instead, the rule merely stipulates that the employer must pay for required PPE, except in the limited cases specified in the standard.
PPE FOR WHICH EMPLOYER PAYMENT IS REQUIRED
In this section, OSHA address several key issues, including the personal protective equipment that employers are required to provide at no cost to their employees and the protective equipment that is exempted. OSHA wishes to emphasize that this rulemaking does not change
existing OSHA requirements as to the types of PPE that must be provided. Instead, the rule merely stipulates that the employer must pay for PPE that is required by OSHA standards, with the exceptions listed. The items excepted from payment by this rule are:
1. Non-specialty safety-toe protective footwear (including steel-toe shoes or steel-toe boots)
2. Non-specialty prescription safety eyewear, that is allowed by the employer to be worn off the job-site;
3. Shoes or boots with built-in metatarsal protection that the employee has requested to use instead of the employer-provided detachable metatarsal guards; Logging boots
4. Everyday work clothing; or ordinary clothing, skin creams, or other items used solely
5. for protection from the weather.
While OSHA believes it is setting forth a clear requirement in this final rule--that employers pay for PPE required by OSHA standards except for the exceptions listed in the standard—we understand that it still might be a little confusing so we encourage you to go www.osha.gov to review the complete OSHA standard or you can call our office for additional information.
Please note that this final rule became effective on February 13, 2008 and needed to be implemented by May 15, 2008.
Minimum Wage Increase
Posted: 05/28/2008
In effort of keeping our clients informed and up to date with changes affecting your business and/or your employees, we wanted to send a reminder to you about the upcoming change in the minimum wage.
Effective July 24, 2008, the minimum wage will increase to $6.55 per hour. Our payroll system will automatically update to process this increase on and after this date.
Attached you will find the posting that needs to placed near the 6 –n- 1 poster that we sent out last year. And as a reminder, these posters and all other postings involving employment needs to be placed in area where all employees have access to the information. For example, in the employee break room or at the time clock.
If you have any questions or concerns about this issue or any other issues please feel free to contact our office at (843) 546-6991. As always, thank you for allowing The USI Group be a part of your team.