Southwest Florida Employment Law Blog : Southwest Florida Employment and Labor Lawyers & Attorneys for Discrimination Lawsuits and Civil Rights Cases in Fort Myers, Bonita Springs & Sanibel FL

Florida's minimum wage will increase 6 cents to $7.31 per hour tomorrow, June 1, 2011.  Tipped employees (those employees who are eligible for the tip credit) will also see an increase of 6 cents, to $4.29 per hour.  The increase, announced by the Agency for Workforce Innovation earlier this month, is described in detail in the Agency's press release.

Florida employers must post the appropriate minimum wage notices.  The English version can be downloaded here.  The Spanish version can be downloaded here.  Please note that you must also post the federal minimum wage notice.  It can be downloaded here. 

Employers should act immediately to ensure they are in compliance with the new Florida minimum wage increase.  As you've heard me say many, many times before, FLSA wage lawsuits are all the rage, especially here in the Middle District.  If you fail to pay your employees proper wages, I can practically guarantee it won't be long until a process server comes knocking on your door.  FLSA lawsuits almost never end well -- or cheaply -- for employers.  If you have questions, please do not hesitate to ask.  Trust me when I say you're better safe than sorry!

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The final regulations implementing the Americans with Disabilities Act Amendments Act ("ADAAA") are effective today, May 24, 2011.  As you probably know, the new regulations highlight the ADAAA's broader definition of disability.  This means more individuals with be considered disabled, thus qualifying for protection under the ADA.  The focus now will likely be on the accommodation process, instead of whether someone qualifies as disabled under the regulations.

Vicki Sproat of our office prepared a newsletter highlighting important parts of the new regulations, which we e-blasted to our subscribers last month.  If you missed it, you can download a copy here.

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One of the most searched topics on this blog has been OSHA, even though I haven't covered OSHA very often.  Since a lot of you are concerned about OSHA issues, however, I wanted to point out a new OSHA web tool the Department of Labor is offering. 

The OSHA Recordkeeping Advisor is designed to help employers report and record work-related injuries and illnesses covered by OSHA regulations.  It also helps employers determine whether an injury or illness is work-related; whether a work-related injury or illness needs to be recorded; and which provisions of the regulations apply when recording a work-related injury or illness.

You can access the Advisor by clicking here.   Hopefully it will at least be a good starting point for your OSHA questions.

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The Department of Labor announced yesterday in a press release that it has launched its first application for smartphones -- a timesheet app to "help employees independently track the hours they work and determine the wages they are owed."  Yes, that's right.  The DOL created an iPhone app that allows employees to track their hours and calculate the amount of wages/overtime to which they may be entitled.

As you can imagine, this news was lighting up the blog-o-sphere all day, with just about every employment law blogger I follow chiming in on the issue.  Molly DiBianca at the Delaware Employment Law Blog wrote this post, which has screenshots and a good explanation of how the app works.  Perhaps my favorite quote comes from Jon Hyman at the Ohio Employer's Law Blog.  In his post, Jon warns: 

I cannot overstate the significance of this story.  The DOL is getting more and more aggressive in its willingness to help employees prosecute wage and hour violations.  If you do not know whether your wage and hour practices pass muster under the [FLSA], you are sitting on a bomb waiting to detonate.  And, the DOL continues to provide employees with the match to light the fuse.

Jon hit the nail on the head.  As you've heard us say many times before, FLSA wage/overtime claims are everywhere.  This is especially true here in the Middle District, where we have one of the highest rate of FLSA filings in the country.  This latest announcement from the DOL serves as a reminder -- and huge red warning flag -- to employers that these wage/overtime cases aren't going away anytime soon.

What should you do?  Check, double check, then check again all of your classification decisions and time-keeping methods.  If you don't have employees signing off on their timecards, start NOW.  While this new DOL app may give employees another method of keeping track of their time, it is not the end-all, be-all of time-keeping.  The stronger the employer's records the better, and having your employees sign off on their time records may help discredit whatever records employees create in the DOL app. 

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I am pleased to feature a post from guest blogger Amanda Brock.  Amanda is a Henderson Franklin attorney and regular contributor to the Legal Scoop on Southwest Florida Real Estate, our real estate blog.  As many of you will remember from our seminar last month, in addition to her land use and environmental law practice, Amanda is assisting our clients with immigration-related matters.  Here, Amanda offers several great pointers for I-9 retention:

Who doesn't love filling out mandatory forms from the federal government? In addition to being mandatory, the I-9 Employment Eligibility Verification forms come with a host of regulations that can easily trip up even the most experienced HR professional. Adding insult to injury, if the government audits your I-9s, you generally have only 3 days to respond.

I recently heard a great presentation from Colorado attorney Jeff Joseph, who shared a few key pointers that may help your company retain the I-9s in the event of an audit:

*       Conduct an annual in-house inspection of I-9s for all employees (or ask outside counsel conduct mock audits);

*       Identify one person to be in charge of I-9s to streamline the process and retain documents (and train this person regularly on I-9 regulations);

*       Make sure all employees have an I-9 (every employee hired after 11/6/86 should have one, with limited exceptions);

*        Make sure you're using the correct form - the current version is at www.uscis.gov;

*        Regularly check the Handbook for Employers Form M-274 issued by USCIS - it's a great reference material and updated frequently;

*        Keep I-9s for the proper period and purge after the period passes - this includes current employees and may include prior employees - you must keep the I-9 for 3 years from the date of hire or 1 year from the date of termination, whichever is longer; and

*       File your I-9s in 3 separate folders:

o       Current Employees

o       Prior Employees (review regularly for any you can purge - holding on to them for too long can actually create a liability)

o       Follow-up (those that need re-verification - for example, an employee's I-94 showed work authorization for only one year; you should calendar a reminder to review in one year to be sure they are still in compliance)

Following these tips will ensure a much easier experience if you are audited, and have the nice side effect of also streamlining your everyday operations. This is a win-win, and who doesn't love a win-win?!

We are pleased to welcome Amanda into our extended employment law family, and happy to now offer these additional services to our clients.  If you have any immigration-related issues, Amanda can be reached at 239.344.1269 or at amanda.brock@henlaw.com. 

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Last week, we hosted the 19th Annual HR Law & Solutions seminar.  We welcomed a huge crowd and, for the first time, two fabulous guest speakers.  Paul Macleish got the day started off right (bagpipes anyone?!), and Dr. Rick Goodman finished the day with a bang.  In between, attendees learned about new cases, the FLSA, worker's compensation, and GINA from Henderson Franklin attorneys.

We inducted three new members into the HR Law & Solutions Hall of Fame:  Lori Burke of INgage Networks, Anna Evans of Lykes Insurance, and Sandie Peterson of Markham Norton.  Our Hall of Fame recognizes attendees for their contribution to our seminar, and to the HR field in Southwest Florida. 

Anna Evans, Sandie Peterson, Lori Burke

A packed house!

You can checkout our Facebook page for more photos.  We want to thank everyone who attended for helping make the event such a success.  A very special thanks goes out to our generous lunch sponsor, Lykes Insurance.  Your continued support and partnership means so much to us!

Plans are already underway for next year's seminar -- our 20th anniversary celebration!   

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