Final Rule from OSHA

OSHA publishes final rule on Personal Protective Equipment

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) published a final rule requiring employers to provide personal protective equipment (PPE) to employees at no cost, when such equipment is required by OSHA. The provision went into effect February 13, 2008, however, employers have until May 15, 2008 to fully implement the new requirement. Personal protective equipment includes equipment most commonly used to protect the head, torso, arms, hands and feet.

Employer Requirements
The rule only applies when equipment is used by an employer to comply with one of the PPE requirements of the OSHA standards. If PPE is not required by OSHA, the employer is not required to pay the employee for the PPE. In addition, if employees choose to use their own PPE,
employers are not required to reimburse them; however employers are still required to ensure that the employees' PPE is adequate to protect against workplace hazards. The new regulation also requires employers to pay for replacement PPE, except when an employee loses or intentionally damages their equipment that was provided, and paid for by the Company.

Additional information may be found on the OSHA website:
http://www.osha.gov/pls/oshaweb/owadisp.show_document?/

Saving Money through Wellness Programs

Wellness Programs

Wellness programs have been a recent focus in the human resource world – the premise is that healthier employees will result in lower medical spending, thus addressing the ever-increasing medical insurance costs.

Wellness programs should address ways for:
· Employees and their dependents to understand their personal health risks;
· Employees and their dependents to understand what actions are needed to address those risks; and
· Employers to use permissible means (incentives and disincentives) to help employees and their dependents to make the necessary changes in their lives to mitigate or eliminate those risks.

A study by the University of Michigan Health Management Research Center shows that lowering the number of risk factors can significantly lower the company’s medical spend. For each person with five or more risk factors, eliminating just one or two could reduce costs for persons in that high risk category nearly $3,000. Follow up studies by both the University of Michigan and Aon confirm these results.

The Aon survey indicates that most companies are willing to invest 1 – 3 percent of medical spend to drive lower health risks – the equivalent of about $100 - $225 per employee/year. For this type of investment to be effective, more than 80% of employees must be engaged.

Aon lists the following core components of a wellness program that can be implemented with a 1 – 3 percent of medical spend investment per employee:
Regular biometric testing (blood screen, blood pressure and weigh measures) so employees know exactly what their health risks are.
A personal health risk report that combines Health Risk questionnaire results with biometric screening results.
An interactive discussion of results with an expert who directs the employee to an action plan for the year.
Specific actions employees will be expected to pursue, including:
· Completing education and training around health risks.
· Getting started on an individually tailored discipline of better diet and some exercise.
· Getting on a prescription drug regimen to address immediate health risks.
Some form of financial or plan design incentive/disincentive construct that will permit employees who engage in changes to be rewarded.
A system capable of gathering data, and providing useful learnings, and direction, about the program’s effectiveness.

FosterThomas has partnered with Duke University to offer a free online wellness program to its clients. This online wellness program will take its clients well on their way to achieving a successful wellness plan for their organization. For more information, please call (800) 372-3626.

Family Medical Leave Act Expanded

Family Medical Leave Act Expanded to include Service Member Leave

On Monday, January 28, 2008, President Bush signed into law an expansion of the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) which provides additional FMLA leave for military families.

Under FMLA, an employee must have worked at least 12 months and 1,250 hours in the past year to be eligible for the leave benefit. Eligible employees are entitled to a total of 12 weeks of leave during any 12-month period for one or more of the following: 1) birth of a child, 2) placement of child for adoption or foster care, 3) caring for a spouse, child or parent with a serious health condition or 4) the serious health condition of the employee.
The bill adds two new FMLA-qualifying events to include employees caring for an injured service member and employees who have a family member called to active duty. An employee who requests leave due to a call to active duty is eligible for 12 workweeks of unpaid FMLA leave due to a spouse, son, daughter or parent being on active duty or having been notified of an impending call or order to active duty in the Armed Forces. Leave may be used for any “qualifying exigency” arising out of the service member’s current duty or because the service member is notified of an impending call to duty.

An employee who requests leave to provide care for an injured service member is eligible for 26 workweeks of unpaid FMLA leave during a single 12-month period for a spouse, son, daughter, parent, or next of kin caring for a recovering service member. A recovering service member is defined as a member of the Armed Forces who suffered an injury or
illness while on active-duty that may render the person unable to perform the duties of the member’s office, grade, rank or rating.

The caregiver provision of the law is effective January 28, 2008, but the call to active duty provision will not be effective until the Secretary of Labor issues final regulations defining “any qualifying exigency.” Employers are still encouraged to provide the new types of leave to qualifying employees and to update and amend their policies, procedures, employment posters and notifications.

Workplace Hazards

As a business owner, it is very important to prevent accidents before they happen. Here is a checklist to help you identify any hazards in your workplace.

1. Is the floor clear of materials that could trip a worker?
2. Is lighting adequate?
3. Are there any electrical hazards that could be accidentally activated at any individual workstation, or elsewhere at the job site?
3. Are there any explosive hazards present or likely to develop (during processes, in storage areas, etc.)?
4. Are any tools (including hand tools), machines, or equipment in need of repair?
5. Are appropriate guards in place on tools, machines, and equipment? Have workers been successfully trained not to remove or bypass the guards?
6. Is there excessive noise in the work area, interfering with concentration and/or communication?
7. Is fire protection equipment readily accessible, and have employees been trained to use it? Are emergency exits clearly marked?
8. Are motorized vehicles properly equipped with working brakes, overhead guards, backup signals,horns, steering gear, and identification, as necessary? Are all employees who operate vehicles and equipment properly trained and authorized?
9. Has appropriate personal protective equipment, properly fitted, been provided to workers? Have workers received any needed training in its use, and are they, in fact, using it?
10. Is ventilation adequate, especially in any confined spaces?
11. Have any employees complained of headaches, breathing problems, dizziness, or strong odors?
12. Does any work have to be performed in extremes of heat or cold?
13. Is work done on different working and walking levels(heights), requiring guarding against potentialhazards of falls or falling objects?

Wellness

A new trend in Employee Benefits is to offer incentives for healthy behaviors, such as a lower medical premium contribution for non smoking employees. To read more about implementing a wellness program, please read the article in this month’s Foster Thomas newsletter.

Additional information regarding benefit trends can be found on the HR Webcenter (http://www.hrwebcenter.com/).

VETS issue final regulations for Vets-100A

Effective June 18, 2008, the new VETS-100A report is required of all Federal Contractors with federal government contracts of at least $100,000, where at least one contract was entered into or modified on or after December 1, 2003. The final regulations do not affect the current VETS-100 form, which must be completed by contractors with federal government contracts of at least $25,000. Some contractors will need to complete both forms.

The VETS100A must be filed in the 2009 reporting cycle. All contractors are expected to file the Vets-100 report as usual in 2008. The VETS 100 categories remain as follows:

1. Special Disabled Veterans – veterans having a 10-20% serious employment handicap or a disability rated 30% or more by the Department of Veterans Affairs)

2. Veterans of the Vietnam era

3. Recently Separated Veterans (those who have been discharged or released from active duty within one year)

4. Other Veterans - those who served on active duty during a war, campaign or expedition for which a campaign badge was authorized.

The VETS-100A categories are as follows:

1. All Disabled Veterans; - a veteran of the U.S. military, ground, naval or air service who is entitled to compensation under laws administered by the Secretary of Veterans affairs; or a person who was discharged or released from active duty because of a service-connected disability.

2. Recently Separated Veterans - those who have been discharged or released from active duty in the last three years

3. Armed Forces Service Medal Veteran - Veterans who served on active duty in the U.S. Armed Forces during a U.S. military operation for which an Armed Forces service medal was awarded pursuant to Executive Order 12985

3. Other Protected Veterans – veteran who served on active duty in the US military, ground, naval or air service during a war or in a campaign or expedition for which a campaign badge has been authorized under the laws administered by the Department of Defense.

Due September 30, 2008

EEO-1 Survey Due September 30, 2008
If you have 100 employees or if you are a federal contractor or subcontractor with 50 employees and 50,000 in government contracts or subcontracts, you must comply with the EEO-1 reporting requirements.
Changes were made to the EEO-1 survey requirements for the 2008 reporting cycle. Changes include a distinction to two levels of management: Senior Level Officials and First/Mid Line Management and the addition of the “Two or More Races Category.
It is recommended that employers who do not have employees classified to coincide with the new EEO-1 codes, re-resurvey the workforce.
Employee data to be filed includes all full-time and part-time employees employed during a selected payroll period. Employment data includes sex and ethnic background for each occupational category.
The filing deadline for the EEO-1 survey is September 30, 2008. The preferred method is the web based filing system.

Questions may be addressed to: Beth Bulger of FosterThomas –1-800-372-3626.