Inspirational Quote:
“I define a leader as anyone who takes responsibility for finding the potential in people and processes, and who has the courage to develop that potential.” – Brene’ Brown
06-18-2024: The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) today released Promising Practices for Preventing Harassment in the Construction Industry, a document that highlights key recommendations industry leaders can take to combat harassment in construction.
The document supports the EEOC’s Strategic Enforcement Plan (SEP) for fiscal years 2024-2028, which, in part, focuses on combatting systemic harassment, and eliminating barriers in recruitment and hiring, including for groups that are underrepresented in industries like construction.
The document identifies core practices that will help prevent and address harassment in the construction industry: committed and engaged leadership; consistent and demonstrated accountability; strong and comprehensive harassment policies; trusted and accessible complaint procedures; and regular, interactive training tailored to the audience and the organization.
EEOC Chair Charlotte A. Burrows says, “The EEOC is committed to removing barriers to equal opportunity, and these promising practices, together with the agency’s updated Enforcement Guidance on Harassment in the Workplace, provide resources to employers to help prevent and respond to harassment.”
The promising practices document follows a 2023 report, “Building For the Future: Advancing Equal Employment in the Construction Industry,” that examined discrimination based on race, national origin, and sex in the industry through the lens of EEOC cases, witness testimony from a 2022 EEOC hearing, and research. The report, which contains findings and offers next steps, identified a number of barriers that lead to underrepresentation of women, people of color, and other groups in the construction industry.
The full article can be found at:
My Side Note: Having worked in the construction industry for over 8 years, I can see why there are special considerations for harassment in this industry. Often, this type of work is historically white male dominated, has worksites where employees typically work long hours alongside employees from other companies, and there can be little opportunity for workers to have meaningful conversations with human resource professionals on any questions or concerns. Although this information is driven specifically towards the construction industry, I encourage all leaders to review the content and adopt practices that are relevant to your own organization.
June 20, 2024: Following a detailed review to protect taxpayers and small businesses, the Internal Revenue Service today announced plans to deny tens of thousands of improper high-risk Employee Retention Credit claims while starting a new round of processing lower-risk claims to help eligible taxpayers.
“The completion of this review provided the IRS with new insight into risky Employee Retention Credit activity and confirmed widespread concerns about a large number of improper claims,” said IRS Commissioner Danny Werfel. “We will now use this information to deny billions of dollars in clearly improper claims and begin additional work to issue payments to help taxpayers without any red flags on their claims.”
The full article can be found at:
My Side Note: This review is still under way and the outcome is intended to eliminate fraud and unintentional improper claim submission while protecting the original intent of offering employer assistance with the Employee Retention Credit.
June 4, 2024: A federal Administrative Law Judge has upheld the Department of Labor's finding that a Houston crane and rigging services provider violated federal law by firing a company truck driver on June 5, 2020, for refusing to exceed safe driving limits set by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration.
An investigation by the department's Occupational Safety and Health Administration determined the driver employed by Crane Masters Inc. told their employer that, after working 19 hours on June 4, 2020, it would be unsafe for them to operate a commercial vehicle as they had not gotten the legally required amount of time off before returning to work. The Houston company responded by terminating the driver.
"Congress enacted the world's first whistleblower protections in 1778 to ensure that people who come forward to report illegal behaviors or actions don't suffer for doing what's right," OSHA Regional Administrator Eric S. Harbin in Dallas. "In this case, Crane Masters Inc. was held accountable for retaliating against an employee who acted responsibly by raising their concerns about endangering themselves and others by operating a commercial vehicle without sufficient rest."
OSHA found the company fired the employee illegally for exercising their protected rights under the federal Whistleblower Protection Program.
On May 13, 2024, the judge issued a decision upholding OSHA's findings and ordered Crane Masters to pay the former truck driver $14,945 in back pay, interest and compensatory damages. The company must also expunge the former employee's record and post a notice to employees.
"Once again, the Department of Labor has vigorously enforced the rights of employees who report safety or regulatory violations," said Regional Solicitor John Rainwater. "Whistleblower rights are crucial to the safety of employees and the public at-large..."
OSHA's Whistleblower Protection Program enforces the whistleblower provisions of more than 20 whistleblower statutes protecting employees from retaliation for reporting violations of various workplace safety and health, airline, commercial motor carrier, consumer product, environmental, financial reform, food safety, health insurance reform, motor vehicle safety, nuclear, pipeline, public transportation agency, railroad, maritime, securities, tax, antitrust, and anti-money laundering laws and for engaging in other related protected activities. For more information on whistleblower protections, visit OSHA's Whistleblower Protection Programs webpage.
My Side Note: Now is the time to give each of these areas your attention, especially if your organization does not already have solid practices of the following:
ADA compliance,
Supporting workplace safety,
Safe internal and external venues for feedback and reporting from employees,
Anti-retaliation practices,
Prompt investigation of allegations, and
Demonstrating effective, efficient, and timely communications regarding practice fundamentals, investigation results, and employee expectations.
Some places to begin reviewing are your employee handbook and related policies and procedures.
Smile Moment… :)
What happens to an illegally parked frog… it gets toad away! :>
Message:
This document is abbreviated with highlights added to summarize content and emphasis key points. The information provided is not intended as legal advice. I don’t make any express or implicit warranty regarding the sufficiency, accuracy or completeness of the material. I encourage you to obtain independent legal advice before implementing any new policy or practice that you are unsure of.
Please contact me at your convenience if I can assist you with your leadership development and workforce training needs or Human Resources (HR) practices consulting.
Cheers!
Deborah
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