Archives : 2010 : February
Arizona Updates Minimum Wage and Discrimination Labor Law Posters
February 9th, 2010Arizona is one of 10 states that adjust the minimum wage annually based on inflation. Arizona’s minimum wage law went into effect in 2006 when the state’s voters enacted Proposition 202, known as the “Raise the Minimum Wage for Working Arizonans Act”.
The voter initiative established an Arizona minimum wage and provided for an annual increase based on the increase in the cost of living based on the federal Consumer Price Index (CPI-U).
Although the CPI-U index dropped 1.5 percent during the 12-month period ending last August, the Minimum Wage Act does not provide for a decrease in the Arizona minimum wage. The Industrial Commission of Arizona determined that the state minimum wage would stay at $7.25 per hour through 2010.
Until this year the Arizona minimum wage had increased every year since the initiative passed: to $6.90 per hour on Jan. 1, 2008, and to $7.25 per hour on Jan. 1, 2009.
The Industrial Commission has updated the Arizona minimum wage poster with this new information for 2010, and the Attorney General’s Civil Rights Division has updated the Discrimination in Employment poster to include genetic information as a new category for which discrimination is prohibited.
If you need to update your Arizona labor law poster or you would like to order a 1-Year Compliance Protection Plan for worry-free compliance, go to the Poster Compliance Center website at www.postercompliance.com or call 1-800-322-3636.
Rhode Island Updates Unemployment/ Temporary Disability Poster
February 5th, 2010If you are out of work in Rhode Island and need to file a claim for unemployment, you must register for work with the Department of Labor & Training to be eligible for benefits. This information has been clarified on the Rhode Island Employment Security Act and Temporary Disability Insurance Act poster. The previous unemployment poster said only that employment and training services were available. These changes affect the state’s labor law poster.
Other requirements for eligibility include: must be unemployed through no fault of your own, must have earned minimum qualifying wages, and must be physically able to work, available for work and actively seeking work.
The RI Department of Labor & Training offers many options and resources to help unemployed workers as well as those on disability.
Unemployment claims can be filed over the phone or online. Once the claim has been approved, Rhode Island offers the Teleserve Automated Payment System which allows you to request your weekly unemployment insurance benefit payments with a touch tone phone or online. Payments must be requested every week.
On the DLT website you can access the Guide to Filing a UI Claim that will help you prepare everything you need to file a claim. Categories cover information about yourself and your dependents, employment history, related financial information, education and processing preferences.
In addition to the unemployment changes on the poster, application forms for temporary disability insurance benefits can now be obtained from local netWORKri Career Centers. The previous poster listed options to file online or call to request an application.
If you need to update your Rhode Island labor law poster or you would like to order a 1-Year Compliance Protection Plan for worry-free compliance, go to the Poster Compliance Center website at www.postercompliance.com or call 1-800-322-3636.
Oregon Adds Military Family Leave and Updates Minimum Wage Poster
February 3rd, 2010Several states have recently added or expanded military family leave laws, following in the footsteps of Congress which added a military family leave provision to the federal Family & Medical Leave Act (FMLA) in 2008. The federal FMLA applies to employers with 50 or more employees.
The Oregon Military Family Leave Act (House Bill 2744) was passed by the 2009 Legislature, expanding the Oregon Family Leave Act (OFLA). Any employer already covered by the Oregon Family Leave Act, generally those with 25 or more employees in the state, is also covered by the Oregon Military Family Leave Act.
The Oregon Bureau of Labor and Industry (BOLI) has added information about the new Oregon Military Family Leave Act to its Oregon Family Leave Act Poster. This change does affect the Oregon labor law poster.
Under HB 2744 covered employers must provide up to 14 days of leave to employees who are spouses or domestic partners of service members that are on active duty. According to Oregon BOLI, it is an unlawful employment practice for employers to fail to grant this leave or discriminate against a spouse/domestic partner for requesting or taking the leave provided under the law.
An employee who takes military family leave is entitled to be restored to a position of employment and to the continuation of benefits, just like an employee taking OFLA-protected leave.
Oregon has also updated its Minimum Wage poster with an explanation that the state’s minimum wage will remain $8.40 in 2010. This is the first year the minimum wage has not increased since Ballot Measure 25 was passed by Oregon voters in 2002.
Although Oregon is one of 10 states that adjusts the minimum wage annually based on inflation, the minimum wage will not change this year because the state Consumer Price Index declined by 1.48%. The law ties Oregon’s minimum wage to increases in the CPI and gives no option for decreasing it when the CPI declines.
If you need to update your Oregon labor law poster or you would like to order a 1-Year Compliance Protection Plan for worry-free compliance, go to the Poster Compliance Center website at www.postercompliance.com or call 1-800-322-3636.
