According to a U.S. DOL Dec. 7, 2009, statement (see reference below), employers should keep the following on their radar screens and be adequately prepared to respond to and be in compliance with correspondingly revised or new record-keeping requirements:
- "The Mine Safety and Health Administration’s proposed regulation on Notification of Legal Identity, which aims to require mine operators to provide increased identification information, would allow the agency to better target the most egregious and persistent violators and deter future violations.
- The Office of Labor-Management Standards’ proposed regulations on Notification of Employee Rights Under Federal Labor Laws, which would implement Executive Order 13496 and require all Government contracting agencies to include a contract clause requiring contractors to inform workers of their rights under Federal labor laws.
- The Wage and Hour Division’s rulemaking, Records to be Kept by Employers Under the Fair Labor Standards Act, which would update decades old recordkeeping regulations in order to enhance the transparency and disclosure to workers as to how their wages are computed and to allow for new workplace practices such as telework and flexiplace arrangements.
The Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s Occupational Injury and Illness Recording and Reporting Requirements rule, which would propose the collection of additional data to help employers and workers track injuries at individual workplaces, improve the Nation’s occupational injury and illness information data, and assist the agency in its enforcement of the safety and health workplace requirements."
In addition, the Fall 2009 release of the Unified Agenda of Regulatory and Deregulatory Actions is available on the Internet at http://www.reginfo.gov/public/jsp/Utilities/index.jsp
This public resource provides information about federal regulations. Also known as the "Unified Agenda," the twice-a-year published report summarizes the rules and proposed rules that each federal agency expects to issue during the next year.
This is important to know, because federal regulations can affect and impact small and mid-sized businesses. More specifically, revisions to existing employer record-keeping requirements, as well as additional requirements are expected.
The U.S. Department of Labor’s "Statement of Regulatory and Deregulatory Priorities," dated Dec. 7, 2009, summarizes the Secretary of Labor’s 12 strategic outcomes, which should be of interest to employers:
- "Increasing workers’ incomes and narrowing wage and income inequality.
- Securing safe and healthy workplaces, wages and overtime, particularly in high-risk industries.
- Assuring skills and knowledge that prepare workers to succeed in a knowledge-based economy, including in high-growth and emerging industry sectors like "green" jobs.
- Breaking down barriers to fair and diverse workplaces so that every worker’s contribution is respected.
- Improving health benefits and retirement security for all workers.
- Providing workplace flexibility for family and personal care-giving.
- Facilitating return to work for workers experiencing workplace injuries or illnesses who are able to work and sufficient income and medical care for those who are unable to work.
- Income support when work is impossible or unavailable.
- Helping workers who are in low-wage jobs or out of the labor market find a path into middle class jobs.
- Ensuring workers have a voice in the workplace.
- Assuring that global markets are governed by fair market rules that protect vulnerable people, including women and children, and provide workers a fair share of their productivity and voice in their work lives.
- Helping middle-class families remain in the middle class."
For related reading and information, see:
Fact Sheet #21: Recordkeeping Requirements under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), published by the U.S. DOL.
Record Retention Guidelines, authored by HRTools.com contributor, Judith Wilson
Record Retention Guidelines, Part 2: Personnel Records, also authored by Judith Wilson
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