Delaware Employment Law Blog

The U.S. Department of Labor (DOL,) formally published its long-awaited Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) regulations on Monday, November 17, 2008. The regulations contain hundreds of changes and become effective on January 16, 2009 – just a few days before President-Elect Barack Obama takes office. This post discusses some of the most important of these changes.

1. Military-Caregiver Leave.
Military-caregiver leave was mandated by the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) Eligible employees are entitled to take up to 26 weeks of leave during a “single 12-month period.” The regulations make clear that the 26 weeks will be calculated on a per servicemember, per injury basis. The 12-month period begins on first day of leave and ends 12 months later and any unused leave cannot be carried over.

The NDAA states that military-caregiver leave can be taken by spouses, children, parents or “next of kin.” Under the regulations, “next of kin” is defined as the nearest blood relative (other than spouse, child, or parent). All family members sharing the closest level of relationship (i.e. siblings) are next of kin. Importantly, the injured servicemember can designate in writing who is next of kin.

In order to take military-caregiver leave the servicemember must be receiving treatment for a “serious illness or injury” incurred in the line of duty while on active duty. The servicemember must be undergoing “medical treatment, recuperation, or therapy, is otherwise in ‘outpatient status,’ or is otherwise on the temporary disability retirement list, for a serious injury or illness.” “Servicemember” is defined as member of the Armed Forces, including a member of the National Guard or Reserves. The regulations make clear that the illness or injury need not have occurred at a time near the need for leave.

2. Active-Duty Leave (Leave because of a qualifying exigency).
The NDAA also created another form of military leave. This leave is called “active-duty leave” or “qualifying-exigency leave.” Up to 12 weeks of active duty leave can be taken by spouse, parent, child. This leave cannot be taken by a servicemember’s “next of kin.”
Active-duty leave must be as a result of qualifying exigency arising out of the fact that a member of the Reserves or National Guard is on active duty or has been notified of an impending call or order to active duty in support of a contingency operation. It does not apply to family members of Regular Armed Forces.

The regulations define seven categories of qualifying exigency: short-notice deployment; military events; child and school activities; financial and legal arrangements; counseling; rest and recuperation; post-deployment activities; and a “catch-all” category of situations agreed to by the employer and employee. Details of these categories are set out in an earlier post.

3. Serious Health Condition.
The regulations also modify the definition of “serious health condition.” Period of incapacity, however, unfortunately stays at “more than three consecutive calendar days.” Incapacity must, however, be for “full” days. Moreover, the first visit to the healthcare provider must occur within seven days of start of incapacity and the visit must be in-person.

When relying on two visits to a health care provider to establish “continuing treatment,” the visits must occur within 30 days of the first day of incapacity. The second visit must be determined by the health care provider, not the employee.

Chronic conditions must involve treatment at least twice a year.

4. Light Duty.
The regulations now provide that time spent in “light duty” work does not count against an employee’s FMLA leave entitlement, and the employee’s right to job restoration is held in abeyance during the light duty period. If an employee is voluntarily doing light duty work, he or she is not on FMLA leave.

5. Perfect Attendance Awards.
Employers will now be allowed to deny a “perfect attendance” award to an employee who does not have perfect attendance because he or she took FMLA leave – but only if the employer treats employees taking non-FMLA leave in an identical way.

6. Employer Notice Obligations.
The new regulations reorganize and modify an employer’s notifications obligations under the FMLA. The first change involves how employers must inform their employees of the FMLA. This general notice may inform employees electronically, but a paper posting must be seen by applicants. Employers without handbooks must provide general notice at time of hire. Employers with handbooks can include prototype general notice found in Appendix C of the regulations in such handbooks.

Upon a request for FMLA an employer must provide an employee with an eligibility notice. This notice addresses only whether the employee meets eligibility criteria. Notice must be supplied to employee within five business days, “absent extenuating circumstances.” The regulations provide that eligibility is determined (and notice provided) at the commencement of the first instance of leave for each FMLA-qualifying reason. If ineligible, the employer need only provide one reason for ineligibility.

If leave is designated as FMLA qualifying, an employer must provide the employee with a designation notice. A designation notice must be provided in writing and provided within five business days after employer has enough information to determine whether leave will be designated as FMLA leave. Prototype designation notice is contained in Appendix E of the regulations.

Only one notice is required for each FMLA-qualifying reason per 12-month period, regardless of whether leave is taken in a block or intermittently. Employer must notify the amount of leave counted against the employee’s entitlement. If known at time of designation it must be provided with notice. If unknown, employer must provide upon request of employee, but no more often than every 30 days.

Along with the designation notice, an employer must provide a rights and responsibilities notice. This notice must be in writing and spell out the specific expectations and obligations of employee and consequences of failure to meet these obligations. If leave has commenced, the notice must be mailed. A prototype notice of rights and responsibilities is contained in Appendix D of the regulations.

7. Employee Notice Obligations.
The new regulations also place new obligations on employees seeking FMLA leave. These obligations depend, in part, on whether the leave is “foreseeable” or “unforeseeable.”

Notice for foreseeable leave must be at least 30 days or “as soon as practicable” taking into account all the facts and circumstances. It should be the same day or the next business day after learning of need for leave. There is no more “two-day” rule allowing employees two days after the leave need occurs to inform the employer. Employees can be required to explain why it was not possible to give 30 days notice.

While an employee need not mention the FMLA or specifically request FMLA the first time leave is need, the employee must reference FMLA-qualifying reason if employer has previously provided FMLA-protected leave for this reason. This should eliminate an employers need to guess on every absence whether is for the FMLA-qualifying reason or not.

Importantly, an employer may require an employee to comply with notice and procedural requirements (including call-in procedures) for requesting leave, “absent unusual circumstances. Foreseeable FMLA leave can be delayed until 30 days after notice from employee if unusual circumstance don’t exist.

In the case of unforeseeable leave, an employee must provide notice to the employer “as soon as practicable under the facts and circumstances of the particular case.” Generally, notice should be within the time frame prescribed by employer’s usual and customary notice requirements for such leave. Employee must provide sufficient information for an employer to determine whether FMLA applies. Calling in “sick” without more explanation is not sufficient to trigger employer’s obligations.

An employee need not assert FMLA in first request for leave, but must reference FMLA-qualifying reason if employer has previously provided FMLA-protected leave for this reason. Again, an employer may require an employee to comply with notice and procedural requirements (including call-in procedures) for requesting leave, “absent unusual circumstances.” FMLA leave can be delayed for failure to comply unless policy requires notice sooner than practical.

8. Medical-Certification Process.
The new regulations make a number of changes to the medical certification process. Most importantly, it changes the time frames for requesting a certification and responding to such a request. An employer now has five days to request a certification instead of two days. The employee must then provide the requested certification within 15 days, regardless of type of leave. The employee must, however, be given additional time if he or she is using “diligent, good faith efforts” and informs employer of such efforts. Employer need not send a notice indicating that certification has not been received. An employer may get a certification annually for conditions that last longer than a year.

Employer may generally get a recertification every 30 days. If the initial certification says that an absence will last longer than 30 days, recertification can be requested when the initial certification says the absence will end or six months, whichever is shorter. Recertification can take place any time the employee requests: an extension of leave; circumstances described in initial certification have changed significantly; or the employer has information that casts doubt upon the stated reason for absence or continued validity of the certification.

The regulations also set sure a procedure for curing an incomplete certification. The employer must first state in writing what information is required to make certification complete and sufficient. The employee then has seven calendar days to cure the certification.

9. Substitution of Paid Leave.
Finally, the regulations impose new limits on the ability of employees to substitute paid leave for unpaid FMLA leave. Under the new regulations, an employee’s right to substitute paid leave will be determined by the terms and conditions of the employer’s normal leave policy, regardless of the type of leave (including vacation and personal leave). For example, if sick leave must be taken in full day increments, an employer can refuse substitution for a partial day of sick leave. Employee can, however, take the entire day and a full day will count towards his FMLA entitlement. Similarly, if personal days can be used upon two days notice, the same requirement can be imposed prior to allowance of substitution. The employee will, of course, be able to take the unpaid FMLA leave. The Employer can, and in most case probably will, waive the procedural requirements with or without the employee’s consent so that substitution can occur.

10. Legal Fixes.
The new regulations make a couple of technical legal changes. The first brings the regulations into compliance with the U.S. Supreme Court’s Ragsdale decision which dealt with the consequences of an employer’s failure to properly designate FMLA leave. In Ragsdale, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that the so-called “categorical” penalty (requiring an employer to provide 12 additional weeks of FMLA-protected leave after the employee had already taken 30 weeks of leave) contained in the DOL’s earlier regulation was inconsistent with the statutory limit of only 12 weeks of FMLA leave and contrary to the law’s remedial requirement that an employee demonstrate individual harm. The new rule removes these penalties and clarifies that if an employee suffers individual harm because the employer did not follow the notification rules, the employer may be liable.

The regulations also remove an impediment for settling FMLA claims. The regulations clarify that employees may voluntarily settle their FMLA claims without court or DOL approval. Prospective waivers of FMLA rights will continue to be prohibited.

The Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA), will be the talk of the HR world next week when the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL), formally issues its new revised final regulations. The new regulations finally define the scope of two new types of FMLA leave that were created by the National Defense Authorization Act for FY 2008 (NDAA). These two new kinds of leave, known as active-duty leave and military-caregiver leave, provide FMLA leave for the families of servicemembers called to active duty or injured in the line of duty. In an earlier post, (New FMLA Regulations Define Scope of Active-Duty Leave), we addressed the regulations dealing with active-duty leave.  Now we examine the regulations on military-caregiver leave.

The NDAA provides that “an eligible employee who is the spouse, son, daughter, parent, or next of kin of a covered servicemember shall be entitled to a total of 26 workweeks of leave during a [single] 12-month period to care for the servicemember.”   This type of leave is different from other forms of FMLA leave, including Active-Duty leave, in that it provides for up to 26 weeks of leave rather than 12 weeks.  In addition, the NDAA also provides that a covered servicemember’s “next of kin” is eligible to take FMLA leave to care for the servicemember.

Defining "Next of Kin"

The NDAA left several questions unanswered. The first group of questions involved the phrase "next of kin."  Just who is a "next of kin"?  Is it just one person or a group of relatives? Can the employee designate his or her "next of kin"?  Can the employer require an employee to prove his or relation to the servicemember? The new regulations address all of these questions.

The final regulations define a servicemember’s “next of kin” as the servicemember’s nearest blood relative, other than the covered servicemember’s spouse, parent, son, or daughter, in the following order of priority: blood relatives who have been granted legal custody of the servicemember by court decree or statutory provisions, brothers and sisters, grandparents, aunts and uncles, and first cousins, unless the covered servicemember has specifically designated in writing another blood relative as his or her nearest blood relative for purposes of military-caregiver leave under FMLA, in which case the designated individual shall be deemed to be the covered servicemember’s next of kin.

The final regulations also provide that all family members sharing the closest level of familial relationship to the servicemember shall be considered the servicemember’s next of kin, unless the servicemember has specifically designated an individual as his or her next of kin for military-caregiver leave purposes. In the absence of a designation, where a servicemember has three siblings, all three siblings will be considered the servicemember’s next of kin.

Finally, the regulations permit an employer to confirm an employee’s status as a covered servicemember’s next of kin.

How Much Leave Is Available?

The next set of questions left open by the NDAA involved the amount of military-caregiver leave that could be taken by an employee. Is this type of leave a one-time entitlement?  Can an employee take more than one period of military caregiver leave to care for multiple covered servicemembers with a serious injury or illness, or the same covered servicemember with multiple serious injuries or illnesses? How should the “single 12-month period” should be determined?

The final rule explains that an eligible employee may take no more than 26 workweeks of military caregiver leave in any “single 12-month period.” This section also provides that the 26-workweek entitlement is to be applied as a per servicemember, per-injury entitlement, meaning that an eligible employee may take 26 workweeks of leave to care for one covered servicemember in a “single 12-month period” and then take another 26 workweeks of leave in a different “single 12-month period” to care for another covered servicemember or to care for the same covered servicemember with a subsequent serious injury or illness. The final rule also provides that the “single 12-month period” begins on the first day the eligible employee takes military-caregiver leave and ends 12 months after that date.

The U.S. Department of Labor's (DOL), Office of Labor-Management Standards (OLMS), issued a final rule that will provide union members with more complete information about finances held in union trusts.  Union trusts are established and maintained primarily to provide benefits to union members and their beneficiaries, and common examples include credit unions, strike funds, redevelopment or investment groups, training funds, apprenticeship programs, building funds and educational funds. Under the rule, unions will be required to annually file a Form T-1 for trusts in which a union, alone or in combination with other unions, possesses managerial control or financial dominance.

The Form T-1 will use the same basic template as the existing Form LM-2. Only labor unions with total annual receipts of $250,000 or more will need to file a Form T-1. Additionally, labor unions will not be required to file a Form T-1 on trusts subject to certain other disclosure requirements.

The union-trust transparency rule was issued on the same day as the regulations dealing with the Family and Medical Leave Act (FLMA).

The Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA), will be clarified when the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL), formally publishes new regulations on Monday, November 17, 2008. Among the many changes contained in the regulations, are provisions dealing with the recently enacted leave benefits for family members of both seriously injured or ill service members and National Guard and Reserve members who have been called to service.

On January 28, 2008, President Bush signed into law the National Defense Authorization Act for FY 2008 (NDAA). One section of the NDAA was an amendment to the Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993 (FMLA) which created two new types of FMLA leave: Military Caregiver Leave and Active-Duty Leave. Although the NDAA became effective immediately following the President's signature, the DOL announced that it would not look to enforce the Act until it issued regulations as long as an employer was attempting to comply with the NDAA "in good faith." The new regulations apparently end this amnesty period.

Active-Duty Leave, as the name suggests, is triggered when the employee's relative is called to active duty. It can be taken by employees spouse, parent, or child who is on or has been called to active duty in the Armed Forces. These workers may take up to 12 weeks of FMLA leave when they experience "any qualifying exigency." The new regulations finally define what is a "qualifying exigency."

Section 825.126(a) of the final rule defines qualifying exigency by providing a specific and exclusive list of reasons for which an eligible employee can take leave because of a qualifying exigency. These reasons are divided into seven general categories: (1) Short-notice deployment, (2) Military events and related activities, (3) Childcare and school activities, (4) Financial and legal arrangements, (5) Counseling, (6) Rest and Recuperation, (7) Post-Deployment activities, and (8) Additional activities.

The short-notice deployment category involve the situation where a covered military member is notified less that seven days prior to a deployment. Under these circumstances, leave can be taken to address any issue that arises from the deployment. Leave taken for this purpose can be used for a period of seven calendar days beginning on the date the covered military member is notified of an impending call or order to active duty.

The Military Events and related activities category allows leave to attend any official ceremony, program, or event sponsored by the military and to attend family support and assistance programs and informational briefings sponsored or promoted by the military, military service organizations, or the American Red Cross that are related to the active duty or call to active duty status of a covered military member.

The Childcare and School activities category allows an eligible employee to take leave to arrange childcare or attend certain school activities for a biological, adopted, or foster child, a stepchild, or a legal ward of the covered military member, or a child for whom the covered military member stands in loco parentis, who is either under age 18, or age 18 or older and incapable of self-care because of a mental or physical disability at the time that FMLA leave is to commence.

Leave may be taken under this to arrange for alternative childcare when the active duty or call to active duty status of a covered military member necessitates a change in the existing childcare arrangement; (2) to provide childcare on an urgent, immediate need basis (but not on a routine, regular, or everyday basis) when the need to provide such care arises from the active duty or call to active duty status of a covered military member; (3) to enroll the child in or transfer the child to a new school or day care facility when enrollment or transfer is necessitated by the active duty or call to active duty status of a covered military member; and (4) to attend meetings with staff at a school or a day care facility, such as meetings with school officials regarding disciplinary measures, parent-teacher conferences, or meetings with school counselors, when such meetings are necessary due to circumstances arising from the active duty or call to active duty status of a covered military member.

The Financial and Legal Arrangements category allows qualifying exigency leave to make or update financial or legal arrangements to address the covered military member’s absence while on active duty or call to active duty status, such as preparing and executing financial and health-care powers of attorney, transferring bank account signature authority, enrolling in the Defense Enrollment Eligibility Reporting System (“DEERS”), obtaining military identification cards, or preparing or updating a will or living trust. It also allows leave to act as the covered military member’s representative before a federal, state, or local agency for purposes of obtaining, arranging, or appealing military service benefits while the covered military member is on active duty or call to active duty status and for a period of 90 days following the termination of the covered military member’s active duty status.

The Counseling category allows qualifying leave to attend counseling provided by someone other than a health-care provider for oneself, for the covered military member, or for the biological, adopted, or foster child, a stepchild, or a legal ward of the covered military member, or a child for whom the covered military member stands in loco parentis, who is either under age 18, or age 18 or older and incapable of self-care because of a mental or physical disability at the time that FMLA leave is to commence, provided that the need for counseling arises from the active duty or call to active duty status of a covered military member.

The Rest and Recuperation category provides leave to spend time with a covered military member who is on short-term, temporary rest and recuperation leave during the period of deployment. Eligible employees may take up to five days of leave for each instance of rest and recuperation.

The Post-Deployment activities category allows qualifying exigency leave to attend arrival ceremonies, reintegration briefings and events, and any other official ceremony or program sponsored by the military for a period of 90 days following the termination of the covered military member’s active duty and to address issues that arise from the death of a covered military member while on active duty status, such as meeting and recovering the body of the covered military member and making funeral arrangements.

Finally, the Additional Activities category allows leave to address other events which arise out of the covered military member’s active duty or call to active duty status provided that the employer and employee agree that such leave shall qualify as an exigency, and agree to both the timing and duration of such leave.

A future post will address how the new regulations answer the many open issues surrounding military caregiver leave. Stay tuned.

The U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) released the newly revised regulations governing the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA).   This is the first major regulatory update of the 1993 law in more than ten years. 

We will be providing the highlights of the changes shortly.  If you can't wait, the 750-page report can be accessed via the electronic version of the FMLA regulations in the Federal Register.

The Employee Free Choice Act (EFCA), is a priority for organized labor following the election.  The bill, described in greater detail in earlier posts on the EFCA, would unionize a workplace as soon as majority of employees signed cards saying they wanted the union to represent them.  No secret ballot election would be required.

Unions see the bill as a way to stop their declining membership, which has dipped to 7.5 percent in the private sector.  Employer groups have vowed to fight the bill.  “This will be Armageddon,”  according to Randel Johnson, vice president for labor policy at the United States Chamber of Commerce.

A recent report by the Bureau of National Affairs (BNA) indicates that that unions are fairing quite well under the current system.  According to the report, unions won 66.8 percent of secret ballot elections conducted by the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) in the first six months of 2008.  This is a marked increase from the 58.5 percent during the same period in 2007.  According to Daniel V. Yager, Chief Policy Officer and General Counsel of the HR Policy Association, "This new data clearly demonstrates that the current system, if anything, is working to the unions' advantage."

Stay tuned.

The Society of Human Resources ("SHRM"), reports that that Human Resource professionals are preparing for tough times as the holiday season approaches. The results of a recent workplace poll warns that many HR professionals think they will be playing the role of Scrooge by handing out pink slips. The poll indicates 39 percent of HR professionals think that layoffs are "likely" should economic conditions continue to deteriorate. 

The poll also contained the following chilling actions as "likely" in their organizations if things don't improve:

70 percent of HR professionals feel budget cuts across entire organizations will occur
50 percent says bonuses will be cut
45 percent say wages will be frozen
55 percent say hiring freezes will be imposed.

On a lighter note, attorneys William W. Bowser and Scott A. Holt will present The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly: Employment Law Update 2008 at the 8th annual Delaware SHRM conference on November 18 and 19. This year, the program will be held at the Clayton Hall Conference Center at the University of Delaware. This yearly update is a great way to get up-to-speed on the many important developments from the last twelve months--in the courts and legislatures of Delaware and nation wide.

It's official. The "Brangelina" clan, headed by Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie, has grown by two. And what's the first thing that comes to mind?  The Family Medical Leave Act (FMLA), of course!  Ok, maybe not. 

The (Somewhat Complicated) Family Tree

The proud parents have announced that Vivienne Marcheline and Knox Leon were born on Sunday in a hospital in the South of France.  The unmarried Pitt and Jolie have four other children.  Jolie adopted Maddox in 2002 and Zaharah in 2005.  Pitt adopted the two in January 2006, which was followed by the birth of the couple's first child together, Shiloh who was born in Nambia in 2006.  The couple adopted Pax in 2007. 

It's safe to say that this family is a long way from what was once considered a traditional family unit.  What if Brad or Jolie were not motion-picture superstars but, instead, were your employees?  How would the FMLA be applied to situations occurring in their family?

The Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) is one of the most complicated employment laws for HR professionals to administer. It's hard enough to determine whether the Act applies to an employee who requests leave because of his own serious health condition. It can be even more challenging when leave is requested to care for a new or sick family member.

ABCs of the FMLA

The FMLA generally provides that certain employers (companies that employ 50 or more workers) must allow an employee who has worked at least 12 months and 1,250 hours to take up to 12 weeks of unpaid leave for one of the following the birth of a child or to take care of the newborn; placement of a child for adoption or foster care; or to care for a spouse, child, or parent with a serious health condition.

Rock-a-Bye Baby

Both male and female employees may take leave for the birth and care of a newborn child. This type of leave has nothing to do with the medical condition of the newborn or the mother. As a result, Brad and Angelina are simply entitled to take leave as a result of the birth of the twins.

There are only three real limitations to this type of leave. First, the leave must be taken within a year of the child's birth. Second, it must be taken in a single block of full days off. In other words, Brad can't take leave three weeks after the birth of the child and then wait several months to take the remaining nine weeks. Similarly, this type of leave can't be taken intermittently or for partial days unless you agree to that arrangement. And finally, if Brad and Angelina both worked for you, they are entitled to a total of 12 weeks jointly.

The FMLA also requires you to grant leave when a child is placed with your employee for adoption or foster care. According to U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) regulations, FMLA leave may be used before the employee actually gets the child. She may take FMLA leave to attend meetings with an attorney, doctor's visits, and court appearances or to fly out of the country to pick up the child. Thus, Brad and Angelina could have taken FMLA leave off to fly to Cambodia, Vietnam, or Ethiopia in connection with the adoption of Maddox, Pax and Zahara.

Are You My Mother?

The FMLA allows employees to take unpaid leave to care for certain family members who are suffering from a "serious health condition." The law severely restricts the family members for whom leave can be taken, however. An employee can take leave "to care for" his spouse, son or daughter, or parent, but not for siblings, grandparents, or grandchildren. While it might seem that determining whether leave must be granted for a family member is straightforward, the definitions of "spouse," "child," and "parent" can make figuring out whether leave is required harder than it looks.

First, a "spouse" is either a husband or wife defined by the law of the state where the employee resides. That's a particular challenge for Delaware employers that have employees living in Pennsylvania. That state recognizes "common-law marriage," while Delaware doesn't. As a result, Brad could not take FMLA leave to care for Angelina if they lived in Delaware, but might if they lived in Pennsylvania and their relationship constituted a "common-law marriage."

The regulations define "child" as either a biological child, an adopted child, a foster child, a stepchild, a legal ward, or a child for whom the employee is standing in loco parentis (that's Latin for "in place of the parents"). In other words, the employee must have day-to-day responsibility for taking care of and financially supporting the child. The child must also generally be under 18 or incapable of caring for herself because of a mental or physical disability. All the Brangelina kids meet this definition one way or another.

The FMLA regulations define "parent" to include the employee's biological parent or the person who stood in loco parentis to him when he was younger. As a result, an employee can have more than two "parents" for FMLA purposes. As a result, the adopted kids might someday be eligible to take care of Brad and Angelina, but also their biological parents.

For more information on the basis of FMLA and what it requires, check in at HR Summer School for FMLA 101.

How employers and employees can make their workplace more environment-friendly is one of my favorite employment topics.  One of my favorite movies is "What About Bob?" starring Bill Murray and Richard Dreyfus.  In the move, Murray is absolutely hilarious as Bob Wiley, a neurotic and manipulative patient of Doctor Leo Marvin, an egotistical psychiatrist played by Dreyfus.  The hilarity begins when Bob tracks down Dr. Marvin and his family on vacation using "baby steps," the buzz phrase from Marvin's new book of techniques for treating mental patients and their phobias.

What's this got to do with going green at work? It may be a way to really get started. I stumbled upon a post in the blog, grist.org,  which advocates for just such an approach. 

Just what are the "baby steps" for going green at work?

Turn Off the Lights. Commercial buildings account for 18 percent of the nation's greenhouse-gas emissions. A good portion of the problem is caused by leaving lights on in vacant rooms. Switch off the lights whenever you leave your workspace empty for more than 15 minutes, and especially when you leave for the day.

Turn Off Your Computer.  Each computer left on at all times results in more than 1,000 extra pounds of greenhouse gases each year. At a minimum, consider using the sleep mode. The widespread use of sleep mode could prevent the annual release of hundreds of millions of tons of global warming.

Print Fewer Copies. The average American office worker uses 10,000 pages of copy paper. If you must print, do it on both sides of the page and reuse paper that's only been printed on one side.

Turn Off Your Gadgets. If you use printers, scanners, and copiers only on an occasional basis, turn them off until you need them. Use a power strip to turn off your cell phone charger, lamp, and such when you're not using them.

Ditch the Styrofoam. Stock your lunchroom, stock it with reusable mugs and kitchenware.  Oh, and get rid of the plastic stirrers. It's estimated that 138 billion of them wind up in the trash each year.

Control the Thermostat.  This is a tough one. As previously debated on the Delaware Employment Law Blog, the office thermostat is a place of great conflict.  But it is also a great place to save energy since heating and cooling systems suck up about 22 percent of energy used in the commercial sector.

Delaware's General Assembly put to rest several bills that would have had substantial negative impact on the State's employers.  The 144th General Assembly concluded on June 30th without having passed several controversial pieces of legislation.  Here are the highlights:

Independent Contractors 

Perhaps the most controversial bill that died on June 30 was House Bill 468. This bill, called the Construction Industry Independent Contractor Act would have imposed substantial penalties on contractors who improperly classify their employees, including fines, terms of imprisonment, and loss of business licenses. A previous blog post discusses this bill in greater detail, see Construction-Industry Employers Should Be Aware of Proposed Legislation

 

Sexual-Orientation Discrimination

A bill prohibiting discrimination based on sexual orientation in employment as well as housing, public works contracting, public accommodations, and insurance and grants was shot down again. Senate Bill 144 was the just latest attempt to expand the anti-discrimination laws to include sexual orientation.   Although this bill was defeated, it is sure to be resurrected in the next General Assembly, just as it has for the last nine years.

 

Elimination of Employment At-Will

Another perennial loser, a bill eliminating the employment at-will doctrine, was again sent to its grave. House Bill 327 never got out of committee.

 

Minimum Wage Bills

Finally, two bills that would have increased the minimum wage expired on June 30. Senate Bill 204 would have increased the minimum wage from $7.15 per hour to $7.75 per hour effective March 1, 2009, and from $7.75 per hour to $8.25 per hour effective March 1, 2010. If passed, Delaware's minimum wage would have been the highest in the nation.

And, Senate Bill 280  would have increased the minimum wage for "tipped" employees on January 1 of each year through 2012.  The rate would have increased from the current $2.23 per hour to $2.51 per hour on January 1, 2009; to $2.86 per hour on January 1, 2010; to $3.32 per hour on January 1, 2011; and to$3.57 per hour on January 1, 2012.  The minimum wage for “tipped” employees has been $2.23 per hour since 1987.