How New Laws Affect Your Printing Business

Employers should be aware of several new federal and state laws that recently went into effect.

Federal Equal Pay

On Jan. 29, President Obama signed into law his first piece of legislation, the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act. The law is intended to reverse the U.S. Supreme Court's Ledbetter v. Goodyear Tire decision that said Ledbetter was not entitled to receive back pay and damages awarded by a lower court because she had not gotten her claim in before the statute of limitations on wage discrimination cases was up.

The new law will now allow the statute of limitations to begin each time a paycheck (or other form of payment) that reflects an alleged discrimination is awarded. It also removes the cap on compensatory and punitive damages in claims made under the Equal Pay Act.

Since the language in the act does not strictly define any sort of time period for how long pay-related employment decisions are subject to legal challenges, businesses can only assume that there will be no end to how long they should retain records. Until this factor is more clearly defined, employers should retain copies of offer letters to employees, performance reviews and disciplinary notices, payroll registers and quarterly tax filings, payroll change forms, incentive and bonus plan documents and reports, sales commission reports, and employee/employer plan retirement contributions.

New I-9 Revision Postponed

The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services originally announced that a revised I-9 would go into effect on Feb. 2. The new form has now been postponed until April 3. Employers should continue to use the previous version of the I-9 (Rev. 06/05/07) until the new Form I-9 is released on or around April 3.

New York State WARN Act

Effective Feb. 1, the NYS Workers Adjustment and Retraining Notification (WARN) Act requires employers with 50 or more employees to provide 90 days notice prior to a plant closing, layoff of 25 or more workers (or one-third of your workforce), or relocation of "substantially all" of a plant at least 50 miles away takes place. Violations are subject to civil penalties and back wages.

Employers who planned layoffs prior to Feb. 1 are not required to provide a state WARN notice but are strongly encouraged to do so, according to the New York State Department of Labor's Web site. Detailed information can be found at www.labor.state.ny.us.

New Jersey Hearing Aid Health Coverage

Effective March 30, "Grace's Law" will require state-regulated health insurers to cover the cost of hearing aids for children who are 15 years or younger. Coverage must include the purchase of a hearing aid for each ear, when medically necessary and as recommended or prescribed by a licensed doctor or audiologist. Benefits may be limited to $1,000 per hearing aid for each hearing-impaired ear every 24 months. Gov. Corzine signed the measure (S.467), named for Grace Gleba, into law on Dec. 30, 2008.

Legislative Developments New Jersey Workers' Compensation

Under legislation passed Feb. 9 by the Senate Labor Committee, employers could be subject to criminal penalties for misclassifying workers to avoid paying for workers' compensation coverage. Their workplaces could be shut down if there is even an accusation that employees are misclassified. A site could be shut down for as many as 12 days (10 days for employers to request a hearing and two days for a decision to be rendered) before an accusation is even proven.