Tarkowsky Employment Law Bulletin: Winter 2015

Integrity Staffing Solutions, Inc. v. Busk, 2014 U.S. LEXIS 8293 (Dec. 9, 2014)

The U.S. Supreme Court held that the time employees spend while undergoing company mandated security screening before and after every work day is not compensable under the Fair Labor Standards Act. The Court held that these security screens were not the employees’ principle work activities and were not “integral and indispensable” to their principal activities. As such, under the Portal-to-Portal act, the employees need not be compensated for these preliminary and postliminary activities.

The Ohio Supreme Court held that supervisor of a political subdivision (public employer) is immune from individual liability in a discrimination case brought under R.C. §4112.02(A). While this case has not been extended to private employers, this case seems to overturn prior precedent which maintained that a supervisor can be sued in his/her individual capacity based upon a claim for discrimination.

The EEOC determined that an employee can maintain a claim for discrimination against his/her employer based upon his/her status as a transgender individual. This case emphasizes a recent Strategic Enforcement Plan of the EEOC which identified the coverage of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender individuals under Title VII’s sex discrimination Provision. Furthermore, the U.S. Court of Appeals Sixth Circuit, which includes the state of Ohio, has previously held that a transgender individual can maintain a discrimination claim in Smith v. City of Salem, 378 F.3d 566 (6^th Cir. 2004).

Effective January 1, 2015, 29 C.F.R. 1904.39 has been modified to increase situations in which employers are mandated to report work-related incidents to OSHA. Under the previous version of the statute, employers needed to report incidents involving a work related fatality and hospitalization of three or more employees resulting from a single incident. Now, employer must report to OSHA any work related fatality, any in-patient hospitalization of any single employee, and any amputation, including the loss of an eye, resulting from a work-related incident.

Effective January 1, 2015, minimum wage in Ohio increased by fifteen cents per hour to $8.10 for non-tipped employees and $4.05 for tipped employees. This minimum wage only applies to employers with gross revenue of $297,000.00 and above. If employers gross less than $297,000, Ohio employers must only pay the federal minimum wage at $7.25 per hour for non-tipped employees and $2.13 per hour for tipped employees.