PennLive (02/22/12) David Wenner

The U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration has cited Exel Inc. and SHS Staffing Solutions for various violations months after foreign students said they had been exploited while working at a Hershey Co. distribution center. OSHA cited Exel, which operates the distribution center for Hershey, for alleged violations that include neglecting to keep track of work-related injuries and illnesses and neglecting to carry out a sound program to protect workers’ hearing. OSHA also cited SHS, the staffing company that hired the students. SHS could be fined $5,000 for allegedly neglecting to properly train the workers. Exel and SHS have 15 business days to comply with the penalties, contest them, or request additional information.

WorkPermit.com (02/21/12)

The U.S. currently offers its E-3 visa only to Australians, but a bill under consideration in the U.S. Senate would add the Republic of Ireland to the E-3 visa program. The bill, sponsored by U.S. Sens. Scott Brown (R-MA) and Mark Kirk (R-IL), would allow people from Ireland with a professional-level job and either a bachelor’s degree or 12 years of relevant professional level experience to live and work in the U.S. for two years, with no limit on the number of times the visa can be renewed. Their spouses also could work in the U.S. by applying for an Employment Authorization Document (Form I-765) through U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Service. A larger immigration bill sponsored by U.S. Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY), which has been referred to the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee, has an Irish immigration provision.

Lexology (02/21/12)

In the case Brown v. TrueBlue Inc., two employees of the temporary staffing firm TrueBlue accused the company of violating the Pennsylvania Minimum Wage Act and the Fair Labor Standards Act. The case applies the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling in AT&T Mobility v. Concepcion, which holds that the Federal Arbitration Act pre-empts nearly all state law defenses to the enforcement of arbitration clauses.

The staffing firm filed a motion to compel arbitration 15 months after the plaintiffs’ complaint was filed and three days before a hearing on the plaintiffs’ motion for class certification. TrueBlue said that under their employment agreements, the plaintiffs were required to litigate complaints in individual arbitrations. The district court deemed valid an arbitration clause in an employment agreement that prohibited class arbitration and required employees to provide written consent to be represented in a lawsuit filed by another individual. The plaintiffs’ arguments were rejected by the court, and the case was stayed pending the outcome of the arbitrations. The Supreme Court’s decision in Concepcion abrogated the Pennsylvania Superior Court’s ruling in a different case that “[an arbitration clause is unconscionable and unenforceable where it is] contained in an adhesion contract and unfairly favors the drafting party.”

JDSupra (02/17/2012) Bill Pokorny

The Fair Labor Standards Act permits salary deductions for exempt workers for “unpaid disciplinary suspensions of one or more full days imposed in good faith for infractions of workplace conduct rules … imposed pursuant to a written policy applicable to all employees.” So, for example, a company can suspend without pay an exempt employee for violating a written sexual harassment policy that applies to all employees in the company, and this action likely would not violate the FLSA. However, employers should check their state’s laws as well, because some states’ laws do not follow the U.S. Department of Labor’s rules regarding exempt status.