Mass Co. Earns Star Level Safety Status Again

Here’s a safety distinction every employer should strive for.

The U.S. Department of Labor renewed the “Star Level” designation of Veolia ES Technical Solutions LLC for workplace safety and and health achievements, the agency announced July 27.

Veolia ES Technical Solutions LLC, which employs about 65 workers in Charlestown, Massachusetts, provides hazardous waste management, shipment and disposal as well as environmental services for businesses in the Northeast.

OSHA first recognized Veolia ES Technical Solutions LLC in 2019 as a “star” site – the highest level of recognition that the agency’s Voluntary Protection Programs offers. The facility earned its latest VPP star renewal following a team of OSHA safety and health experts’ onsite evaluation in February 2022.

OSHA’s Voluntary Protection Programs recognize and promote effective worksite-based safety and health management systems. In the VPP, management, labor and OSHA establish cooperative relationships at workplaces that have implemented comprehensive safety and health management systems. VPP approval is OSHA’s official recognition of the outstanding efforts of employers and employees who have created exemplary worksite safety and health management systems. 

“The level of workplace safety and health practiced by this recent participant is commendable,” said OSHA Regional Administrator Galen Blanton in Boston. “Site leadership supports all aspects of a comprehensive safety and health management system and involves employees in OSHA initiatives such as the annual Fall Stand Down and Safe & Sound Week events.”  

Academies Validate EEOC Pay Data Collection

The government’s collection of pay data will pay dividends, a new report says.

The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC or the Commission) welcomed the report by the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine (National Academies) issued Thursday, which studied the EEOC’s historic, first-time collection of pay data from certain private employers and federal contractors completed in 2020. The study finds that the data EEOC collected may be used effectively by the agency to help focus its resources to identify pay discrimination and offers short-term and long-term recommendations for improving pay data collection by the agency if undertaken in the future.  The National Academies study was commissioned by a unanimous vote of the bipartisan Commission in 2020.

“The study confirmed what we at the EEOC have long known – collecting and analyzing pay data can be a useful tool in preventing and combating pay discrimination in American workplaces,” said EEOC Chair Charlotte A. Burrows. “The National Academies’ rigorous examination of the Commission’s historic first pay data collection validates our efforts to collect and use compensation data to achieve pay equity in our nation.”

Specifically, the study finds:

• Collecting pay data is necessary to assess pay practices and differences in compensation by sex, race, and ethnicity.
• The data the EEOC collected is unique and no other federal data collection captures the same information from private-sector employers.
• Response rates from employers submitting pay data were about 90% for this historic, first-time data collection, covering approximately 70,000 employers and over 100 million workers in each collection year, even though EEOC was not able to identify every eligible firm.
• Pay data would enable the EEOC to pursue a more data-driven approach to investigation and resolution of discrimination charges and could be used to help prioritize investigations and the allocation of resources; identify systemic discrimination; and analyze national, regional, and industry-based pay gaps.
• To improve the EEOC’s ability to enforce the law and address pay disparities, the EEOC should expand and strengthen its data collections. It recommended several short- and long-term improvements that would not only enhance the reliability of any future pay data collection, but would also make it easier for employers to produce the information.

Worker’s Death Costs Employer $74K in Fines; Government Says Roofer Ignored Prior Warnings

It’s one thing to be cited once for safety violations, quite another when you’ve been warned but not fixed the problem.

In 2018, federal workplace safety investigators cited a Pompano Beach roofing contractor who exposed its workers to the construction industry’s most lethal hazard, falls from elevation. The U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration determined that the company’s failure to heed that warning claimed the life of a 25-year-old worker in February 2022.

An OSHA investigation after the incident found that J & L Roofing Inc. allowed employees to tear off an existing roof without fall protection at a two-story residence in Davie. The worker fell from the roof onto a lower level and then to the ground. The incident occurred on Jan. 19, 2022, and the worker succumbed to his injuries after 29 days in a hospital.

OSHA cited the company for one willful violation for exposing workers engaged in roofing activities to fall hazards without protection, and one serious violation for failing to train workers on the correct use of fall arrest systems. The agency also issued an other-than-serious violation for failing to report a work-related hospitalization within 24-hours and a fatality within 8 hours as the law requires.

The agency has proposed $74,751 in penalties.

“Had J & L Roofing, Inc. ensured that its workers were protected from the construction industry’s leading cause of death, a young man’s life could have been spared,” said OSHA Area Office Director Condell Eastmond in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. “Instead, a family and a community are left to grieve and an employer is learning a painful lesson that federal workplace safety standards exist to help prevent needless and unnecessary tragedies.”

In 2018, OSHA issued a citation to J & L Roofing, Inc. for its failure to ensure the use of fall protection at a Tamarac worksite.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics reports that falls remain the leading cause of death in the construction industry, accounting for 368 fatalities in 2020, of which 39 happened in Florida. They account for about one in every three workplace fatalities.

The company has 15 business days from receipt of their citations and penalties to comply, request an informal conference with OSHA, or contest the findings before the independent Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission.

Visit OSHA’s website for information on developing a workplace safety and health program. Employers can also contact the agency for information about OSHA’s compliance assistance resources and for free help on complying with OSHA standards

Family Dollar Stores Hit With $330K Fine Over Worker’s Death in Chasing Down a Shoplifter

The incident exposed a fatal safety flaw in the store, the feds alleged.

The U.S. Department of Labor has proposed $330,446 in penalties to a Family Dollar store in Orlando after an investigation into a fatal shoplifting incident uncovered willful and repeat safety violations.

On Dec. 11, 2021, shortly after struggling with a shoplifter in a failed effort to prevent their escape with merchandise, a 41-year-old store employee experienced shortness of breath and nausea. An assistant manager called 911, but the employee later died at a local hospital.

Following its investigation of this incident, the department’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration cited Family Dollar Stores Inc. for entrapment hazards and issued a hazard alert letter for exposing employees to hazardous conditions associated with workplace violence. OSHA urged the company to develop and train employees on proper procedures in case of a robbery or shoplifting incident, and to provide a means for workers to request immediate assistance from the local police department or alarm company.

OSHA cited the national discount retailer for a willful violation for keeping an emergency exit door locked with a single key held by management. The agency also issued citations for two repeat violations for failing to keep an unobstructed pathway for workers to walk through, and for allowing aisles to remain obstructed by carts and merchandise boxes.

“Family Dollar has shown time and again that their priority is profits, not their employees. Our inspection revealed multiple unsafe conditions that management should have addressed, including locked doors and blocked exits,” said OSHA Area Office Director Sarah Carle in Orlando, Florida. “Tragically, someone lost their life as a result of an altercation. Incidents such as this can be averted when workers are trained on a violence prevention program that empowers them to recognize and avoid risks on the job.”

Family Dollar Stores have a long history of OSHA investigations at locations nationwide. The retailer is owned by Dollar Tree Inc., headquartered in Chesapeake, Virginia, and has more than 193,000 employees.

The company has 15 business days from receipt of their citations and penalties to comply, request an informal conference with OSHA, or contest the findings before the independent Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission.

Visit OSHA’s website for information on developing a workplace safety and health program. Employers can also contact the agency for information about OSHA’s compliance assistance resources and for free help on complying with OSHA standards.

Tribal Webpage Launched by the EEOC

Native Americans and Alaska Natives now have a one-stop shop for engaging with the agency.

The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission’s (EEOC) Office of Field Programs has launched a new webpage for its tribal programs, the federal agency announced Monday.

The webpage is a consolidated resource for information about the EEOC’s work with Native Americans and Alaska Natives. It contains background about the EEOC’s long-time partnership with Tribal Employment Rights Offices (TEROs), President Biden’s Tribal Consultation memorandum and the EEOC’s Tribal Consultation Process as well as other related information.

“One of the Commission’s priorities is to explore ways to collaborate and strengthen the EEOC’s relationship with Tribal nations,” said EEOC Chair Charlotte A. Burrows. “We have continued our partnership with the Tribal Employment Rights Offices and the Council for Tribal Employment Rights (CTER). To that end, we recently established an EEOC-TERO joint committee to strengthen our cooperation with TEROs and help achieve our common goals of addressing and eliminating unlawful employment discrimination.”

TEROs serve as an essential liaison between tribes and the EEOC. When an individual experiences employment discrimination on or near Tribal lands, TEROs are prepared to respond and refer cases to the EEOC when necessary. The EEOC also provides financial support for TEROs to protect the workplace rights of American Indians and Alaska Natives.

TEROs that are interested  in engaging with the EEOC can reach out to SLTP@eeoc.gov.

To view the full tribal programs webpage, visit https://www.eeoc.gov/tribal-programs.

Mental Health Leave Takes Care of Whole Person

It’s just as vital as leave for physical illness, advises guest contributor Robin Paggi.

I’m in my late 50s and, like many people my age, I used to think that employees who
took a mental health day off work were abusing the sick leave their employers
generously provided. My opinion on this has changed. My generation usually went to
work when we were physically ill for a couple of reasons: 1) we weren’t going to let
some coughing and sneezing prevent us from doing our jobs and, 2) employers were
not required to provide sick leave when we were younger and many of them didn’t.

Because of COVID-19, most people now agree that employees should not work when
they are physically ill — even with a cold. We already knew about germs, how they
spread, and what happens when they do, but now we really get it — employees
spreading their germs at work can cause some serious damage.

We should view mental health the same way we view physical health. Employees who
work when they are under duress can cause damage to themselves and others, and
they should not work then either. Employees who feel their mental health would impair
them on the job should be given the day off if possible. Employers are not required to
provide a so-called “mental health” day off; however, they are required to provide at
least three paid days of sick leave that can be used to prevent, diagnose, care, or treat
an existing health condition, including mental health.

When employees call in sick, employers are allowed to ask them why they are taking a
sick day, including asking the nature of the ailment. I’d stay away from that question for
a couple of reasons. First, employers are not allowed to ask questions about illnesses
that are covered by the Americans with Disabilities Act including mental disabilities.
Employers who are unfamiliar with the ADA might unwittingly find themselves in
forbidden territory, which could lead to legal problems.

Second, employers who communicate directly or indirectly that they don’t believe in
mental health days off just encourage employees to fake a physical illness. This makes
the questioning a waste of time and leads employees to think their employer doesn’t
care about their entire well-being.

A survey of over 120,000 U.S. employees conducted by Lyra Health in 2020
demonstrates what happens when employees feel uncared for. Eighty-three percent of
the respondents said they were experiencing mental health issues because of the
pandemic, 40 percent felt their employer didn’t care about their mental health beyond
their ability to be productive, 25 percent felt their employer didn’t support their mental
health in any way, and 38 percent said they were considering leaving their jobs.
Employees who think their employer doesn’t care about them tend not to care about
their employer.

California employers are already required to provide paid sick leave. If you haven’t done
so already, I encourage you to openly accept employees’ use of paid sick days for
mental health reasons. Doing so benefits your employees and your relationship with
them. Having said all that, despite the immediate benefit of a mental health day, two-
thirds of the respondents of a 2018 American Psychological Association survey said the
benefit is short-lived. That’s because workplace factors that often lead to or exacerbate
mental health issues (such as poor working conditions, poor management, and lack of
recognition) are still present when employees return to work.

Thus, addressing those workplace factors is necessary for mental health days off to
have a lasting positive impact. We are still living in a very stressful time, and we need to
do everything we can to safeguard our mental health. Taking a day off for mental health
reasons is not an abuse of sick leave — it is taking care of the whole person. We all
need a healthy brain as well as a healthy body to perform at our best.

Robin Paggi is the owner of Human Resource Development and a regular contributor to this blog. A version of this article first appeared in the The Bakersfield Californian. For more columns by Robin, type Paggi in the search field.

EEOC to Host Webinar ¡En Español!’ Only

The EEOC is breaking the language barrier–its own until now.

On Aug. 4, 2022, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) will hold a virtual EEO workshop for employers exclusively in Spanish, a first for the agency., the agency announced Friday.

The fee-based event will cover the essential information that every employer and manager needs to understand in order to fulfill their legal obligation to maintain a workplace free from unlawful harassment and discrimination. Additionally, the workshop will focus on a few key hot topics, including harassment, retaliation, and employment issues related to COVID-19.

“This historic event advances many EEOC priorities and strengthens our longtime relationship with Spanish-speaking communities,” said EEOC Chair Charlotte A. Burrows. “It is important to ensure that our outreach is conducted in languages other than English. Educating employers and small businesses about the laws that prohibit employment discrimination is a critical part of the EEOC’s mission.”  

The workshop is geared toward employers, including small business owners, supervisors, managers, team leads, and HR personnel who primarily speak Spanish and/or have limited English proficiency (LEP). However, the information will also be useful to employees and advocates, such as union officials and non-governmental organizations serving LEP and Spanish-speaking communities.  

According to 2019 data from the U.S. Census Bureau, more than 41 million Americans, or about 13.5% of the population, speak Spanish at home. Recognizing the importance of the immigrant labor force, in the past year, the EEOC has signed cooperative agreements with the embassies of Mexico, Guatemala, Honduras, and El Salvador.

To register for the Spanish workshop or obtain more information, please visit: https://www.eeoc.gov/training/2022/07/eeo-en-espanol-avoiding-employment-discrimination-understanding-law-and-best

EXCEL Conference Registration Period Opens

No conflict on this point–addressing conflicts is the point.

The U.S Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) announced Wednesday the opening of registration for the annual EXCEL (Examining Conflicts in Employment Laws) training conference. The virtual event, to be held Aug. 23-25, 2022, provides the federal and private employer community tools and strategies to address emerging issues in equal employment opportunity (EEO) law.

Marking a milestone anniversary, the theme for this year’s conference is “25 Years of Excellence.” EEOC Chair Charlotte A. Burrows and Office of Personnel Management (OPM) Director Kiran Ahuja will open the conference with a fireside chat to discuss the Biden Administration’s whole-of-government approach to equity and the future of work, while highlighting the EEOC and OPM’s efforts to promote diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility in America’s workplaces. The conference will feature a wide range of workshops on ongoing and emerging issues such as Diversity, Equity, Inclusion & Accessibility (DEIA); pay equity; racial and systemic discrimination; civil rights and the pandemic; retaliation; and artificial intelligence and algorithmic decision-making.

The EXCEL conference is geared toward EEO managers, supervisors, practitioners, HR professionals, attorneys, ADR specialists and other interested parties in the federal and private sector. It features more than 30 interactive workshops, virtual networking opportunities and a platform to engage in discussions on EEO hot topics.

Registration for this much-anticipated three-day virtual training conference is $800 per person. Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM), Human Resource Certification Institute (HRCI), Federal EEO Investigator, and Federal EEO Counselor Refresher credits will be provided.  Additionally, application will be made with the Virginia State Bar for Continuing Legal Education (CLE) credit and support will be provided for conference attendees to apply for CLE credit in other states.

For a copy of the agenda and to register today visit the EXCEL registration page at www.eeotraining.eeoc.gov.

Fed STEM Report Shows Mixed Bag for Women

The feds have a ways to go on progress for women in STEM occupations.

The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) on July 13 issued a report on the participation and experiences of women who work in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) within the federal government. Although there has been a great deal of focus on women in STEM in the private sector, little has been reported on the diversity and experiences of women working in STEM in the federal sector. The main findings from the report include:

• Overall, women accounted for 29.3% of STEM federal workers. Science occupations had the most (49,546), while math occupations in the federal sector had the fewest number of women (6,469).
   
• A total of 16,454 women served in leadership roles, compared to 47,167 men. Only 25.9% of all STEM leaders were women.
   
• The overall average age of women in STEM occupations in the federal sector was 45.5 years, compared to an average age of 47.4 years for men.
   
• Most of the women working in STEM in the federal sector were White (66.02%). By comparison, 14.58% were African American or Black, 9.76% Asian, 6.42% Hispanic or Latina, 0.97% American Indian/Alaska Native, and 0.28% Hawaiian or Pacific Islander.
   
• Approximately 10.7% of women working in STEM were individuals with disabilities.
   
• In FY 2019, there were 34,483 women counseled and 14,096 female federal employees who decided to file formal complaints.
   
• Despite the popular belief that sexual harassment is the foremost type of discrimination raised by women, generalized harassment was a larger issue in FY 2019—with 1,986 complaints filed, compared to 358 complaints for sexual harassment.
   
• There was a strong relationship between women’s intentions to leave their current agency and complaint activity; the more sex-related complaint activity, the more likely women were to state an intention to leave.
   
• Women’s belief that their supervisors were committed to a diverse workforce was significantly related to fewer numbers of individuals receiving counseling and to fewer formal complainants.
   
• After taking pay into account, women were about 40% less likely to work in engineering, 33% more likely to work in math, and nearly 92% more likely to work in science than in technology jobs.

“There were significantly fewer women in technology and engineering than we expected. Clearly, the federal government shares the same challenges as the private sector in improving representation of women in STEM occupations,” said Director Carlton Hadden of the EEOC’s Office of Federal Operations. “We hope this report helps federal agencies better understand the challenges facing women in STEM so they can continue to foster an even more welcoming and diverse work environment.”

The EEOC gathered and analyzed information from numerous federal sources, including: (1) OPM’s Enterprise Human Resources Integration (EHRI) data; (2) EEOC Form 462 (EEO complaint) data; and (3) select OPM Federal Employee Viewpoint Survey (FEVS) responses. The EEOC combined the data to form several datasets, which researchers then analyzed to learn about these employees.

Calm Port: EEOC Reaches $350K Settlement With Staffing Agency, Shipbuilder in Harassment Suit

Staffing agencies don’t get to wash their hands of what happens when they send their employees on assignment.

Staffing agency NSC Technologies, LLC and shipbuilder Huntington Ingalls Incorporated agreed to pay $350,000 to settle a sexual harassment and retaliation lawsuit filed by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), the federal agency announced Monday.

According to the EEOC’s suit, female employees whom NSC sent to work on a cleaning crew at Huntington Ingalls’s shipyard in Pascagoula, Mississippi were subjected to a sexually hostile work environment and retaliation for complaining about the sexual harassment. Specifically, a male Ship Superintendent employed by Huntington Ingalls made sexual comments to female employees, engaged in lewd acts in front of them, threatened to terminate them if they did not acquiesce to his sexual advances, and sexually assaulted two female employees.

Two female employees reported this sexual harassment to their immediate and higher-level supervisors at NSC, and to a complaint hotline at Huntington Ingalls. The Ship Superintendent terminated one female employee who refused his advances, prompted another to quit out of fear he would assault her, and threatened to kill a third female employee after she reported his assaults.

Sexual harassment is a form of sex discrimination prohibited by Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. It prohibits an employer from permitting a hostile work environment based on sex or retaliating against employees who complained about such conduct. The EEOC filed suit (EEOC v. Huntington Ingalls Incorporated; Huntington Ingalls Industries, Inc.; NSC Technologies, LLC, Case No. 1:22-CV-00002-hso-rhwr, S.D. Miss.) in federal court in the United States District Court for the Southern District of Mississippi after its Mobile Local Office com­pleted an investigation and was unable to reach a pre-litigation settlement through its voluntary conciliation process.

Under the thirty-month consent decree settling the suit, NSC and Huntington Ingalls will pay $350,000 to at least three victims and develop or revise policies and procedures to prevent and correct sexual harassment. The companies are also required to conduct training for employees and managers to ensure compliance with these policies and the law. The EEOC will monitor the companies’ compliance for the duration of the decree.

“It is a clear violation of Title VII for a supervisor to condition continued employment in exchange for sexual favors,” said EEOC Birmingham District Director Bradley Anderson. “Employees working on a temporary assignment through a staffing agency have the same protections from sexual harassment under Title VII as other employees.”

Marsha Rucker, regional attorney for the EEOC’s Birmingham district said, “Employers, including staffing agencies, are obligated to protect their employees from a sexually hostile work environment and to protect them from retaliation once they report harassment. The EEOC stands ready to prosecute employers who fail to protect employees as Title VII requires.”

NSC is a nationwide staffing company that provides temporary labor to a wide range of customers, including the shipbuilding and ship repair industry. Huntington Ingalls constructs and repairs large surface ships for the U.S. Navy and U.S. Coast Guard.

The EEOC’s Birmingham District consists of Alabama, Mississippi (except 17 northern counties) and the Florida Panhandle.

More information about sexual harassment is available at Sexual Harassment | U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (eeoc.gov).