House OKs OT Changes
The U.S. House of Representatives narrowly approved a bill, supported by the Bush administration, to overhaul decades-old rules defining which workers were entitled to overtime. The new rules, first proposed in March, would increase the ceiling wage under which all workers, regardless of job function, would qualify for overtime; but, it also would redefine many jobs into administrative, professional or managerial categories that are exempt from the extra payment.

Democrats and unions opposed the bill; they say it could cost up to 8 million workers overtime. On the other hand, while the administration concedes that some workers who currently receive overtime wouldn’t be entitled to the extra pay under the new rules, the total is far fewer than 8 million. Also, the increase in the mandatory-overtime salary would allow up to 1.5 million new workers to receive the pay, a provision to which the Democrats did not object.

The bill faced an uncertain fate in the Senate as of press time.

Administration Drops Outsourcing Quotas
The Bush administration announced last month that it will no longer require federal agencies to meet government-wide outsourcing quotas. Originally, the administration said up to 850,000 government jobs, including many cleaning jobs, were “commercial” in nature and could be outsourced to private companies. Bush set a goal of opening 50 percent of those jobs to outside companies; agencies were told to put the first 15 percent of those jobs up to competition by September.

However, the measure was unpopular among federal workers and union members; even supporters questioned the 15 and 50 percent targets as “arbitrary.” In response, the administration abandoned the quotas and will work with each agency to develop specific outsourcing plans. This does not change Bush’s ultimate goal of opening more government jobs to the private sector, in the hopes of saving money and increasing efficiency.

Small Businesses

A Hit — And A Miss — For Small Companies
OSHA adds small-business resources

The U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has redesigned its Web site’s small-business section. The new site consolidates the most popular resources for smaller businesses, including contacts for free on-site consultation, interactive computer software, technical information and easy-to-follow guides for specific OSHA standards. It also includes links to OSHA local offices and to the Small Business Administration.

The site also offers a “Did You Know?” section, which highlights a different aspect of workplace-safety law or its enforcement. This month, the section points out that companies can receive penalty reductions based on their size — for example, if a company has 25 or fewer employees, a 60 percent reduction of a statutory penalty can apply.

Also prominently displayed is OSHA’s policy of non-retaliation: Any inquiry by an employer to the agency will not trigger an inspection, but it also won’t immunize an employer against regular inspections or other required visits.

AT&T: A small business?
It probably can be said that any company whose stock is one component of the Dow Jones Industrial Average would not find OSHA’s small-business resources to be appropriate. But due to some inaccurate data held by the U.S. General Services Administration (GSA), telecommunications giants AT&T (a longtime Dow component) and Verizon, bookseller Barnes & Noble and Dole Food Corp., among others, are classified as small businesses by the U.S. government. That means smaller companies the government meant to help may be pushed out by the larger competitors.

As part of its outsourcing initiatives, the Bush administration set a goal of providing small business with 23 percent of all federal contracts; recently, the administration reported it has fallen about three percentage points short.

But, officials now say that percentage was inflated by the error, and the actual amount of federal business awarded to small companies was smaller.

A GSA spokesman told a Fox News reporter that the agency is working on correcting errors and preventing future problems, but since some misclassified companies were awarded 20-year contracts, it won’t be an overnight process.

This information is intended as a summary of legal information and should in no way be construed as legal advice. Contact your attorney before proceeding with any legal action.




POSTED ON: 8/1/2003