The U.S. Dept. of Labor has issued a final rule to revise the regulations implementing a requirement that federal contractors track and annually report (via the VETS-100 and/or VETS-100A Report) the number of employees who are veterans covered under federal law. The rule becomes effective on December 5, 2008.

The rule revises the regulations to extend protection to "recently separated veterans." In addition, the final rule clarifies that the regulations apply to government contracts entered before December 1, 2003. The final rule also makes clear that the regulations apply if a contract entered into before December 1, 2003 is modified on or after that date and the contract as modified is for $100,000 or more.

Previously, the rules required contractors to report at least annually the number of employees, by job category and hiring location, who are ‘‘special disabled veterans, veterans of the Vietnam era, and other protected veterans who served on active duty during a war or in a campaign or expedition for which a campaign badge has been authorized.’’ The inclusion of ‘‘recently separated veteran’’ in this group is defined as ‘‘a veteran during the one-year period beginning on the date of such veteran’s discharge or release from active duty in the U.S. military, ground, naval, or air service.”

Due to problems with its online filing system, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission has announced an extension of the EEO-1 filing deadline from September 30 to October 15.

The EEOC emphasizes that employers with 100 or more workers and federal contractors with 50 or more employees have a legal obligation to provide the data required on the EEO-1; it is not voluntary.

Most private employers with 100 or more employees, and federal contractors with 50 or more employees must file their 2008 EEO-1 report by September 30 with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission's EEO-1 Joint Reporting Committee.

EEOC says that the preferred method for completing the 2008 EEO-1 report is the web-based filing system. Online filing requires covered companies to log into the company's database with a login ID and password. All companies should receive 2008 EEO-1 filing materials by mail no later than mid August 2008, EEOC says, and if the company’s login ID and/or password cannot be located, the company should contact the EEO-1 Joint Reporting Committee at e1.techassistance@eeoc.gov.

Federal contractors and subcontractors who receive federal contracts of $25,000 or more prior to December 1, 2003 or $100,000 on or after December 1, 2003 must file a VETS-100 report on hiring disabled veterans, other protected veterans, Armed Forces service medal veterans, and recently separated veterans. Federal contractors and subcontractors are also required to report the total number of all current employees in each job category and at each hiring location. Note that the Dept. of Labor has discontinued the practice of mailing out pre-printed reports to companies; those in need of a report can visit http://vets.dol.gov/vets100 or contact the helpdesk at 301-306-6752 or helpdesk@vets100.com.

The Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs has issued a policy directive for federal contractors on the use of electronic recordkeeping systems to comply with its record retention regulations. The guidance also covers the destruction of paper originals of personnel or employment records that are otherwise preserved in an electronic format.

The OFCCP record retention provisions contain language similar to that found in the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission's regulations which addressed whether electronic recordkeeping would satisfy the recordkeeping requirements under Title VII, the Americans with Disabilities Act, and the Age Discrimination in Employment Act in an informal discussion letter. The EEOC discussion letter states that nothing in the covered laws required the preservation of records in paper, rather than electronic format.

The U.S. Dept. of Labor has issued its final rule on requirements for federal contractors to track and annually report on the number of veterans they have in their workforce. Reporting categories have been revised to include disabled veterans, other protected veterans, armed forces service medal veterans, and veterans recently separated from military service.

Companies with $100,000 or more in federal contracts must report on the new VETS-110A form; those with at least $25,000 in federal contract must continue to file the VETS-100 form. The DOL says a “small percentage” of contractors will be required to file both reports. DOL’s Veterans’ Employment and Training Service estimates that 80 percent of federal contractors will file one or the other, but not both.

The Dept. of Labor proposes to revise regulations under the Davis-Bacon Act and the Copeland Anti-Kickback Act to better protect the personal privacy of laborers and mechanics employed on covered federal construction contracts.

Under the current rules, contractors must submit a weekly copy of all payrolls to the federal contracting agency, including the name, address, and social security numbers of workers. The proposed rule would eliminate social security numbers and home addresses from documents that are provided to non-employing government agencies, contractors, subcontractors, applicants, sponsors, and/or owners. Comments on the rule change must be submitted to the DOL on or before November 19, 2008.

Federal contractors must file their 2007 VETS-100 report using the same reporting categories as the 2006 form. The U.S. Dept. of Labor’s Veterans’ Employment and Training Service encourages online submission of the report via its website; the VETS-100 form is not being mailed this year. Federal contractors who need a report or who have questions can contact the VETS Help Desk at helpdesk@vets100.com or call (301)306-6752.

Employers required to file an EEO-1 report this year must use the revised EEO-1 form, which has changes in the job categories and race/ethnicity categories.

Pension and welfare benefit plans and service providers now have additional time to comply with changes to the 2009 Form 5500 and changing to a wholly electronic filing system—compliance with the changes won’t be required until the due date for the plan’s 2009 Form 5500. The 2009 Form 5500 package was published in the Federal Register on Nov. 16 as the Final Rule on Reporting and Disclosure and Revision of Annual Information Return/Reports. The annual report resulting from the revised form will be the primary source of information about the operations, funding and investments of about 800,000 pension and welfare benefit plans. The revisions and move to electronic filing is projected to save plans up to $100 million per year, according to the Dept. of Labor.

The Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs has issued its final rule for federal contractors increasing the threshold dollar amount for covered federal contracts from $25,000 to $100,000; changing the categories of veterans protected by the Vietnam Era Veterans’ Readjustment Assistance Act, and revising the manner in which the mandatory job listing requirement is to be implemented.

According to Timothy A. Riera, Director of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission Honolulu office, affected Hawaii employers will be required to implement the self reporting requirements in the 2008 EEO-1 survey, so companies are strongly encouraged to begin employee self-reporting for this year’s survey due in September. Riera provided HEC members a summary of what to do at informational briefings on April 25. Businesses with 100 or more employees, or who have 50 or more workers and federal contracts, are required to submit an annual EEO-1 survey. Until this year, Hawaii employers were not required to report race/ethnic data. However, beginning with this year’s report, Hawaii companies now must comply with reporting the racial/ethnic categories of their workforce. The EEOC will allow companies to use information obtained by visual observation for the Sept. 2007 survey, but the 2008 survey must be based on the employee’s self identification on a written form. HEC members who were unable to attend the briefings can obtain the handout material in What’s New, as well as a recap of the new reporting requirements and sample self-survey form by HEC General Counsel Clayton A. Kamida.

An employee arrives at work, parks his car in the company parking lot, and as he is getting out of his car he slams the car door shut and “pinches” his finger. Or she slips while exiting the car and falls onto the parking lot, sustaining a knee injury. These incidents are considered by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration to be work-related and would be OSHA recordable, assuming other criteria for recording are met (the injury requires medical treatment beyond first aid or results in days away from work), according to Jackson Lewis, a national law firm.

In a recently released letter of interpretation OSHA has narrowed the exception to the recordkeeping regulation that injuries are not recordable if they are caused by a motor vehicle accident on company property, Jackson Lewis says. The law firm advises that employers who are required to keep OSHA logs should adjust their recordkeeping procedures to account for the new interpretation.

Ordinarily, injuries caused by a motor vehicle accident and occurring on a company parking lot while the employee is commuting to or from work is not recordable, Jackson Lewis says, but OSHA has interpreted “motor vehicle accidents” to mean accidents caused by moving vehicles, not stationary ones. Thus if an employee is injured in an accident involving a stationary vehicle, it could be reportable.