Thanks for Supporting the Ohio Roofing Contractors ... · Cincinnati, but here it has actually...
Transcript of Thanks for Supporting the Ohio Roofing Contractors ... · Cincinnati, but here it has actually...
MARCH 2013
Thanks for Supporting the Ohio Roofing Contractors Association, the ONLY Ohio Association dedicated to YOU the Roofing Professional!
ATTENTION! WORKERS COMPENSATION GROUP PLAN MANDATORY SAFETY MEETING
The Ohio Bureau of Workers’ Compensation requires that all Group Plans provide an active Safety Program. In order to be in compliance with this requirement, the ORCA Workers’ Compensation Group Rating Plan Mandatory Safety Meeting is scheduled as follows:
Friday, March 22, 2013 Der Dutchman 720 St. Rt 97 W.
Bellville, OH 44813
Schedule: 10 am - 11 am Part I Overview and Update with Hunter Consulting Group 11 am - 12 pm Lunch Buffet and Safety Industry Tabletop Displays 12 pm - 1 pm Part II BWC Services and Safety Training with the Ohio BWC With the pace of changes at BWC and OSHA right now, there is much to cover with great impact to all ORCA contractors. This session will discuss the recent reforms introduced by the Bureau of Workers Compensation and will talk about the specific impact to the Roofing Contractor with representatives of Hunter Consulting. You will also receive an update on specific safety training issues by representatives of the Ohio BWC. This session is open to all ORCA Members, However, it is mandatory for firms participating in the ORCA Group Rating Plan to have a representative present at this Seminar. There is also a BWC requirement that if your firm has had claims in the green year, Group Plans must require that you attend a mandatory 2 hour safety training session. This session will meet this requirement as well. Additional information can be found on pages 6 & 7.
March 20, 22, 27, 29 and April 3, 5 OSHA 10 & 30 Hour Training
March 22nd Mandatory Safety Meeting
March 27th HR Managers Quarterly Meeting April 2nd Safety For The Field Supervisor
April 3rd Scaffolding Competent Person April 19th Drug Free Safety Training May 7th Annual Golf Outing - Foxfire October 8th Golf With A Gun - Blackwing
YOU CAN RELY ON YOUR FULL-TIME ORCA STAFF
Robert Pope Executive Director
Valerie Dahlberg Deputy Director
Government Relations
Rachel Pinkus Newsletter Editor
Newsletter & Website Advertising
Events Coordinator
Megan Miller Accounts Manager
Kate Asbury
Membership Services
ORCA OFFICERS
Jack Petsche President
USA Roofing—Twinsburg, Ohio
Sam Perrino Vice President
A.W. Farrell & Son, Inc.—Solon, Ohio
Cameron Bechtel Vice President
Harold J. Becker Company-Dayton, Ohio
Fred Horner Secretary/Treasurer
Advanced Industrial Roofing– Massillon,Ohio
Bill Kilcoyne Immediate Past President
K & W Roofing—Pataskala, Ohio
ORCA DIRECTORS
Jim Eckstein, Jr. C.A. Eckstein, Inc. Cincinnati, Ohio
Ed Williams
Fremont Roofing Company Fremont, Ohio
Jim Smithey
Frost Roofing, Inc. Wapokoneta, Ohio
Bob Willis
Wehner Roofing & Tinning Dayton, Ohio
ORCA LEGAL COUNSEL
Robert Dunlevey
Dunlevey, Mahan & Furry Dayton, Ohio
WORKERS COMPENSATION
THIRD PARTY ADMINISTRATOR
Brandon Hunter Hunter Consulting Company
Cincinnati, Ohio
[email protected] www.ohioroofing.com
The Focus Magazine is a review of construction activity in Ohio. The Focus Magazine contains Industry News, Notices and Ohio Roofing Contractors Association Activities. All information contained herein is considered reliable to the best of our knowledge, and we accept no responsibility for incorrect material secured from outside sources.
Published by: The Ohio Roofing
Contractors Association
From: REPLACEMENT CONTRACTOR July 2012 By: Jim Cory
Hand-Nailing Shingles: Worth It? Molloy Roofing Thinks So
Dave Molloy, owner of Molloy Roofing, a fourth-generation roofing company in Cincinnati that hand-nails every shingle job, explains why he prefers to work this way.
Replacement Contractor: Do you think the practice of hand-nailing shingles is on the extinction list? Are you the last man standing?
Dave Molloy: I can't speak to any area other than Cincinnati, but here it has actually increased. I believe it's because it's a competitive market and it's a quality selling point. We market it strongly, and I've noticed that our competitors — not all 400 roofers in Cincinnati, but the big companies — started including it in their marketing.
The wind storm that went through in September 2008 had something to do with it. We had 90 mph winds and tornadoes. The storm rolled from the Gulf of Mexico to Canada and it took two and a half years to work through the damage. A lot of roofs were made vulnerable because of the way they were nailed.
RC: What would you say is the price difference in a 20 squares job, hand-nailing vs. nail gunning?
DM: Every company is different and it depends somewhat on whether you're using employees or subs to install.
A lot of times, if you're using subs, it might not cost more because you dictate the way you want the roof installed. If I ventured a guess, it might be a $250 difference on a 20 squares job. It's not huge.
It depends on the crew. With a bunch of beginners, you can get them up to snuff so fast with a nail gun. But in two or three months they could be hand-nailing as fast as guys who have been doing it five years with a nail gun.
RC: But scope of work is important here too, right?
DM: We don't do new construction, where 95% of the day is laying new shingles. If I did new construction, I'd be out of business. In re-roofing, half our day is prep work: removing roofing, installing flashing or felt. I tend to have a little bit more experienced crews. A lot of times roofers in our area advertise that they do any roof in a day.
They'll show up with 20 guys in some vans and have it done by 2 o'clock. Our crews are small and more skilled. Also, they know how to hand-nail so it doesn't slow us down as much.
Really Worth It?
RC: How do you convince homeowners it's worth it?
DM: I try to describe the advantages on our web-site. We print those pages and send them with our proposal. A certain segment — the quality-conscious buyer — knows it's important.
In the future I think this will be a bigger and bigger issue because everybody talks about the volatility of the weather. We've definitely seen an increase in insurance claims. The idea of roofing companies specializing in insurance claims would have been preposterous in Cincinnati 10 years ago. We didn't have insurance specialists; now a third do that.
RC: How are insurance companies responding?
DM: Up to now that point hasn't really been brought up. It's an explosive issue and I think the insurance companies will be much more plugged in soon. If you go to make a warranty claim on a product, the manufacturers will quickly go to the nailing pattern. Whether overnailed, undernailed, or properly placed. They're on that immediately.
RC: You're saying it's the installer, not the tool?
DM: It's possible to properly nail on a roof with a nail gun. It's just harder to keep your air set right all day and place the nails in the right spots. If you follow their temperature guidelines perfectly and are careful about placement, you can do it. I've watched how guys do roofing, and they seldom produce the results I want with a nail gun. We have 20 upstairs. We used them once but switched back [to hand-nailing] about eight years ago.
RC: So with a nail gun, the likelihood of error is greater?
DM: You have to stop and hammer in the nails you missed. If there are 145 raised nails at the end of a job, you have an impaired roof. If you're hand-nailing, you feel it when the nail didn't bite wood. If you're gun nailing, you didn't know you put it there.
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Foxfire Golf Club Tuesday, May 7, 2013
10799 SR 104 Lockbourne, Ohio 43137
8:00 AM Registration Opens
8:30 - 10:00 AM ORCA Board Meeting with Breakfast
10:15 AM - 11:30 PM New Sales Tax Provisions
Learn about the new sales tax provisions in the current Ohio Budget Bill and how they will affect your business.
11:30 AM - 12:00 PM Vendor Set-Up (head out to your designated hole)
12:00 PM Shotgun Start with Box Lunch (Foxfire Course)
4:30 PM - 5:00 PM Reception
5:00 PM Dinner and Awards
Company Name _____________________________________________ Contact Person ______________________________________________ Contact Email _______________________________________________ $390 LIVE! Hole Sponsorship
Includes exclusive personal networking at your own designated hole for the entire outing w/lunch, dinner, hole sponsorship signage, 2 beverage tickets, & a golf cart for you!
$125 Longest Drive $125 Closest to the Pin $125 Longest Putt $150 Nametag Sponsor $150 Handout Sponsor $250 Beverage Cart $250 Dinner Bar $300 Lunch $350 Dinner Sponsorship Subtotal: $ ________ TAKE 10% OFF ANY TWO or more SPONSORSHIPS! LESS Discount Total: $ ________ Total Due: $ ________ Payment Information: Check to ORCA Visa MasterCard AmEx Discover Card Number ________________________________________________ Name on Card _______________________________________________ Expiration Date ______________________ Billing Zip code _____________________
Return Fax: (937) 278-0317 or mail: 2077 Embury Park Road, Dayton, OH 45414 Questions? Call Rachel Pinkus at 937-278-0335 or [email protected]
NEW OFFERNEW OFFERNEW OFFER “LIVE! Hole Sponsorship”“LIVE! Hole Sponsorship”“LIVE! Hole Sponsorship”
Now you can be LIVE Now you can be LIVE Now you can be LIVE at your OWN hole at your OWN hole at your OWN hole
ALL day!ALL day!ALL day!
This sponsorship includes:This sponsorship includes:This sponsorship includes:
Personal interaction Personal interaction Personal interaction with EVERY golfer with EVERY golfer with EVERY golfer
in the tournamentin the tournamentin the tournament
Golf Cart for your Golf Cart for your Golf Cart for your personal use all daypersonal use all daypersonal use all day
Lunch & DinnerLunch & DinnerLunch & Dinner Traditional Sponsor SignageTraditional Sponsor SignageTraditional Sponsor Signage
Recognition in the Recognition in the Recognition in the event program, at the awards event program, at the awards event program, at the awards
ceremony, and in the Newsletterceremony, and in the Newsletterceremony, and in the Newsletter
BE A PART OF THE BE A PART OF THE BE A PART OF THE BEST START TO BEST START TO BEST START TO GOLF SEASON!GOLF SEASON!GOLF SEASON!
SPONSOR
OHIO ROOFING CONTRACTORS ASSOCIATION GOLF TOURNAMENT
AND EDUCATION DAY!!
SCHEDULE
OF
EVENTS
To Register, please fill out this form or register online at:
www.ohioroofing.com I am a Contractor, Architect or Consultant I am a Manufacturer, Supplier, or Service Provider
Company Name ______________________________________________
Company Address_____________________________________________
City, State & Zip_______________________________________________
Contact Person_______________________________________________
Contact Phone & Fax___________________________________________
Contact Email________________________________________________
$190 Contractor Full Registration Includes Lunch, Dinner, Sales Tax Seminar, 2 Beverage Cart Tickets, and1 Golf Registration
$140 Golf Only Includes Lunch, Dinner, 2 Beverage Cart Tickets, and 1 Golf Registration
$560 Golf Foursome Includes Lunch, Dinner, 8 Beverage Cart Tickets, and 4 Golf Registrations ________________________________________ ________________________________________ ________________________________________ ________________________________________
$720 Golf Foursome with Seminar Includes Lunch, Dinner, 4 Seminar Admissions, 8 Beverage Cart Tickets, and 4 Golf Registrations _________________________________________ ________________________________________ _________________________________________ ________________________________________
$50 Sales Tax Seminar Only Includes Sales Tax Seminar Only
$60 Contractor Evening Only Includes 2 Beverage Tickets for use at Reception and Dinner Total Due: $ __________ Payment Information Check to ORCA Visa MasterCard AmEx Discover Card Number _____________________________________________________
Name on Card ____________________________________________________
Expiration Date _____________________ Billing Zip code _____________________
Fax: (937) 278-0317 or mail: 2077 Embury Park Road, Dayton, OH 45414
Questions? Call Rachel Pinkus at 937-278-0335 or [email protected]
REGISTER
NEARBY HOTELS
Budget Inn 6345 S High St
Lockbourne, OH 4.5 mi NE (614) 491-0235 budgetinncolumbus.com
Drury Inn & Suites South - Columbus
4109 Parkway Centre Dr Grove City, OH 7.1 mi N
(614) 875-7000 druryhotels.com
Comfort Inn 4197 Marlane Dr
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Baymont Inn and Suites Columbus
2323 Port Rd Columbus, OH 6.5 mi NE
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Red Roof Inn Columbus - Grove City 4055 Jackpot Rd
Grove City, OH 7.3 mi N (614) 871-9617 redroof.com
Days Inn Grove City Columbus South
1849 Stringtown Rd Grove City, OH 7.2 mi N
(614) 871-0440 daysinn.com
Hilton Garden Inn Columbus/Grove City 3928 Jackpot Rd
Grove City, OH 7.4 mi N (614) 539-8944
hiltongardeninn3.hilton.com
Hampton Inn Columbus-South 4017 Jackpot Rd
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ORCA Golf & Education Foxfire Golf Club
10799 SR 104 Lockbourne, Ohio 43137
Tuesday May 7, 2013
Page 13 ORCA FOCUS MAGAZINE
Prevention + Care - Working together. You can link everything BWC does to preventing workplace incidents or helping injured workers recover. These principles help keep Ohio workers safe, injured workers achieve better outcomes and reduce costs for Ohio
businesses. Join five thousand representatives from businesses, associations and government to find realistic solutions to:
Improve worker health and productivity; Prevent work force injuries and illnesses; Help injured workers recover and return to their lives; Reduce workers’ compensation costs; Identify solutions for hazardous situations; and Provide cost-effective, multidisciplinary training, and professional development.
Prevention + Care: Working Together.
"The IRS uses a variety of technologies to help you get the tax information you need. Here are six ways the IRS uses social media to share information on tax changes, initiatives, products and services:
1. IRS2Go 2.0 IRS’s smartphone application allows you to check your refund status, get tax updates and follow the IRS via Twitter. IRS2Go 2.0 is available in the Apple App store for iPhone or iPod touch devices and in the GooglePlay store for Android devices.
2. YouTube IRSvideos YouTube Channel offers short, informative clips on various tax-related topics. The videos are available in English, American Sign Language and Spanish. 3. Twitter IRS tweets include tax-related announcements, news for tax professionals and updates for job seekers. Follow us @IRSnews. 4. Facebook IRS has Facebook pages that post tax information for individuals, tax professionals, and for those needing help resolving long-standing tax issues with the IRS. 5. Audio files for Podcasts These short audio recordings provide information on tax-related topics -- one per podcast. The audio files (along with transcripts) are available on iTunes or through the Multimedia Center on IRS.gov. 6. Widgets These tools, which can be placed on websites, blogs or social media networks, direct people to visit IRS.gov for information. The widgets feature the latest tax initiatives and programs and can be found on Marketing Express, the marketing site that allows IRS partners and tax preparers to customize their IRS communications products. As a reminder, the IRS uses these tools to share information with you. Do not post any personal information on social media sites, especially your Social Security number or other confidential information. The IRS will not be able to answer personal tax or account questions on any of these platforms.
For more about IRS’s New Media tools, visit www.irs.gov "
Anthony J. Palmer ID# 0270595 SB/SE CSO
BNA Construction Labor Report
Texas Firm Pays $214,398 in Back Overtime
Austin Industrial Services LP has paid $214,398 in overtime back wages to 13 employees for violations of the Fair Labor Standards Act, the Labor Department announced Feb. 6.
Austin Industrial Inc., which is based in La Porte, Texas, provides maintenance and construction work for the Phillips 66 Inc. oil and gas refinery in Borger, Texas.
An investigation by DOL's Wage and Hour Division revealed the employer did not pay overtime compensation to managers who were promised a salary but then were paid on an hourly basis under which their salaries were docked when they worked less than 40 hours a week. Employees regularly worked more than 50 hours but did not receive time and one-half their regular pay rates for their work hours beyond 40 in a workweek, DOL said.
Additionally, the company did not maintain accurate records of work hours as required by the FLSA, according to DOL. A DOL spokesman told BNA Feb. 6 that the investigative period is from Jan. 1, 2011 to June 19, 2012.
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UPDATE FROM HUNTER CONSULTING ORCA Workers’ Comp. Group Third Party Administrator
The decision is in and the employers won. Judge Richard McMonagle decided the Bureau of Workers' Compensation ("BWC") overcharged employers who did not participate in group rating from 2001 to 2009. Many of those could now receive refunds based upon the court's future calculations. No damages have yet been determined, but the amount may range from $800,000 to $1.3 billion. Before spending the money, employers should know that this is subject to appeal. The checks are not, as they say, in the mail. Judge McMonagle's 28-page Opinion is detailed and thorough. He rejects the employers' constitutional equal protection argument because the group rating program did have an effect on encouraging safety in the workplace, which is a legitimate state interest. For constitutional purposes, that is the acid test. However, the Judge found the program violated two state statutes. First, the specific statute which enabled group rating said it should be "retrospective." The group rating program adopted by the BWC clearly was prospective. The difference is that a retrospective program requires that the employer pay lower premiums but then pay actual claims or some portion of actual claims "retrospectively." A prospective plan, on the other hand, uses the employers' risk experience to determine what the rates are this year, and once those premiums are paid, that is the end of it. This was not a retrospective plan and the Judge ruled that as such it violated the statute. As an aside, when the statute was passed, I doubt the General Assembly or any of the commentators at the time thought seriously that the BWC was going to produce a group retrospective program in lieu of a prospective program. How the word "retrospective" crept into the statue is everyone's guess. Second, the Judge found that the plan violated the statutory require-ment that the BWC adopt "fixed and equitable rules controlling the rating system." The Judge found that the rules were certainly fixed, which they were, but not equitable. In making this determination, he has unassailable testimony from the BWC's own experts who said they were aware that the group rating program was producing inequitable results for non-group employers as far back as 1994, and certainly within the class period starting in 2001. Thus, the BWC acted inequitably. The issue then became whether or not the BWC is obligated to repay the employers. The answer is yes: the BWC is required to repay those employers who were, in one year or another, not in group rating from 2001 to 2009. There is a limit: only employers in
certain hazard classifications whose premiums were off-balance more than 23% will receive reimbursement. So the question now is how much? In this regard, the Judge accepted the plaintiffs' expert on damages, and essentially rejected the BWC's expert. Their opinions differed, according to the Judge, in how they treated dividends, and that difference was "staggering." Apparently, the expert for the plaintiffs determined that dividends were a discount and the application of the dividends to the non-group employers would only reduce the amount of damages. Indeed, according to the plaintiffs' brief in this case, their expert determined that the damages should be $1.3 billion, taking into account the dividend treatment as he saw it. The BWC's expert calculated dividends differently, resulting in little or no repayments to the non-group employers. The Judge entirely accepted the plaintiffs' expert's evaluation, and said damages would be determined using that calculation. The Judge was, however, unable to determine exactly what the amount should be because the BWC, on the eve of trial, produced additional information that needed to be factored into the expert's calculation. For that reason, the decision on how much the repay-ment should be has been extended. Evidence as to the damages is to be submitted to the Court by January 28th, with the BWC's calculations submitted a month later and a hearing to be held on March 14, 2013. The Court will decide subsequent to that. For employers in the group some of the time, the Judge rejected the BWC's request that there be a "cross-subsidy." The cross-subsidy would be a reduction of the amount of damages to a particular employer who participated in group for one year but did not participate in the following year (i.e., an employer subject to the unfair non-group treatment in the one year but then rewarded with group treatment the next). The Judge rejected the cross-subsidy argument. He said each rating year would stand on its own. Non-group employers will receive a refund for the years that they were not in group, if otherwise qualified. The damages are predicted by plaintiffs' counsel to be $1 billion. That is essentially one half-year premium for the entire system. The employers could receive a fairly substantial premium refund if, in fact, the figures justify it. It all depends upon their payroll for the period in question and how many years they were actually excluded from group rating. As noted in my last legal update, the BWC has the money. As of the end of the last fiscal year, the BWC had $7 billion in net assets, essentially monies which are allocated to take care of contingencies such as this. For the BWC, the damages appear manageable. For the individual employers, and particularly those excluded from group for the entire eight-year period, the amount could certainly be material.
DRIVING AWARENESS By Gary Hanson, President of American Safety & Health Management Consultants, Inc.
I recently read a report that indicated, 80% of all vehicle accidents were caused by distraction. It is so easy to become distracted and it only takes a second for an accident to take place. Distraction comes in many forms including: * Daydreaming * Taking your eyes off the road * Personal Problems * Other Drivers * Cell Phones * Fatigue Staying focused while driving can be difficult for any of us. It is easy to start thinking about other matters while driving. In fact, 25 to 30% of all truck drivers are daydreaming at any one time. The lights are on but nobody is home. If anything out of the ordinary happens, you will need to come back to reality before you can react. Often times it is too late. I have talked to a number of individuals that were in vehicle accidents, who couldn’t remember what they were thinking of right before the accident. Taking your eyes off the road even for an instant can spell trouble. Cars in front of you may stop suddenly, cars may pull out in front of you, the light may change, your vehicle may veer into the other lanes or someone may walk into the path of your vehicle. Any number of bad things may happen and unfortunately do. Personal problems can cause you to worry and lose concentration on your driving. Other drivers will always be a problem. Unfortunately, we share the highways with all kinds of other drivers. People reading maps, talking on cell phones, talking to other passengers and even putting on make-up while driving are only a few of the problems created by other drivers.
Cell phones are a serious cause for distraction. It is hard to do two things at once, especially when driving at close quarters in traffic. Almost everyone today uses their phones while driving creating serious dangers for themselves and others. Fatigue robs the body of its ability to focus and react. Also, driving safely is critical to preventing vehicle accidents and employee injuries and deaths. * It starts with maintaining a safety attitude at all times. This means not putting yourself in situations that could cause an accident . Maintaining a good safety attitude will go a long way to ensure safe driving. * Get plenty of rest. If you feel yourself getting drowsy, pull over and take a break. A quick rest break can revitalize you. * Keep your eyes on the road at all times. Don’t be looking around or counting the cars. Watch traffic patterns in front of you. * Don’t daydream, stay in the present. This is critical to safe driving and avoiding becoming another victim. * Don’t talk on the cell phone or try to read a map while driving. Pull over and take care of business then proceed. * Stay under control, don’t let other drivers upset you or cause you to do something you will regret. Always expect other drivers to do something stupid, they won’t disappoint you. * Practice defensive driving, be aware of dangerous situations and take preventative action to avoid them or reduce the danger. * Over 40,000 people a year die in Motor Vehicle Accidents. Most of these accidents are preventable and unnecessary. Take your driving serious, stay alert and don’t allow yourself to become distracted. The accident you prevent, could be your own. If you have any safety related questions or need help with your Safety Program, please give me a call at 1-800-356-1274.
Page 17 ORCA FOCUS MAGAZINE
Legally Speaking By Bob Dunlevey
NEW LAW ON AUTOMATIC MEAL BREAK DEDUCTIONS A federal Appellate Court recently rejected an employee’s claim to compensation for working during her lunch break. The decision gives guidance to employers on how to avoid the common problem of compensating employees for unauthorized time worked during a meal break. The general rules, of course, are that this time
is compensable under the Fair Labor Standards Act – the federal wage-hour law and automatic deduction of the time is unlawful. As long as an employee pursues his or her meal time adequately or comfortably, is not engaged in the performance of any substantial duties, and does not spend time predominantly for the employer’s benefit, the employee is relieved of duty and is not entitled to compensation. But, if the employee actually works unauthorized time, the general rule is that that time is compensable and the employer is only entitled to discipline the employee for the unauthorized work. Now, however, the case of Baptist Memorial Healthcare gives an employer the additional right to not pay the employee for the time actually worked during the meal break if the employer has a system to report the extra time worked in order to override the automatic deduction of the break time and has procedures for notifying the employer if the additional compensation is not paid promptly.
In Baptist, a disgruntled employee alleged that she had to work through meal breaks and Baptist did not compensate her. Previously, she had reported missing at least one meal break and she was compensated for that time in accordance with Baptist’s procedures. But on other occasions when she reported it and did not receive the compensation, she did not raise the issue. The Court determined that Baptist’s automatic lunch break deductions were lawful because it had established a reason-able process for an employee to report uncompensated work time and override the automatic deduction but the employee failed to follow it.
Thus, the “hint” for all employers desiring automatic meal break deductions is that they have a policy that: 1) describes meal breaks and prohibits employees from working during meal breaks without prior authorization 2) subjects the employee to discipline for unauthorized work on a meal break 3) accords a procedure for employees to report time worked during a meal break 4) provides an avenue of redress in the event the employee does not receive compensation for the reported additional work time and 5) does not discourage employees from reporting time worked. Once these procedures are in place and the employee fails to abide by them, the employer is “off the hook” for paying for the unauthorized time. The rationale is that where an employer has no knowledge that an employee is engaging in overtime work and that employee fails to notify the employer or deliberately prevents the employer from acquiring knowledge of the overtime worked, an employer’s failure to pay for the overtime hours is not a violation of the law.
This case was filed as a “class action” on behalf of all similarly situated employees. Wage-hour collective-action suits are extremely dangerous for employers because a violation can cost an employer hundreds of thousands of dollars in payments not only to the plaintiff but other fellow employees and ex-employees joined in the suit. For example, a few years ago, UPS entered into an $87 million class action settlement with 20,000 workers who claimed UPS automatically deducted meal periods from their wages. Litigation over unpaid work time can take several forms - 1) automatic deductions for meal periods 2) rounding of hours 3) offsite work 4) in and out of town travel, and 5) white collar salaried employee exemptions from minimum wage and overtime.
Of all state and federal class/collective actions filed in the United States, approximately 90% are wage-hour claims. Over 6,000 wage-hour suits were filed in each of the recent years representing a 325% increase since 2001. This is an astonishing increase in wage-hour cases. The average settlement in the top ten reported wage-hour collective actions was $34 million each. Can you afford not to be in compliance?
This flurry of claims has been caused by the increased initiatives by the claimants’ attorneys and their advertising for clients. Go online to see just some of the ads! In addition, greater activity by the Department of Labor in investigating claims exists and employers’ continuing disregard or misunderstanding of this 1938 federal law remains a constant. It is estimated that in excess of 70% of employers are not in full compliance with wage-hour laws. Recent employer audits by our law firm seem to verify these statistics. With the risk to employers of having to pay back wages to a large class of employees, as well as liquidated damages, attorneys’ fees and court costs, each employer is well advised to undergo a wage-hour audit of its pay practices and policies.
For more information, contact Bob Dunlevey, Dunlevey, Mahan & Furry at (937) 223-6003.
Page 18 ORCA FOCUS MAGAZINE
Member Information Welcome
The Ohio Roofing Contractors Association encourages its members to provide us with news releases concerning your firm. Those releases will be publ ished in the ORCA Newsletter. One of the basic p u r p o s e s o f O R C A i s communication and networking of information within the industry. So don’t be shy, send us your news release. Also, if you would like assistance drafting a news release, just contact us. We would be happy to work with you to draft the release.
CALL FOR PROPOSALS:
ORCA is currently taking suggestions and proposals for educational seminars and
functions for 2013-2014 events. We have also been hosting webinars for our
members too if you have something in particular you’d like to see in that
web/phone hybrid format.
Suggestions for topics can be in any form, but if you would like to present personally,
please submit a brief abstract of your presentation and some biographical
information on your qualifications as a presenter. If your presentation is certified for continuing education, please note that
as well.
We are also currently in the planning process for the three 2014 events. If you have a great location near you or have a concept for a great group social activity,
please let us know!
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