|
IT Security Spending
Rises But Follow-Through Lags Behind, survey finds
[TOP]
Companies are investing more in information technology
security infrastructure but are lagging in implementation,
measurement and review of security and privacy policies, according
to the 5th annual Global State of Information Security Survey,
conducted by PricewaterhouseCoopers for CIO and CSO magazines.
The survey gathered responses from 7,200 IT, security
and business executives across industries.
Results showed that most companies now have a chief
security officer -- 60 percent in 2007 compared to 43 percent in
2006 -- and just over half now have an overall information strategy,
up from 37 percent last year.
But less than half the companies said they have
measured and reviewed the effectiveness of their security policies
and procedures in the last 12 months.
Only one-third of the survey respondents reported
keeping accurate inventory of user data or the locations where data
is stored, and only one-quarter kept inventory of all third parties
using customer data. Data encryption also remains a low priority,
the survey found.
Energy companies were two to three times more likely
than other industries to see partners or service providers as the
most likely source of a security incident, but 78 percent of energy
companies said they do not keep an inventory of all third parties
using their customer data.
Among health care providers, only one-third say their
organizations keep an inventory of third parties using patient data,
and 43 percent do not require their employees to complete training
on privacy policies and practices.
Faisal Amin to
speak at the World Human Resource Management
in Asia [TOP]
TTC President
Faisal Amin to lead a trade facilitation visit to Pakistan
in March [TOP]
Houston, TX - In an effort to expand U.S.-Pakistan trade and
business opportunities, Faisal Amin,
President – Texas Trade
Council and Honorary Investment Consular for
Government of Pakistan will lead a delegation of U.S. business executives to
Pakistan March 18-23, and
will discuss with senior officials ways to resolve key bilateral
trade issues. Amin will highlight core areas for intensified
discussions and will give remarks at key events hosted by local
trade organizations in his stops at Islamabad, Lahore and Karachi.
"Bilateral trade
between U.S. and
Pakistan is already at
record levels, but we're not satisfied--there's room to grow.
Pakistan is a key market
for American businesses and workers, and we have a great group of
American business leaders who are excited about establishing
partnerships with Pakistani companies" said Amin. "I will be meeting
with senior Pakistani officials to continue consultations on how we
can strip away impediments to bilateral trade. Our business
delegation will be able to hold key meetings with important
Pakistani government and business contacts."
Amin and the
delegation will visit Islamabad
November 16-19, travel to Lahore for
meetings November 20-23 and will visit Karachi for
meetings November 25-26. The business delegation will conduct
pre-scheduled meetings in all three cities.
U.S.
Department of Labor Awards $4.9 Million in Grants To Improve
English Language Skills in the
Workplace
WASHINGTON — The U.S. Department of Labor today
announced five grants totaling more than $4.9 million to
improve English language skills in the workplace. The grants
will train approximately 4,400 individuals in California,
Minnesota, Nebraska, New York and Texas.
“To succeed in the workplace, workers must
know how to communicate in English,” said Secretary of Labor
Elaine L. Chao. “These $4.9 million in English skills training
grants will help thousands of workers realize the American
dream for themselves and their families.”
In California, San Diego’s Imperial Counties
Labor Council was awarded a $1 million grant to increase the
workplace literacy of 150 incumbent Hispanic workers in the
steel and shipbuilding sector of the construction industry.
Participants will obtain an apprentice level entry into the
industry after completing training.
The Career Launch! project will use its $1
million grant to deliver customer service and health care
industry training to approximately 200 Somali, Ethiopian,
Southeast Asian and Hispanic participants in
Minnesota.
Through a grant of over $800,000 awarded to
Nebraska’s Metropolitan Community College, approximately 1,389
individuals will receive English language training for careers
in the construction, healthcare and transportation
industries.
A $1 million grant will allow City University
of New York Research Foundation to use cutting-edge
instructional technologies to train approximately 240 persons
in skills sought after by New York retail and food
employers.
In Texas, a $1.1 million grant to SER-Jobs for
Progress National Inc. will fund a work-based English skills
program in four cities to prepare approximately 2,430 Hispanic
workers for careers in the hospitality industry.
“Growing industries constantly seek out
workers taking action to enhance their skills,” said Assistant
Secretary of Labor for Employment and Training Emily Stover
DeRocco. “Developing English language skills will enable
workers associated with these five projects to compete for
sought-after jobs in growing industries.”
The grants awarded today are the result of a
competitive Solicitation for Grant Applications aimed at
seeking strategies to address challenges and increase rates of
English proficiency and high school graduation. For more on
this and other employment and training programs at the
Department of Labor, please visit www.doleta.gov.
Secretary Chao Unveils Budget
for FY 2007 - Announces Job Training
Innovations and More Resources for Worker
Protection |
|
WASHINGTON, Feb.
6 — U.S. Secretary of Labor
Elaine L. Chao outlined the President's
Fiscal Year (FY) 2007 Labor Department budget, which provides
added resources for enforcement and compliance assistance to
protect workers' health, safety, pay and benefits; and for
updating key economic data. The budget also proposes new job
training reforms to make federal-state training programs more
flexible and effective, and calls for passage of several
legislative initiatives related to the department's agencies
and programs.
"The President's budget protects worker
safety, health and long term retirement security while
striving to be fiscally responsible with taxpayers' dollars to
optimize and provide effective programs. This has been a
hallmark of the Department of Labor in this Administration,"
said Secretary Chao. "Additional resources are directed to job
training initiatives that deliver results for workers; and we
will continue our aggressive, record-breaking enforcement of
federal laws protecting workers' wages, benefits, health and
safety." |
Producer Price
Index
|
Consumer
Price Index: |
-0.6% |
Nov
2005 |
|
Unemployment
Rate: |
4.9% |
Dec
2005 |
|
Payroll
Employment: |
+108,000(p) |
Dec
2005 |
|
Average
Hourly Earnings: |
+$0.05(p) |
Dec
2005 |
|
Producer
Price Index: |
-0.7% |
Nov
2005 |
|
Employment
Cost Index: |
+0.8% |
3rd
Qtr 2005 |
|
Productivity: |
+4.7% |
3rd
Qtr 2005 |
|
U.S.
Import Price Index: |
-1.7% |
Nov
2005 |
|
Unemployment
Initial (UI) Claims: |
291,000 |
Dec
31 2005 |
|
UI
Claims 4-Week Average: |
316,750 |
Dec
31 2005 |
|
Federal
Minimum Wage: |
$5.15 |
|
Proposed
Information Technology Shortage
Legislation
This
package of five bills was introduced in the U.S. House of
Representatives. It is aimed at stimulating faster, more effective
Federal responses to the shortage of technology
workers.
·
H.R. 3270 - Regional
Skills Alliances
This bill would create regional skills
alliances modeled on the successful Manufacturing Extension Program.
Some federal funds would encourage companies to participate in
consortia that would address specific industry skill needs.
·
H.R. 3271 - Regional
Private Industry Councils
This
bill would allow the creation of regional private industry councils
working across jurisdictional lines and fund their activities
through the U.S. Secretary of Labor.
·
H.R.
3272 - Reward for a High Percentage of Job
Placements
This bill would allow private industry councils to reward
training provides with a high percentage of actual job
placement.
·
H.R.
3273 - Improve High Technology Professional
Immigration
This bill would allow high technology
professionals to immigrate to the United States under existing
provisions for occupations experiencing a workforce shortage.
·
H.R.
3274 - Tax Credit for Technology
Training
This bill would offer employers who train
employees for information technology jobs a tax credit for 50% of
training costs up to $2,500 per year per employee.
|
2006 Medicare Prescription Drug Coverage
Changes [TOP] |
|
Beginning January
1, 2006, prescription drug coverage will be available to
all Medicare recipients. You can help your friends and
family members enrolled in Medicare consider this
important new benefit by making certain they have the
necessary information about it and how to enroll.
Enrollment started November 15, 2005 and will run
through May 15, 2006.
If you have a family
member or friend whom you would like to assist through
this decision-making process, there are five simple
steps you should follow:
- Understand the basics of Medicare
Prescription Drug Coverage
- Determine how your friend or family
member gets prescription coverage today
- Gather some important information
- Review the plan choices
- Point out to them how to enroll
Additional
information about the new Medicare Prescription Drug
Coverage, including a webcast of a television program
that recently aired on CNBC entitled the "National Day
of Conversation: Friends and Family First," can be
obtained online by visiting www.medicare.gov or by calling 1-800-MEDICARE (1-800-633-4227) or
TTY 1-877-486-2048. Operators are available 24/7 and can
walk you, your friend, or your family member through the
Plan Finder and provide personalized help in comparing
and choosing a plan.
| |
Supreme Court To Review
Employment Of Illegal Aliens As Violating RICO [TOP]
The U.S. Supreme Court has granted
certiorari from an Eleventh Circuit case involving claims by legal
workers that their employer's widespread employment of illegal
aliens violated federal and state Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt
Organizations (RICO) acts. The Supreme Court limited its grant of
certiorari to the question: "Whether a defendant corporation and its
agents can constitute an 'enterprise' under the Racketeer Influenced
and Corrupt Organizations Act, in light of the settled rule that a
RICO defendant must 'conduct' or 'participate in' the affairs of
some larger enterprise and not just its own affairs."
In the case below, the Eleventh Circuit
held that the employer's alleged arrangements with recruiters and
temporary employment agencies potentially qualified as an
"enterprise" within the meaning of RICO. Under these alleged
arrangements, the recruiters supplied illegal aliens to work for the
employer or the agencies furnished to the employer illegal aliens
already employed by the agencies. The legal employees alleged that
the purpose of these arrangements was to drive their wages down. The
Eleventh Circuit has never required anything other than a "loose or
informal" association of distinct entities to satisfy the
"enterprise" requirement, the Court of Appeals reasoned. The
employer and the third-party recruiters were distinct entities that,
at least according to the complaint, were engaged in a conspiracy to
bring illegal workers into the United States for the employer's
benefit.
The Eleventh Circuit's affirmative
answer to the question of whether a defendant corporation can
conduct or participate in the affairs of a distinct RICO
"enterprise" when the only members of the putative "enterprise" are
the corporation and its agents exacerbated a sharp split in the
Courts of Appeals, the employer observed in its petition for a writ
of certiorari. The Eleventh Circuit's decision, while in accord with
a decision of the Sixth Circuit, conflicted with decisions of the
Second, Third, and Seventh Circuits. The petition further asserted
that the decision below impermissibly relaxed the limitations
Congress placed on the imposition of RICO's harsh penalties,
especially the "critical limitation" that a defendant participate in
the operation or management of an "enterprise" that is different
from the defendant alone.
Labor Department Sues
Idaho PEO over Misuse of Plan Asset [TOP]
SAN FRANCISCO —The U.S.
Department of Labor has sued Idaho-based ePEO Link and its owners
for mismanagement of the ePEO Link Inc. Group Accident and Health
ERISA Medical Care Plan, failing to pay benefits when due and
receiving illegal commissions from employers participating in the
plan. The company provided payroll processing, human resources and
health benefit services through a multiple employer welfare
arrangement for employees of participating employers in 22
states.
"The company robbed workers of their
health benefits and left families with millions of dollars in unpaid
health claims," said Secretary of Labor Elaine L. Chao. "This is
unconscionable and the department is seeking full restitution, plus
interest, and lifetime bans that keep the defendants from ever again
managing any federal pension plan."
The suit alleges that ePEO Link, Roger
Jeffery, Jacqueline Holovka, Frederick Roh, Integrated Professional
Insurance Services Inc. (IPIS) and Loh Olmstead violated the
Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA). The defendants are
charged with failing to properly evaluate and underwrite benefits,
collect sufficient contributions to pay promised benefits,
adequately fund the plan and maintain reserves, obtain appropriate
reinsurance and maintain reports and records required by the plan.
Olmstead was separately charged with receiving commissions from the
plan's contracts with reinsurers.
At the time of the improper actions,
ePEO Link was the plan's administrator, while Roh, Jeffery and
Holovka were directors and owners of ePEO Link. IPIS and Olmstead
provided claims administration services to the health plan. The plan
provided medical, vision and dental benefits to approximately 1,500
employees of participating employers.
The suit seeks a court order to
require the defendants to restore all plan losses with interest and
return any illegal commissions received. In addition, the suit seeks
to permanently bar the defendants from future service to any
employee benefit plan governed by ERISA.
The suit, filed in federal district
court in Oklahoma, resulted from an investigation conducted by the
San Francisco regional office of the Labor Department's Employee
Benefits Security Administration (EBSA). Employers and workers can reach the San
Francisco regional office at (415) 975-4600.
UNEMPLOYMENT INSURANCE WEEKLY CLAIMS
REPORT [TOP]
SEASONALLY
ADJUSTED DATA
In the week ending Dec. 17, the advance
figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 318,000, a
decrease of 13,000 from the previous week's revised figure of
331,000. The 4-week moving average was 324,500, a decrease of 4,750
from the previous week's revised average of 329,250.
The advance seasonally adjusted insured
unemployment rate was 2.1 percent for the week ending Dec. 10,
an increase of 0.1 percentage point from the prior week's unrevised
rate of 2.0 percent.
The advance number for seasonally adjusted
insured unemployment during the week ending Dec. 10 was
2,638,000, an increase of 41,000 from the preceding week's revised
level of 2,597,000. The 4-week moving average was 2,640,250, a
decrease of 39,750 from the preceding week's revised average of
2,680,000.
UNADJUSTED
DATA
The advance number of actual initial
claims under state programs, unadjusted, totaled 357,876 in the week
ending Dec. 17, a decrease of 33,915 from the previous week. There
were 374,749 initial claims in the comparable week in 2004.
The advance unadjusted insured
unemployment rate was 2.1 percent during the week ending Dec. 10, an
increase of 0.1 percentage point from the prior week. The advance
unadjusted number for persons claiming UI benefits in state programs
totaled 2,716,799, an increase of 171,922 from the preceding week. A
year earlier, the rate was 2.2 percent and the volume was
2,820,965.
Extended benefits were available in
Louisiana during the week ending Dec.
3.
Initial claims for UI benefits by former
Federal civilian employees totaled 1,671 in the week ending Dec. 10,
a decrease of 552 from the prior week. There were 2,348 initial
claims by newly discharged veterans, a decrease of 398 from the
preceding week.
There were 19,301 former Federal civilian
employees claiming UI benefits for the week ending Dec. 3, a
decrease of 2,076 from the previous week. Newly discharged veterans
claiming benefits totaled 28,290, a decrease of 1,876 from the prior
week.
The highest insured unemployment rates in
the week ending Dec. 3 were in Alaska (4.6 percent), Puerto Rico
(4.4), Louisiana (4.0), Mississippi (3.9), Pennsylvania (3.1),
Michigan (2.9), Oregon (2.8), Wisconsin (2.7), Arkansas (2.6), and
New Jersey (2.6).
The largest increases in initial claims
for the week ending Dec. 10 were in Illinois (+5,324), Ohio
(+4,112), Missouri (+2,149), Massachusetts (+1,889), and New Jersey
(+1,611), while the largest decreases were in North Carolina
(-16,086), California (-13,778), New York (-9,024), Pennsylvania
(-7,121), and South Carolina
(-3,861).
UNEMPLOYMENT
INSURANCE DATA FOR REGULAR STATE PROGRAMS
|
|
Advance |
|
|
|
Prior1 |
|
WEEK
ENDING |
Dec.
17 |
Dec.
10 |
Change |
Dec.
3 |
Year |
|
Initial Claims
(SA) |
318,000 |
331,000 |
-13,000 |
328,000 |
329,000 |
|
Initial Claims
(NSA) |
357,876 |
391,791 |
-33,915 |
444,600 |
374,749 |
|
4-Wk Moving Average
(SA) |
324,500 |
329,250 |
-4,750 |
322,750 |
336,250 |
|
|
Advance |
|
|
|
Prior1 |
|
WEEK
ENDING |
Dec.
10 |
Dec.
3 |
Change |
Nov.
26 |
Year |
|
Ins. Unemployment
(SA) |
2,638,000 |
2,597,000 |
+41,000 |
2,585,000 |
2,720,000 |
|
Ins. Unemployment
(NSA) |
2,716,799 |
2,544,877 |
+171,922 |
2,695,927 |
2,820,965 |
|
4-Wk Moving Average
(SA) |
2,640,250 |
2,680,000 |
-39,750 |
2,722,000 |
2,743,000 |
|
Ins. Unemployment Rate
(SA)2 |
2.1% |
2.0% |
+0.1 |
2.0% |
2.2% |
|
Ins.
Unemployment Rate (NSA)2 |
2.1% |
2.0% |
+0.1 |
2.1% |
2.2% |
INITIAL
CLAIMS FILED IN FEDERAL PROGRAMS (UNADJUSTED)
|
|
|
|
|
Prior1 |
|
WEEK
ENDING |
Dec.
10 |
Dec.
3 |
Change |
Year |
|
Federal
Employees |
1,671 |
2,223 |
-552 |
1,901 |
|
Newly Discharged
Veterans |
2,348 |
2,746 |
-398 |
1,799 |
PERSONS
CLAIMING UI BENEFITS IN FEDERAL PROGRAMS
(UNADJUSTED)
|
|
|
|
|
Prior1 |
|
WEEK
ENDING |
Dec.
3 |
Nov.
26 |
Change |
Year |
|
Federal
Employees |
19,301 |
21,377 |
-2,076 |
19,772 |
|
Newly
Discharged Veterans |
28,290 |
30,166 |
-1,876 |
27,225 |
|
Railroad
Retirement
Board |
3,000 |
2,000 |
+1,000 |
3,000 |
|
Extended
Benefits |
3 |
0 |
+3 |
1
|
FOOTNOTES
SA - Seasonally Adjusted Data
NSA - Not Seasonally Adjusted Data
1 -
Prior year is comparable to most recent data.
2 - Most recent week used covered employment of
128,182,010 as denominator.
UNADJUSTED INITIAL CLAIMS FOR WEEK ENDED
12/10/2005
STATES WITH A DECREASE OF MORE THAN
1,000
|
State |
Change |
|
State
Supplied Comment |
|
NC |
-16,086 |
|
Fewer layoffs in the construction,
transportation, fabricated metals, textile, apparel, and
furniture
industries. |
|
CA |
-13,778 |
|
Fewer layoffs in the construction
and service industries, and
agriculture. |
|
NY |
-9,024 |
|
Fewer layoffs in the service and
transportation
industries. |
|
PA |
-7,121 |
|
Fewer layoffs in the construction,
trade, service, and transportation industries.
|
|
SC |
-3,861 |
|
Fewer layoffs in the manufacturing
industry. |
|
LA |
-3,187 |
|
Fewer Hurricane related claims. 734
claims were Hurricane related.
|
|
MN |
-2,345 |
|
Fewer layoffs in the construction
and manufacturing
industries. |
|
MS |
-2,233 |
|
No
comment. |
|
MI |
-1,998 |
|
No
comment. |
|
AL |
-1,927 |
|
Fewer layoffs in the construction,
service, textile, and manufacturing
industries. |
|
GA |
-1,927 |
|
Fewer layoffs in the textile and
manufacturing
industries. |
|
VA |
-1,823 |
|
Fewer layoffs in the information,
finance, transportation, warehousing, and manufacturing
industries. |
|
WA |
-1,809 |
|
No
comment. |
|
FL |
-1,807 |
|
Fewer layoffs in the construction,
trade, service, and manufacturing industries, and
agriculture. |
|
WI |
-1,591 |
|
Fewer layoffs in the construction,
trade, service, and manufacturing industries.
|
|
DE |
-1,369 |
|
No
comment. |
STATES WITH AN INCREASE OF MORE THAN
1,000
|
State |
Change |
|
State
Supplied Comment |
|
IA |
+1,270 |
|
No
comment. |
|
CO |
+1,355 |
|
No
comment. |
|
TX |
+1,363 |
|
Layoffs in the manufacturing
industry. |
|
KS |
+1,589 |
|
Layoffs in the construction and
manufacturing
industries. |
|
NJ |
+1,611 |
|
Layoffs in the construction and
service industries. |
|
MA |
+1,889 |
|
Layoffs in the construction and
service industries. |
|
MO |
+2,149 |
|
Layoffs in the construction,
transportation, and stone/clay/glass industries.
|
|
OH |
+4,112 |
|
Layoffs in the automobile and
construction
industries. |
|
IL |
+5,324 |
|
No
comment. |
State Detail Prior
Week
UI Claims Series 1967 to
current
Producer Price
Index [TOP]
|
Consumer Price Index: |
-0.6% |
|
Nov
2005 |
|
Unemployment Rate: |
5.0% |
|
Nov
2005 |
|
Payroll Employment: |
+215,000(p) |
|
Nov
2005 |
|
Average Hourly Earnings: |
+$0.03(p) |
|
Nov
2005 |
|
Producer Price Index: |
-0.7% |
|
Nov
2005 |
|
Employment Cost Index: |
+0.8% |
|
3rd Qtr
2005 |
|
Productivity: |
+4.7% |
|
3rd Qtr
2005 |
|
U.S. Import Price Index: |
-1.7% |
|
Nov
2005 |
|
Unemployment Initial (UI)
Claims: |
329,000 |
|
Dec 10
2005 |
|
UI Claims 4-Week
Average: |
328,750 |
|
Dec 10
2005 |
|
Federal Minimum Wage: |
$5.15 |
|
|
New USERRA
Regulations Issued [TOP]
The
Veterans Employment and Training Service (VETS) issued a final rule
to make the Uniformed Services Employment and
Reemployment Rights Act of 1994 (USERRA) and its protections more
readily understandable by employers and service members.
USERRA provides employment and reemployment rights for
members of the uniformed services, including veterans, reservists
and National Guard members. Under USERRA, service
members who leave their civilian jobs for military service are able
to return to their jobs with the same pay, benefits and status they
would have attained had they not been away on duty.
USERRA also protects against discrimination in employment
because of military service.
These newly issued regulations specifically address service
member and employer obligations regarding such issues
as: employee make-up contributions to pension
plans; employer contributions to pension plans; continuing
employment-based health plan coverage; statute of limitations; and
the interaction of USERRA with the Family and Medical Leave Act
(FMLA).
In addition, VETS issued a final rule concerning the notice
required under Veterans Benefits Improvement Act of 2004
(VBIA). The VBIA requires that “each employer
shall provide to persons entitled to rights and benefits under
[USERRA] a notice of the rights, benefits, and obligations of such
persons and such employers…” This notice
requirement can be met by distributing the notice or posting the
poster version of the notice. Two downloadable
posters, with identical text, are available at www.dol.gov/vets for use and
distribution by employers. One of these posters
is for Federal agency employers and the other poster for use by
private and State
employers.
U.S.
Department of Labor Announces Grants of Nearly $14 Million To Train
Workers for Careers in the Energy Industry [TOP]
WASHINGTON-U.S. Secretary
of Labor Elaine L. Chao today announced six grants to train workers
in Kentucky, Missouri, Pennsylvania, Utah, West Virginia, and
Wyoming for careers in the energy industry. The grants awarded today
are part of a nearly $27 million investment in support of the
nation's energy workforce under the President's High Growth Job
Training Initiative, a strategic plan to prepare workers for
jobs in expanding industries.
"Growing worldwide demand for energy is
creating opportunities for workers who posses the skills energy
producers need," said Secretary of Labor Elaine L. Chao. "These
grants under President Bush's High Growth Job Training
Initiative will help workers acquire advanced skills so they can
succeed in America's vital energy sector."
Grants awarded in Kentucky,
Pennsylvania and West Virginia will address training needs in the
coal mining sector through the use of simulators, distance learning,
mobile classrooms and traditional classroom instruction.
With its grant, the University of
Missouri will establish a program to train workers in the nuclear
energy sector. The program developed through this project will be
disseminated to a network of community colleges throughout the
country.
The College of Eastern Utah will train
workers with transferable skills that can be used for careers in
multiple sectors of the energy industry. Upon completion of the
curriculum, participants will be offered additional training
tailored to mining and power generation.
The Wyoming Department of Workforce
Services will coordinate with the Wyoming Contractors Association to
establish a basic safety training program for new workers in the oil
and gas sector. The program will prepare individuals to meet
industry safety standards and acquire skills through work on a
76-acre simulated oil and gas field.
"This package of grants builds on the
President's plan to modernize this industry while reducing our
dependence on foreign sources of energy," said Assistant Secretary
of Labor for Employment and Training Emily Stover DeRocco. "The
varied training approaches provided through these grants will target
specific industry needs and provide workers with skills that
contribute to America's energy future."
The President's High Growth Job
Training Initiative is a strategic effort to better prepare
workers to take advantage of new job opportunities in high growth
sectors of the American economy. Through executive forums with
leaders of expanding industries, critical workforce gaps and issues
are identified. Solutions are then created in cooperation with
employers, educational institutions and the public workforce system.
For more information, please visit www.doleta.gov/BRG/JobTrainInitiative/.
Labor
Department Issues First-Ever Regulations
Protecting the Reemployment Rights of America’s
Soldiers [TOP]
WASHINGTON—The U.S.
Department of Labor today announced regulations, to be published
Monday, Dec. 19 in the Federal Register, interpreting the law that
protects employment and reemployment rights and benefits of service
members upon their return to civilian life. This is the first time
since its passage in 1994 that the Department of Labor has developed
regulations to explain and clarify the Uniformed Services Employment
and Reemployment Act (USERRA). The department’s action is the latest
in a series of proactive steps taken to ensure job security for the
largest group of mobilized National Guard and Reserve service
members since World War II. USERRA prohibits discrimination against
past and present members of the uniformed services and establishes
reemployment rights for service members who want to return to the
jobs they held prior to service.
“Our citizen soldiers put themselves in
harm’s way to defend our freedoms, and now it’s our turn to be there
for them,” said Secretary of Labor Elaine L. Chao. “These
regulations provide comprehensive guidance on USERRA, which works to
preserve the seniority, promotion, health care, pension and other
benefits of our citizen soldiers when they return home to the jobs
they left to serve our country.”
Since Sept. 11, 2001, almost 530,000
citizen soldiers have been mobilized, and more than 390,000 of these
National Guard and Reserve members have been demobilized.
The new regulations, drafted in an
easy-to-read, question-and-answer format, explain how USERRA
protects against discrimination and retaliation because of military
service; prevents service members from suffering disadvantages due
to performance of their military obligations, and affords them ample
time to report back to jobs following completion of their service
obligations.
The department is also announcing
publication of the final version of the notice it provides employers
for use in informing employees of their rights, benefits and
obligations under USERRA. The notice, downloadable posters
containing the notice, and the new regulations can be accessed at
www.dol.gov/vets.
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