Workplace Law Report Index-Summary

VACATION

VACATION PAY

– Forced vacation leave during temporary plant shutdown has no effect on salaried workers' FLSA-exempt status as long as guaranteed salaries met, Wage and Hour Op. Letter, 362; text, 373
– Ill., accruals, class settlement (N.D. Ill.), 1387
– Mass., due as part of “earned wages,” denial illegal despite company policy that vacation pay not an earned benefit (Mass.), 834
– Paid Vacation Act

See LEGISLATION, FEDERAL, HR 2564

VERMONT

– Labor legislation, 2008, DOL reports, 236
– Same-sex marriage, state law developments, attorneys discuss benefits impact, tax status consequences, other pitfalls, 612
– State actions summary, 25; 163; 716; 925; 1371

VETERANS

– ADA, fired bank employee's regarded-as claim improperly dismissed where personnel records, treatment indicated bias, revived (3d Cir.), 542
– Apprenticeships, internships, on-the-job training

See LEGISLATION, FEDERAL, HR 1098

– Mandatory Veteran Specialist Training Act

See LEGISLATION, FEDERAL, HR 1088

– VA

See VETERANS AFFAIRS DEPARTMENT (VA)

– Veterans Employment Rights Realignment Act

See LEGISLATION, FEDERAL, HR 1089

– VETS

See VETERANS' EMPLOYMENT AND TRAINING SERVICE (VETS)

– Wounded Veteran Job Security Act

See LEGISLATION, FEDERAL, HR 466

VETERANS AFFAIRS DEPARTMENT (VA)

– Privacy Act, VA physician lawfully disclosed claimant's HIV status, marijuana use to union representative, personal knowledge key factor (U.S., rev den), 129
– Retaliation claim reinstated for temporary worker denied promised extension or permanent job after filing race, religious bias claims (3d Cir.), 388

VETERANS' EMPLOYMENT AND TRAINING SERVICE (VETS)

– Appointments and personnel changes, assistant secretary, Senate confirms Jefferson, In Brief, 1142
– Mandatory Veteran Specialist Training Act

See LEGISLATION, FEDERAL, HR 1088

VIOLENCE

See also CRIMINAL ACTIVITIES
– Domestic

See DOMESTIC VIOLENCE

– Freedom From Union Violence Act

See LEGISLATION, FEDERAL, HR 2537

– General duty clause will be used to cite violations, OSHA official tells AFSCME nurses, 640
– Ill., domestic abuse, sexual violence, new law expands availability of leave for victims, 1241

VIRGINIA

– Labor legislation, 2008, DOL reports, 236
– State actions summary, 586; 925; 1071; 1149; 1275

VISAS

– Breach of contract, O-1 visa ineligibility no bar to British pilot's claim against aviation service firm for failure to support efforts to obtain (E.D. Pa.), 200
– EB-5 visa extension

– – EB-5 Regional Center Pilot Program extension

See LEGISLATION, FEDERAL, HR 2892

– – Omnibus spending bill

See LEGISLATION, FEDERAL, HR 1105

– H-1B program

– – Cap not yet met, fewer applicants than previous years, 552
– – Certification

– – – ETA introduces iCERT portal system for electronic applications, 553
– – – TARP recipients subject to new USCIS rules, forms to insure no U.S. workers displaced, 439

– – DOL ARB decisions, briefly, 87
– – F-1 student visas, group challenge to DHS rule that helps foreign STEM students obtain U.S. jobs rejected (3d Cir.), 1034
– – Failure to pay salary during idle period triggers back pay, civil money penalty for “knowing” violation (DOL ARB), 684
– – National origin bias, injunction granted, university must continue to employ Russian biologist while she pursues claims (W.D. Pa.), 842
– – Stopping Trained in America Ph.D.s from Leaving the Economy (STAPLE) Act

See LEGISLATION, FEDERAL, HR 1791

– – USCIS reports 20,000 visas still available under FY2010 cap, In Brief, 1202

– H-2A program

– – Agricultural Job Opportunities and Benefits (AgJOBS) Act

See LEGISLATION, FEDERAL, HR 2414, S 1038

– – Bush-era agricultural visa rule, DOL issues proposed rule to amend guestworker program, 1267
– – FLSA retaliation, Peruvian wage claimants accused of terrorism by employer's father prevail, ownership, agency not required (W.D.N.Y.), 1128
– – Global Horizons Manpower, Thai workers, breach of contract (Cal. Super. Ct.), 1332
– – Growers win injunction to block DOL suspension of Bush-era agricultural visa rule (M.D.N.C.), 974
– – Modernization, DOL proposes 9-month suspension of controversial agriculture visa rule, 396; rule suspended 9 months for DOL re-evaluation, 776
– – Relocation reimbursement, ETA withdraws Bush era interpretation, FLSA may require payment, 474
– – UFW bid to postpone DOL rule denied, economic loss not irreparable harm (D.D.C.), 155

– H-2B program

– – Compliance education, DOL to hold public meetings explaining new rule, In Brief, 1236
– – DHS issues final rule to streamline, critics say changes hurt workers, 21
– – FLSA, hotel not required to pay recruitment, travel, visa expenses of temporary guest workers hired after Katrina (5th Cir.), 250
– – Relocation reimbursement, ETA withdraws Bush era interpretation, FLSA may require payment, 474
– – RICO, FLSA, TVPA, immigration status irrelevant to Indian guestworkers' right to sue shipyard (E.D. La.), 549
– – Save Our Small and Seasonal Businesses Act

See LEGISLATION, FEDERAL, S 388

– J-1, international medical students, waiver of foreign country residence requirement, lawmakers approve extension, 360
– Labor certifications, expiration, DOL rule mandating use in support of visa petition within 180 days upheld (7th Cir.), 1176
– Peonage, conspiracy, visa fraud, document servitude, convictions, fines upheld for hotel owners who abused Filipino housekeepers (8th Cir.), 608
– PERM program certification, ETA introduces iCERT portal system for electronic applications, 553
– R-1, Non-Minister Religious Worker Visa Program

See LEGISLATION, FEDERAL, HR 1127

– State laws, 150 immigration-related bills introduced in first quarter, 2009, report, 616
– USCIS denial of visa upheld where no showing small firm could pay carpenter promised compensation (7th Cir.), 607

VOLUNTEERS

– FLSA

– – County EMTs can volunteer to work without pay for local emergency crew partially funded by county but still independent, Wage and Hour Op. Letter, 85; text, 92
– – Full-time paid firefighters volunteering extra hours without pay unlawful waiver of rights, Wage and Hour Op. Letter, 85; text, 94
– – Stipends and fees for volunteer EMTs, firefighters not shown to be nominal, admissible, Wage and Hour Op. Letter, 84; text, 96