Compliance August 1, 2005

FMLA Rights Cannot be Waived without Approval

August 1, 2005 (PLANSPONSOR.com) - A US Department of Labor (DoL) regulation prevents employees from voluntarily waiving their rights under the federal Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) without approval from the DoL or a judge, an appeals court has ruled.
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As a result of that finding, the US 4 th Circuit Court of Appeals reversed a decision by US District Judge Malcolm Howard of the US District Court for the Eastern District of North Carolina in the dispute between plaintiff Barbara Taylor and Progress Energy.

Appeals judges decided that Howard was wrong when he sided with Progress in ruling that Taylor could not proceed in her lawsuit demanding FMLA credit for time she took off from work to receive medical treatment because she had signed a waiver of her FMLA rights when Progress laid her off in 2001. Howard also ruled that a DoL regulation that “employees cannot waive, nor may employers induce employees to waive, their rights under the FMLA” made the Progress waiver she signed unenforceable.

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“We disagree with the district court’s interpretation (of the DoL regulations),” wrote Circuit Judge M. Blane Michael for the appeals court. “The regulation’s plain language prohibits both the retrospective and prospective waiver or release of an employee’s FMLA rights.”

The appeals court ruling is  here .

More information about the FMLA is  here .

Benefits July 29, 2005

Comp Costs Flat in March to June Period

July 29, 2005 (PLANSPONSOR.com) - Total compensation costs remained flat in the March to June period over the prior quarter, new government data shows.
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Data from the US Department of Labor’s Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) showed a 0.7% hike during both periods.

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The BLS said that benefit costs between March and June rose 0.8%, compared with the gain for wages and salaries of 0.6%. Increases in benefit costs accounted for over 35% of the hike in compensation costs for civilian workers from March to June 2005.

Among private industry workers, benefit costs contributed nearly 35% of compensation gains during the quarter; compared with nearly 60% from December 2004 to March 2005. Health insurance costs constituted about 10% of the compensation gains during the quarter.

Among state and local government workers, benefit costs comprised nearly one-half of compensation cost gains during the March to June period, virtually unchanged from the December to March quarter. Health insurance costs represented nearly one-third of the gain in compensation costs from March to June 2005, the BLS data showed.

Compensation costs for the private sector rose 0.6% from March to June 2005, identical to the gain in the prior quarter. For state and local government workers, compensation costs rose 0.7% in June, compared with a gain of 1% for the quarter ended in March.

Benefit costs advanced 0.8% for civilian workers in the June 2005 quarter, moderating from the gain of 1.2% in the March quarter. Meanwhile, private sector benefit costs rose 0.8% for the June quarter, following the 1.1% gain in the previous quarter. Benefit costs for state and local government workers increased 1.2% in the June quarter, compared with a 1.5% gain in the prior quarter.

The Employment Cost Index (ECI), a component of the National Compensation Survey, measures quarterly changes in compensation costs, which include wages, salaries, and employer costs for employee benefits for civilian workers.

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