Ice Miller Informed Employer Briefing Weekly

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Requests for Prayer at Work Leads to Religious Bias Claims
FedEx Drivers Awarded $14.4M in Illegal Classification Lawsuit
Police Officers Sue City Over Forced Pregnancy Leave
Supreme Court Will Hear Case on Immigrant "Identity Theft"
IRS Increases Maximum 401(k) Contributions
Professor Says Performance Reviews Hurts Morale, Bottom Line
Most Companies Working to Preserve Employee Perks, Survey Finds
Wellness Programs Have Positive Long-Term Effects, Study Finds

Requests for Prayer at Work Leads to Religious Bias Claims
Requests by Muslims to pray at work have led to clashes with employers who say they cannot accommodate the strictly scheduled prayers. The conflicts raise questions about religious rights on the job.
(Source: USA Today (free reg. req'd), 2008-10-16)

FedEx Drivers Awarded $14.4M in Illegal Classification Lawsuit
Drivers for FedEx Corp. have won about $14.4 million in a dispute over whether the delivery company illegally classified them as independent contractors instead of employees. Lawyers for about 200 drivers said that a referee appointed by a Superior Court judge had awarded the amount in reimbursed job-related expenses and interest.
(Source: MSN Money, 2008-10-20)

Police Officers Sue City Over Forced Pregnancy Leave
Five female Detroit police officers have filed a federal lawsuit against the city, alleging the department discriminated against them by refusing to place them on light duty when they were pregnant. Instead, pregnant officers are required to use their sick leave and then go on unpaid leave, the lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court in Detroit alleges.
(Source: Detroit News, 2008-10-15)

Supreme Court Will Hear Case on Immigrant "Identity Theft"
Federal prosecutors pursuing illegal immigrants have a favorite tool: a 2004 law that imposes a mandatory two-year prison sentence on some people who commit identity fraud. The Supreme Court has now agreed to decide just how blunt that instrument is.
(Source: The New York Times (free reg. req'd), 2008-10-20)

IRS Increases Maximum 401(k) Contributions
The maximum contribution that can be made to 401(k) and other defined contribution plans will increase next year, and the maximum benefit that can be funded through defined benefit plans also will rise in 2009, the Internal Revenue Service announced. The maximum annual contribution an employee can make through salary reduction to a 401(k) plan will rise to $16,500 from $15,500, while the maximum annual co-called catch-up contribution that employees age 50 and older can make to 401(k) and certain other defined contribution plans will rise to $5,500 from $5,000.
(Source: Business Insurance, 2008-10-16)

Professor Says Performance Reviews Hurts Morale, Bottom Line
You can call him "dense," you can call him "iconoclastic," but UCLA professor Samuel Culbert sees nothing constructive about an annual pay and performance review. It's a mainstream practice that has baffled him for years.
(Source: The Wall Street Journal, 2008-10-20)

Most Companies Working to Preserve Employee Perks, Survey Finds
The weak economy is taking an increasingly heavy toll on jobs, with announced workforce reductions up 30 percent from a year ago. However, despite the need to cut costs, a new survey finds that a majority of companies are doing whatever it takes to preserve the perks their employees have grown to value.
(Source: Central Valley Business Times, 2008-10-20)

Wellness Programs Have Positive Long-Term Effects, Study Finds
North Carolina business owners might be looking for ways to trim costs, but the state's largest health insurer says wellness programs shouldn't be on the chopping block. A study by Blue Cross and Blue Shield of North Carolina showed that companies willing to make small investments in wellness initiatives such as paid time off for doctor's visits and health screenings in the workplace see long-term returns.
(Source: newsobserver.com, 2008-10-21)

Mike Tooley

Carpenters and tailors have long followed the adage that it is best to measure twice, cut once. This bit of wisdom is equally applicable to human resource professionals today as they attempt to "rightsize" their workforces in light of the challenging economic times we are facing.

Judging from the headlines in our newspapers and favorite Internet news sources, employers of all sizes and industries are beginning to look at ways to reduce costs to compensate for their declining sales, with labor and employment costs often the primary target. Experienced labor and employment lawyers will tell you that economic downturns typically lead to large-scale reductions in force and plant closings, which in turn result in a surge of costly new employment lawsuits filed by and on behalf of the employees whose positions are cut.

Read the entire article.


Kathleen Shortridge	Ann Stewart

The Indiana Worker's Compensation Board has announced a number of changes in its policies and procedures in several different areas. Read an assessment of the impact of these changes.

Wednesday, November 19, 2008
7:30 - 11:30 a.m. (EST)
hot breakfast will be provided

Skyline Club
One American Square, 36th Floor
Indianapolis, IN 46282

The Keynote Speaker is Nate Feltman, Indiana Secretary of Commerce and CEO of the Indiana Economic Development Corporation. Nate will speak on the efforts at the federal level to retain and attract employers to Indiana.

Ice Miller attorneys will speak on:

Employee Free Choice Act
FMLA Regulations
ADA Amendments Act
Immigration
Restrictive Covenants

There is no cost to attend this seminar, but space is limited. Registration is required.

Please RSVP by Friday, November 14 to Lisa.Johnson@icemiller.com.

Engineering Solutions For Lifting Problems

Excessive lifting, pushing and pulling can cause a lot of workplace injuries. By carefully analyzing the job, you can engineer out risky situations. Below are some suggestions from the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) to help avoid lifting problems in the workplace:

Plan the workflow to eliminate unnecessary risks;
Minimize the distances that loads have to be lifted and lowered;
Position pallet loads at the right height, so that workers lift and lower within the power zone between waist and chest level; and
Store materials above ground so that they don't have to be lifted in order to be used.

Please contact Kathleen Shortridge or Ann Stewart if you have questions on this topic or any other worker's comp issue.

Informed Employer Briefing Weekly is a weekly e-mail service provided by Ice Miller LLP.
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This publication is intended for general information purposes only and does not and is not intended to constitute legal advice. The reader must consult with legal counsel to determine how laws or decisions discussed herein apply to the reader's specific circumstances.

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We believe that all employers, public and private alike, will be better able to achieve their goals if they are free to use their human resources in the manner they deem productive and efficient, with minimal interference from government regulations and other outside sources. Whether in a union or non-union environment, our chief goal is to assist our employer clients in creating a work force that is world-class in all respects.

Complete profile of the Employee Relations, Employment and Labor practice group