Thank you to my colleague, Jonathan Schaefer, for this post. Jon focuses his practice on environmental compliance counseling, occupational health and safety, permitting, site remediation, and litigation related to federal and state regulatory programs. OSHA recently announced that it is considering whether it should revise the Control of Hazardous Energy (Lockout/Tagout (LOTO)) standard to accommodate recent technological advances concerning control circuit-type devices. The LOTO standard (29 CFR 1910.147(a)(1)(i)) covers the servicing and maintenance…

Key Dates:  May 31, 2019 and September 30, 2019 You may have been following the complex twists and turns involving the collection of employee pay and demographic data by the EEOC.  While the landscape seems to be constantly changing, pending a stay of the court order in National Women’s Law Center, et al., v. Office of Management and Budget, et al., Civil Action No. 17-cv-2458 (D.D.C.), covered manufacturers must file the 2018 EEO-1 Form…

You may ask why we are using the words “economic downturn” in a post.  Most of our manufacturing clients are reporting strong sales and many economic pundits are saying that a recession is still far off into the future.  With that said, this is exactly the time to start thinking about your supply chain and your contracts.  Because, as many manufacturers know, supply chain and customer disputes rear their ugly head when the economy takes…

With the Trump Administration now in its 27th month (half-way through the first term), Federal agencies seem to be picking up the pace of fundamentally altering the legal landscape in which manufacturers operate.  Keeping up with these changes can be a full time job. In this blog post, I will highlight some of the more important legal changes the National Labor Relations Board (“NLRB”) has implemented with respect to work rules and policies.  Future posts…

OSHA recently announced that it is considering whether it should revise the powered industrial trucks standards for general, construction, and maritime industries. Powered industrial trucks include forklifts, fork trucks, motorized hand trucks, platform lift trucks, tractors, and other industrial trucks powered by an electric motor or internal combustion engine. The powered industrial trucks standards have not been updated since 1998, and OSHA is currently seeking public input to determine whether these standards should be revisited.…

Earlier this year, we posted our 2019 Corporate Compliance & Litigation Outlook.  In the post, we said the following with respect to tariffs: 2018 was the year of the “tariff” for manufacturers.  You could not read a manufacturing news story without mention of it.  There is a lot of hype around tariffs and other trade regulations.  Some companies have been able to absorb the costs by passing it on to their customers and others…

The United States Department of Labor finally published its proposed regulation raising the minimum salary to be paid under the “white collar” exceptions to the Fair Labor Standards Act.  To refresh your recollection, virtually every worker must be paid at least minimum wage (currently $7.25 per hour under federal law, with many states having a higher minimum wage) and overtime for all hours worked in excess of 40 hours per week.  Certain employees are “exempt”…