Hello Monday!!

Hello my faithful followers,

I hope everyone had a great weekend!!! As you know St. Patrick's Day is tomorrow (Tuesday) and I want everyone who is going to party tomorrow to please drink responsibly.

Now on to the HR world. I found an article on the SHRM (Society of Human Resource Management) and it's states that the Florida's Legislature is facing employment issues and there are a few proposals that they have discussed.

Here is the information from the www.shrm.org

Take care,
Vanessa Gilyard-HR

The 2009 session of the Florida Legislature will convene on March 3, 2009. Here are a few of the employment-related proposals lawmakers will consider.
Sexual orientation, family status, marital status discrimination. House Bill (HB) 397, filed on Jan. 15, 2009, and not yet assigned to a committee, would bar employers from discriminating on the basis of sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, pregnancy, family status, or marital status.
Workers’ compensation attorneys’ fees. HB 311, filed on Jan. 13, and not yet assigned to a committee, would revise the procedures for calculating attorneys’ fees in workers’ compensation cases.
Restroom breaks for bus drivers. HB 291, filed on Jan. 12, and not yet assigned to a committee, would require public transit providers to give restroom breaks to the drivers and operators of public conveyances.
Unemployment compensation. Senate Bill (SB) 516 would change the “base period,” or period of employment on which eligibility for unemployment benefits is based. According to the Florida AFL-CIO, which supports the bill, current law automatically excludes a worker’s most recent work history in determining eligibility. As a result, between three and six months of an individual’s most recent work experience is excluded from consideration in calculating eligibility for benefits.
State employee health plan. SB 356 would extend the state employee health plan to employees of localities. The bill was introduced on Jan. 15 and assigned to the Senate Policy and Steering Committee on Ways and Means.
Patient lifting and handling practices. SB 626, filed on Jan. 12, and referred to the Senate Committee on Health Regulation, would require hospitals, ambulatory surgical centers, and mobile surgical facilities to establish policies for the safe lifting and handling of their patients. In developing the policies, covered employers would be required to evaluate alternative lifting and handling strategies and the degree of risk posed by each. The bill would also require covered employers to develop ongoing evaluation processes for determining the effectiveness of their policies.
Contributed by BLR, Inc. Read plain-English analysis on Sex Discrimination in Florida.