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Do You Know about the New Workplace Laws in 2015
As an employer, it’s important to understand that there are certain employment related laws in place to protect your employees These laws include recruitment advertising and hiring practices, health insurance requirements, career opportunities, and other rules that make it illegal for employers to discriminate against protected classes of people. It’s always important to stay up-to-date on workplace laws that may affect your company or anyone in your workplace.

Here are some of the most recent changes concerning workplace laws in 2015.

Updates to Checking Backgrounds

Effective the first of this year, the Illinois Job Opportunities for Qualified Applicants Act, also called “Ban the Box,” restricts employers from asking certain questions pertaining to candidates’ criminal histories. The question of whether a job candidate has a criminal history cannot be asked until after a first interview or a conditional offer of employment. How does this affect you as a hiring manager? You can’t require job candidates to indicate on a job application if they have been convicted of a crime, however you are allowed to ask about it after the first interview or when placing an offer. Job candidates should be honest with you and not trying to hide information. You can’t deny their application because of a criminal charge.

Updates to Health Insurance

The Affordable Care Act (ACA), while it has created much more access to health insurance to employees, has also confused many people. Here’s what you need to know for 2015. As of January 2015, companies who have 100 or more full time or the equivalent in employees must provide access to the required health benefits under this law. For the employees working for a temporary staffing agency, they are entitled to health benefits too. You can read more about these required health benefits and other ACA updates to keep yourself informed.

Updates on Workplace Safety

In 2015, there are some new requirements for employers to keep track of workplace injuries, and this change is something you must be mindful of as an employer First of all, if any of your employees are hurt at work – for any reason –  the onsite supervisor should know immediately and tell the appropriate parties at the staffing agency. Any hazardous conditions should be reported by employees to a supervisor or the onsite safety officer. Everyone should be working together in keeping the workplace safe. OSHA has created new recordkeeping rules for employers that went into effect on Jan. 1. It is recommended the temporary staffing services and host employers outline their respective responsibilities for compliance with applicable OSHA standards. Employers should provide temporary workers with safety training that is identical or equivalent to that training provided to the host employers’ own employees performing the same or similar work.

Updates for Pregnant Women

Effective in January, the Pregnancy Discrimination Act and the Illinois Human Rights Act were amended to create additional protections for pregnant employees. These laws prohibit discrimination against pregnant employees, and they require employers to reasonably accommodate pregnant applicants and employees in connection with any medical or common condition related to pregnancy or childbirth. This means, if an employee is pregnant, they are treated like any other candidate and employee, and the decision to hire or fire you cannot be based on pregnancy.

We hope you found these updates informative and to keep them in mind when working this year. Contact Davis Staffing today for more information, and we will be glad to answer your questions or help with your employment needs.