ARTICLES:

• Time Off to Vote? Employee’s Rights
  
• California Paid Family Leave – Are You Confused?

NEW PRODUCTS:

• 2005 Calendars & Planners
  
• California Dental
  
• OSHA Hearing Conservation

REGULAR FEATURES:

• Recent Federal and State Mandatory Changes
  
• Spanish Posters
  
• Custom Posters
  
• Your Comments: What would you like to see?

TIME-OFF-TO-VOTE LAWS!

November is fast approaching; will your employees be asking if they are allowed time off to vote? Do you know the answers?

Federal law ensures American citizens the Right To Vote. Many of our state have specific laws regarding an employee’s right to take time off to vote in an election.

Thirty states have laws requiring employers to allow employees who are registered time off to vote. Some states guarantee time off only if the employee does not have sufficient time outside of working hours to vote.

Generally, the time allowed is two to three hours. Several states require employees to give advance notice of their intention to take time off and some require the request to be in writing. Employers in 20 states are allowed to specify the hours an employee can take off to vote.

In 20 states, employees must be paid for time spent voting and some states require that “proof” of voting must be given before they are paid. All employers are prohibited from penalizing an employee or making deductions from wages for at least part of the time the employee is authorized to be absent from work to cast a vote. Some states even require the posting of a notice regarding an employee's right to time off to vote. For information the requirement of posting a notice, please give our Customer Sales Representatives a call; we will be happy to assist you

Penalties for employers violating right-to-vote laws vary from $25 to $20,000, and in some cases they may even face jail sentences. In Colorado and New York may even face the forfeit of their corporate charters.

We have compiled a “time-off-to-vote” chart for your use. Please check below to see what specific state laws are applicable in your state. This will assist you in determining what you need to do before November 2nd to be in compliance with your state’s voting right laws.

CALIFORNIA’S PAID FAMILY LEAVE
(Eligibility Benefits became effective July 2004)

Are you confused on the NEW California Paid Family Leave laws?
Most every one is…we have some help for you…

We held several seminars in association with two leaders in the field of HR issues. These seminars included an easy-read, comprehensive book, “California’s Paid Family Leave Act”. Long-time associate, Steward M. Lerner, Management Consultant, and R. Craig Scott, a leading California Employment Law Attorney, collaborated in writing this book to take some of the pain out of understanding the new law. The book takes an in-depth look at the NEW California Paid Family Leave Law.

We are proud to be able to offer this tool to assist your company with the answers you need for the low cost of $55.00. Since the benefits for eligible employees became effective July 1, 2004, you may want to call our Customer Service Representatives today to order your book before you get the questions.

Product # 1-05711 California’s Paid Family Leave Act @ $55.00 plus shipping

NEW PRODUCTS

2005 CALENDARS AND PLANNERS
Time waits for no business, so prepare now for 2005! With our new 2005 CALENDARS and PLANNERS you can get a jump-start on the new year. Order now and we will include a free Computer Calendar strip with adhesive backing for your computer. This space-saving, economic 12-month calendar will help you track Project Deadlines, Employee Vacations, Meetings, Conventions, & other important events. The high-quality laminated write on/wipe off surface makes it easy to make changes as they occur. The calendars include all standard holidays to make planning easier.

Try our 90-Day and 120-Day Planners to make your life easier. Get a planner for each Department for project planning and tracking. The high-quality laminated easy write on/wipe off surface allows for constant updating for special projects.

CALIFORNIA SPECIFIC: DENTAL POSTERS & PAMPHLETS

FEDERAL OSHA HEARING CONSERVATION ACT

Recent FEDERAL and State Changes:

• Federal Family and Medical Leave
  
• Federal Employee Polygraph Protection Act
  
• Federal Equal Employment Opportunity is the Law
  
• California effective 7/2004
  
• Louisiana effective 8/2004
  
• Illinois effective 1/2004
  
• Iowa effective 8/2004
  
• Maine effective 9/2004
  
• Michigan effective 7/2004
  
• New Jersey effective 2/2004
  
• New York effective 2/2004
  
• North Dakota effective 12/2003
• Oregon effective 1/2004
  
• Rhode Island effective 1/2004
  
• Vermont effective 1/2004
  
• Washington effective 1/2004
  
• West Virginia effective 7/2004
  

SPANISH POSTERS – Does Your State Require Spanish Posters?
We have added more posters in Spanish! We now have a total of 17 states.

Many states require employers with Spanish-speaking employees to post the State and Federal labor laws in Spanish. Others highly recommend posting in Spanish to ensure that your employees understand their rights and the labor laws. To fulfill the needs of many employers, CPC has available Spanish posters for the following states:

CUSTOM POSTERS
Many larger companies, associations, and PEO’s are taking advantage of CPC’s exclusive “Custom Poster Program.” This program allows organizations to incorporate their logo, company colors, Mission Statement and even some custom verbiage into the design of the poster. Posters can be specially designed to specific size requirements, horizontal or vertical orientation, and with heavy lamination, etc.

YOUR COMMENTS
We are always interested in what our customers need. Do you have a special issue you would like featured in Making Compliance News? We invite you to send us your request for our Research Department to investigate.

Please email your request to: anns@complianceposter.com

For more information, please contact your Compliance Poster Representative at
1-800-817-7678 or at with customer service online.