In the News

As detailed in last month’s Legal Focus article, Act 168 goes into effect December 22, 2014. The new regulation requires employers to complete a previous employer inquiry with applicants who will work directly with children. Similar to the previous employer inquiry completed under the DOT Drug and Alcohol regulations, the Act requires the applicant to disclose to all current and prior employers where the applicant had direct contact with children. The applicant will also be required to sign an ...

All employers worry when they receive a call asking for information about a former employee. In fact, many employers will only give the dates of employment and position last held. But under Act 168, some employers are required to answer in more detail. Fortunately, Pennsylvania law protects employers who disclose truthful, documented information about a current or former employee’s job performance to a prospective employer. Important details follow.

The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) issued a memorandum in March 2015 addressing lawful and unlawful policies, procedures, and handbook rules. Specifically, any rule or policy that has a “chilling effect” on an employee’s Section 7 rights to concerted activity may be deemed to be unlawful. These new guidelines provide challenges for many companies to modify and rewrite their Handbook policies and company practices to remain lawful under the National Labor Relations Act.

While a school bus operation can be audited by many regulatory agencies in regards to their employee files, Department of Transportation (DOT), Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMSCA), OSHA, EEOC, Department of Education (DPE), Department of Labor (DOL), and Department of Human Services (DHS), just to name a few; we are going to concentrate on the two major entities as it relates to school bus operations in this article, DOT and DPE. A driver’s qualification file review from DOT an...

On July 1, 2015 House Bill 1276 was passed and signed into law as Act 15 of 2015 updating the Child Protective Services Law (CPSL) regarding the timing and portability of background checks for employees who have direct contact with children. This amendment to the CPSL makes important changes to coordinate with Pennsylvania’s Public School Code of 1949.

Pennsylvania’s Child Protective Services Law (CPSL), 55 Pa. Code § 3490, et seq., was enacted to protect abused children and preserve/stabilize families by alerting appropriate law enforcement agencies to investigate and respond to suspected child abuse. The law requires that “Required Reporters” act to inform law enforcement of suspected child abuse and prioritizes law enforcement’s response to best protect children at risk.

Measles has been headline news recently. According to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), in the U.S. there were 644 reported cases of measles in 2014 and the first month of 2015 has seen over 100 reported cases, including cases in Pennsylvania. Several contractors have been notified of responsive plans or actions initiated by school district administrators that could result in an interruption of normal school bus operations. You should be prepared.