Legal Focus

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...

The school bus sales and use tax exclusion is an important tax exemption for school bus contractors in Pennsylvania. Last month a member contractor successfully challenged an auditor’s limitation of that exclusion. Details follow.

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.

Recently, many school bus contractors have had questions regarding “Act 126” Child Abuse Reporting and Recognition Training for school bus drivers employed by independent contractors that is required by 24 P.S. § 12-1205.6, part of Pennsylvania’s Public School Code of 1949. The most common questions are “what must be taught” and “who is permitted to teach school bus drivers”.

The end of the school year for students means the beginning of the summer charters season for school bus contractors. Summer camps, church groups, scout groups, and others frequently charter school buses for group trips in the summer. This note will talk about summer charter issues you should consider. But, be aware that all of the issues related to carrying non-student passengers for a fee are far more complex than can be addressed completely in this brief article.

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.