June 1 is the deadline for providing written notice to a teacher that the board does not intend to renew his or her contract. But did you realize that May 1 is another critical deadline if a board is considering non-renewal for a teacher on a limited or extended limited contract?
On November 22, a judge in the US District Court for the Eastern District of Texas granted an emergency motion for a nationwide preliminary injunction barring implementation of the Department of Labor’s (DOL) new overtime rule. The rule, which was scheduled to take effect on December 1, was expected to make more than four million workers eligible for overtime pay. The court’s decision can be found under “notable cases” on the court’s website.
In December, the General Assembly enacted the “ban the box” law, House Bill (H.B.) 56. The bill creates R.C. 9.73, which prohibits public employers in Ohio from including any questions about a person’s criminal background on employment applications. School districts should take steps now to ensure compliance with the law when it becomes effective on March 23, 2016.
We wanted to direct your attention to two new legal resources that can be used by school attorneys, board members, and the districts they serve.
On July 6, 2015, the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) published its much-anticipated proposed changes to the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). These proposed regulations are the response to President Obama’s March 2014 directive to the Secretary of Labor to “update and modernize” the overtime exemption rules under the FLSA. If adopted, the changes will have a significant impact on employers’ abilities to treat certain employees as exempt from receiving overtime compensation.
Current regulations
Employees and volunteers that direct, supervise, or coach a student activity program that involves athletics, routine or regular physical activity, or activities with health and safety considerations must obtain a pupil activity permit. The Ohio Department of Education issued a recent reminder to begin the process for the application of pupil activity permits for coaches.
Students aged sixteen and seventeen, who are employed during the summer months after the last day of spring classes and before fall classes begin, are not required to provide their employer with an age and schooling certificate as a condition of employment (RC 4109.02). This exception applies if the student is employed in an area that is nonagricultural and nonhazardous as well as any other area of employment that is not prohibited to persons aged sixteen and seventeen.
Last month, the State Board of Education considered the first application for a pupil activity permit from a felony ex-offender holding a Certificate of Qualification for Employment (CQE). Created by Senate Bill 337 in 2012, the CQE process allows persons who have a previous felony or misdemeanor conviction to apply to the court in their county of residence to lift collateral sanctions that prohibit an individual from being considered for employment in certain fields, including education. As of May 20, 2015, just over 300 CQEs have been issued in Ohio.
Under RC 3307.35(B), a former teacher receiving retirement benefits from the State Teachers Retirement System (STRS) may be employed again as a teacher in the public schools. Teachers that choose to work in a public position within the first two months of retirement forfeit their monthly retirement benefits for the months worked. In the past, STRS has held that the amount of compensation paid to the retiree has no impact on whether the teacher loses their retirement benefits.
The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has recently revised its Employment Eligibility Verification form, Form I-9. Employers are required to use this form to verify the identity of each new employee hired and to verify that they are authorized to work in the United States. However, employers are not required to complete the revised version of Form I-9 for current employees that already have a properly completed form on file, unless re-verification is required.
