Kentucky Employment Lawyer Blog

As of today, July 24, 2009, the U.S. minimum wage will increase by 70 cents to $7.25 an hour. According to the U.S. Department of Labor Secretary Hilda Solis, this is the third increase in the minimum wage in the last three years and this increase will affect between 3 million and 5 million workers. While many states have their own minimum wages that are already higher than the federal minimum wage and will thus not be affected by this increase, Kentucky and Indiana have both set their minimum wage to be the same as the federal minimum wage. Therefore employees in Kentucky and Indiana who earn the minimum wage will soon see an increase to their paychecks.

The previous federal minimum wage (and therefore the Kentucky and Indiana minimum wage) was $6.55 an hour. Therefore, employees in Kentucky and Indiana who receive the 70 cent an hour increase will receive an additional $28 per week (assuming a 40 hour work week). To see the minimum wage of other states you can visit the U.S. Department of Labor.

If you feel that you are not receiving the new minimum wage you can contact the Department of Workplace Standards of the Kentucky Labor Cabinet at (502) 564-3070 or contact an employment lawyer at Miller and Falkner.

After losing a job, one of the primary concerns for many individuals is their loss of health insurance. The Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act (COBRA) allows workers and their families who lose their health benefits due to circumstances such as voluntary or involuntary job loss, reduction in the hours worked, transition between jobs, death, divorce, and other life events, the right to choose to continue group health benefits provided by their group health plan for a limited period of time. One main problem however for many individuals who have lost their job is how they are going to pay for this coverage as it is generally much more expensive than their health insurance premiums had been when they were employed.

The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA) signed into law by President Obama on February 17, 2009 provides a significant reduction in premium cost for COBRA to certain qualified individuals and also expanded eligibility for COBRA. Under the ARRA, individuals may be eligible to pay a reduced premium amount that is only 35% of the premium costs for your COBRA coverage for up to 9 months.

To qualify for this reduction the individual must be qualified for COBRA because they or their family member were involuntarily terminated between September 1, 2008 through December 31, 2009. If you qualify for this reduction but have already declined COBRA or elected COBRA but later discontinued it, you may have another opportunity to elect COBRA coverage and pay the reduced rate. For more information on COBRA and the ARRA's subsidies available, visit the Department of Labor's website. 

The Americans with Disabilities Act 42 U.S.C. Sec 12102, et seq. (ADA) was first enacted in 1990 prohibiting discrimination against people with disabilities in employment (Title I), in public services (Title II), in public accommodations (Title III) and in telecommunications (Title IV). 

After its enactment however, United Stated Supreme Court cases significantly limited the ADA's effectiveness in prohibiting discrimination based on disabilities.  Based on narrow court interpretations of the ADA, the ADA Amendments Act of 2008 was signed into law on September 25, 2008 to make the ADA consistent with its original intent of "providing a clear and comprehensive national mandate for the elimination of discrimination against individuals with disabilities" and to "provide broad coverage." 

Several changes in the ADA as a result of the new Amendment are discussed below. 

One of the largest changes made by the ADA Amendments was to the definition of a "disability" under the ADA.  In Sutton v. United Air Lines Inc. (1999), the Supreme court held that in order to determine whether an impairment was a "disability" under the ADA, consideration must be given to mitigating measures available.  Mitigating measures could include a variety of items such as medication, equipment, prosthetics, mobility devices, hearing aids, and glasses.  When taking into consideration these mitigating measures, many impairments were not considered to substantially limit a major life activity and thus were not considered disabilities under the ADA. 

The ADA Amendments state that mitigating measures other than "ordinary eyeglasses or contact lenses" shall not be considered in assessing whether an employee has a disability for purposes of the ADA. 

Other changes made to the ADA include:

• expanding the definition of "major life activities"
• clarification that an impairment that is in remission or episodic still qualifies as a disability if it would substantially limit a major life activity when active
• changing the definition of "regarded as" to no longer requiring the impairment to substantially limit a major life activity
  

Continue reading "ADA Amendments Good News for Individuals with Disabilities" »