U.S. Labor Department hosts first employer forum in New Orleans

Employers learn about wide range of issues in post-Hurricane Katrina contex

NEW ORLEANS — Employers large and small today are participating in the U.S. Department of Labor's first-ever New Orleans area Employer Forum to learn more, in the post-Hurricane Katrina environment, about wages, pension protection, job safety, affirmative action, veterans' re-employment rights, and family and medical leave laws. The forum is taking place at the University of New Orleans' Lindy C. Boggs International Convention Center.

"The New Orleans Employer Forum will provide workers with knowledge of their rights and increase employer awareness of their own responsibilities," said Secretary of Labor Elaine L. Chao. "This outreach effort to help employers protect workers is especially important during the ongoing effort along the Gulf Coast to rebuild and recover from the Hurricane Katrina devastation."

The following Labor Department agencies are offering workshops that include the content described:

• Employee Benefits Security Administration: Assistance for plan administrators with their fiduciary responsibilities under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974, as well as information about the Field Assistance Bulletin on locating missing participants and rollover regulations.
• Wage and Hour Division: Assistance on the Fair Labor Standards Act, Davis Bacon and Related Acts, and the Service Contract Act.
• Occupational Safety and Health Administration: A step-by-step process for developing and implementing an effective safety and health program; a description of OSHA compliance assistance resources; and an overview of the agency's Site Specific Targeting enforcement program.
• Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs: Fundamental "best practices" that help contractors learn how to avoid major technical and discrimination violations, including examples and scenarios from real cases and instructions for investigating essential aspects of an equal opportunity program.
• Veterans' Employment Training Service: Employer responsibilities under the Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act that guarantees veteran reemployment for reservists, guardsmen and returning active duty personnel.
• Office of Worker Compensation Program: An overview of the Longshore and Harbor Workers' Compensation Act and what employers need to know to be compliant.
• Women's Bureau: Information about the Working Women in Transition Project, which allows employers to understand how hiring women in various work capacities benefits a company and community.

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Archived News Release — Caution: Information may be out of date.