It’s OSHA time again: For employers who are required to maintain work-related injury and illness records, it’s that time of year again. Employers covered by OSHA’s recordkeeping rule are required to prepare and post the OSHA Form 300A, “Summary of Work-Related Injuries and Illnesses,” beginning February 1 and keep the form posted until April 30. The form must be posted at each establishment covered, in a conspicuous place where notices to employees are customarily posted.  Prior to posting, a company executive must review the OSHA 300A and certify that “he or she has examined the OSHA 300 Log and that he or she reasonably believes, based on his or her knowledge of the process by which the information was recorded, that the annual summary is correct and complete.” OSHA can cite an employer who fails to post the OSHA Form 300A as required. Employers should take steps now to ensure they are fully compliant.  Additionally, for those employers covered by OSHA’s Improve Tracking of Workplace Injuries and Illnesses regulation, this year the electronic submission of each establishment’s 2018 300A Annual Summary is required to be filed no later than March 2, 2019 using the Injury Tracking Application on OSHA’s website. For each year hereafter, the 300A will be required to be electronically filed no later than March 2.  Source: Jackson Lewis 1/22/19

President Trump submits OSHA nomination:  President Trump has again sent his nomination of Scott A. Mugno to serve as Secretary of Labor Occupational Safety, replacing David Morris Michaels, if confirmed. At the time of his initial nomination, Mugno was Vice President for Safety, Sustainability, and Vehicle Maintenance at FedEx Ground in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

President Trump resubmits EEOC nominations:  With a new Congress, President Trump re-nominated those appointees that were not confirmed in the previous congress.  Specifically, President Trump has re-nominated Janet Dhillon to be a Member of the Commission for a term expiring July 1, 2022, to replace former Chair Jenny R. Yang. Dhillon most recently served as General Counsel of Burlington Stores, Inc. She has served in a similar role at three Fortune 500 companies and practiced law at Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP for 13 years. The president has also re-nominated Sharon Fast Gustafson to be the EEOC’s General Counsel for a term of four years. She would replace P. David Lopez, who resigned at the end of 2016. Gustafson was counsel for Peggy Young in the U.S. Supreme Court’s 2014 ruling in Young v. United Parcel Service, which involved light duty policies and pregnant employees, according to her law firm profile. For 26 years she has practiced before the EEOC and federal courts in a variety of employment-related disputes, the White House noted when she was first nominated. Gustafson practiced at Jones Day for four years in the labor and employment group in Washington, D.C., before she went into solo practice in 1996.

Workers are willing to move for right job…but not from Detroit:  In a poll of 2,800 U.S. workers by Robert Half, 62% of respondents said they would consider relocating for a new position. In a separate poll, 2,800 senior managers found that, in the past five years, 34% of companies increased their relocation-package offerings to top candidates beyond their geographic area. According to Robert Half, 30% of companies don’t offer any relocation incentives. Respondents cited better pay and perks (44%) as the top considerations in their decision to relocate, followed by family or personal reasons (17%), and cost of living and career advancement (16% each). Professionals ages 18 to 34 (76%) are more likely to relocate, compared to those ages 35 to 54 (62%) and 55 and older (40%).  Geographically, respondents in the 28 U.S. cities polled were more open to moving if they lived in Raleigh, North Carolina; Des Moines, Iowa; Miami, or Charlotte, North Carolina. They were less likely to relocate if they were from Minneapolis, Boston, Philadelphia, or Detroit.  Source: HR Dive 1/18/19

Non-competitive transfers not a right under ADA: The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) doesn't entitle workers with disabilities to non-competitive transfers, the U.S. District Court for the Western District of North Carolina held, granting summary judgment for Lowe's Home Centers (Elledge v. Lowe's Home Centers LLC, No. 16-cv-00227 (W.D.N.C. Dec. 20, 2018)). As district manager, the employee, Charles Elledge, was responsible for visiting the eight stores in his district to evaluate the merchandise and store appearance. Following leave for knee replacement surgery, Lowe's allowed him to return to work with restrictions. Once it became clear that Elledge's restrictions were permanent, he expressed interested in reassignment. The employer asked him to identify open positions in which he was interested; he applied for three internal positions but was not hired. The employer suggested other positions, but Elledge made clear he was not interested in jobs that would amount to a demotion.  Elledge sued, alleging disability discrimination. A federal district court, however, said Elledge had failed to demonstrate that he was able to perform the essential functions of the job or that he would be able to perform the functions in the future. The court also noted that Elledge's proposed accommodations — a permanent, light-duty position or reassignment over better-qualified applicants — were not reasonable accommodations.  Source:  HR Dive 1/15/19