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msautter@getyers.com

 

For Immediate Release, January 24, 1997

 

Your Employment Risk Solutions Announces a New
Employment Compliance Pro (a Preventive Risk Management Program®) Software Program

Dallas, Texas January 24, 1997: Your Employment Risk Solutions, Inc. announces a new Employment Compliance Pro (a Preventive Risk Management Program®) Software Program for the smaller to medium size business in the US that now have a potentially new exposure to losing their business to job-bias lawsuits since the recent Supreme Court Ruling in January 1997.
Associated Press released an article on, January 15, 1997 regarding, a recent Supreme Court Ruling and the court's opinion of whether an employer with less than 15 full time employees may be subject to the Title VII of the Civil Rights Act and will this new ruling make it easier for workers to file job-bias suits.

I wish to share some news worthy information that I feel you may be interested in and wish to cover for your readers. Since the smaller businesses that have from 10 to 19 employees make up over half a million employers in this country, this new ruling could have devastating effects on them and our economy. These smaller businesses do not have an instant access or resource for information and guidance on Federal Employment and Labor Law and Regulatory Compliance that is affordable to them. Likewise, there are approximately 5 million employers in this country that have between 15 and 250 employees according to a 1990 Government Census. As a result of this situation, these smaller business owners are not only uninformed but unaware of their exposures in the employment arena., i.e., they have the same exposures for employment discrimination lawsuits as Texaco. Most smaller businesses do not have Human Resource Professionals or can afford an Employment Law firm consultant.

The question: How can these smaller companies protect their business from a devastating employment lawsuit? There is a solution available: A very comprehensive and affordable software Program available through Your Employment Risk Solutions, Inc. (YERS) out of Dallas Texas. They have a web site at http://www.getyers.com. Their software Program, Compliance Pro (a Preventive Risk Management Program®). The Program contains a complete compendium of legal guidance to Federal Employment and Labor Law and Regulatory Compliance and, is based on the minimum standards an employer needs to pro-actively posture the business should employment related claims or litigation arise. The Program begins with the hiring process, including how to write a want ad, application, interview and hiring, to resignation or termination; and includes all necessary, appropriate forms with their company name already on them. Additionally, the Program contains an Employee Policy manual and a Health & Safety manual, addressing such issues as OSHA compliance, graphic illustrations on proper body mechanics, lifting techniques, ergonomics, health and wellness.

While comprehensive, this Program is written in easily understandable language by highly experienced and very knowledgeable authors. The authors include a highly skilled (Board Certified) Employment And Labor Law Trial Attorney (with a major Law Firm in Dallas); and a very knowledgeable, seasoned Employment and Occupation Injury Risk Manager who has consulted to very large companies over the past 20 years. The Program is based upon a belief that an ounce of prevention is worth pounds of cure and respectively in employment a prophylactic (preventive), pro-active management style can reduce an employer's liability exposures and reduce potential legal cost from litigation.

The initial software Program sells for $679.00 and there is an optional annual subscription (for automatic updates) available for $269.00. There is never going to be a Program out there that will prevent employment law suits from occurring, but this Program arms employers with an education and appreciation of the potential exposures, and the Program's tools aid in the protection of the business.

The following is a legal interpretation of the Supreme Court's ruling written by Durwood D. Crawford Esquire with the Law Firm of Goins, Underkofler, Crawford and Langdon, LLP, in Dallas Texas, and co-author of the YERS Program.

Employers with less than 15 full time employees may now be subject to federal discrimination laws. The Supreme Court (January, 1997) ruled that part time employees, and employees on leave of absence(paid or unpaid), are to be counted in determining application of Title VII of The Civil Rights Act; The Age Discrimination In Employment Act and The American's With Disabilities Act. (The same employment status will count in determining if a company has 50 employees and, thus, is covered under the Family Medical Leave Act.)

The test is whether the employer had 15 employees on the payroll for 20 calendar work weeks(not necessarily consecutive) out of the current or preceding calendar year.

Many small employers have wrongly assumed that because their active, full time work force remained below 15 these statutes do not apply to them. The addition of summer part-time help to a company's payroll (even though for only 12 weeks) may be enough, in some cases, to cause them to cross the line.

 

 

For additional information on this issue and press release please call me or E-mail me at msautter@getyers.com