ABN Newsletter Volume 1, Issue 3 April 2018
Restaurants and other eating and drinking businesses employ millions of people in the United States. The federal Occupational Safety & Health Administration (OSHA) provides resources to help workers in the restaurant industry stay safe and healthy on the job.
OSHA’s general industry standards related to foodborne illness generally apply to persons engaged in a business affecting commerce who have employees, but does not include certain public employers (i.e., the federal government, state governments, or political subdivisions of a state).
Note: Twenty-five states, Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands have OSHA-approved State Plans and have adopted their own standards and enforcement policies. For the most part, these states adopt standards that are identical to federal OSHA. However, some states have adopted different standards applicable to this topic or may have different enforcement policies.
Key employer requirements include:
Key employee rights include:
The following resources describe common hazards and potential safety solutions for workers and employers in the food service industry:
Restaurant Youth Worker Safety Tools
State Law Resources
The following links provide food safety standards and/or licensing requirements by state:
An emergency action plan covers designated actions employers and employees must take to ensure employee safety from fire and other emergencies. Not all employers are required to establish an emergency action plan. Even if you are not specifically required to do so, compiling an emergency action plan is a good way to protect yourself, your employees, and your business during an emergency.
You may find it beneficial to include your management team and employees in the process. Explain your goal of protecting lives and property in the event of an emergency, and ask for their help in establishing and implementing your emergency action plan. Their commitment and support are critical to the plan’s success.
An emergency action plan is a written document required by particular OSHA standards. The purpose of an employee action plan is to facilitate and organize employer and employee actions during workplace emergencies. Well-developed emergency plans and proper employee training (such that employees understand their roles and responsibilities within the plan) may result in fewer and less severe employee injuries and less structural damage to the facility during emergencies.
Almost every business is required to have an emergency action plan. You can use OSHA’s online Expert System to determine whether your company is required to establish a plan. Generally, if fire extinguishers are required or provided in your workplace, and if anyone will be evacuating during a fire or other emergency, then OSHA’s regulations require you to have an emergency action plan.
When developing your emergency action plan, it’s a good idea to look at a wide variety of potential emergencies that could occur in your workplace. It should be tailored to your worksite and include information about all potential sources of emergencies. Developing an emergency action plan means you should do a hazard assessment to determine what, if any, physical or chemical hazards in your workplaces could cause an emergency. If you have more than one worksite, each site should have an emergency action plan.
Keep a copy of your emergency action plan in a convenient location where employees can get to it, or provide all employees a copy. If you have 10 or fewer employees, you may communicate your plan orally.
You can use OSHA’s online Emergency Action Plan Expert System to help you write a simple emergency action plan for your company. According to OSHA, this basic plan will be adequate for the needs of many small and medium-sized entities, but may not be adequate for large establishments or those with more significant hazards. Users in such establishments should consider the special characteristics of their workplaces. Users can supplement this basic plan to address any situations that require special attention.
Note that the OSHA Expert System only provides information based on Federal OSHA Emergency Action Plan requirements. If you are covered by a state OSHA plan, you may need to contact your local state OSHA office.
At a minimum, your emergency action plan should include the following elements:
Although not specifically required by OSHA, you may find it helpful to include the following in your plan:
Your plan must include a way to alert employees, including disabled workers, to evacuate or take other action, and how to report emergencies, as required. Among the steps you must take are the following:
You will want to educate your employees about the types of emergencies that may occur and train them in the proper course of action. The size of your workplace and workforce, processes used, materials handled, and the availability of onsite or outside resources will determine your training requirements.
Be sure all your employees understand the function and elements of your emergency action plan, including types of potential emergencies, reporting procedures, alarm systems, evacuation plans, and shutdown procedures. Discuss any special hazards you may have onsite such as flammable materials, toxic chemicals, radioactive sources, or water-reactive substances. Clearly communicate to your employees who will be in charge during an emergency to minimize confusion.
General training for your employees should address the following:
Once you have reviewed your emergency action plan with your employees and everyone has had the proper training, you may want to hold practice drills to keep employees prepared. Include outside resources such as fire and police departments when possible. After each drill, gather management and employees to evaluate the effectiveness of the drill. Identify the strengths and weaknesses of your plan and work to improve it.
Employers subject to the Affordable Care Act’s (ACA) information reporting requirements are reminded that the deadline to electronically file ACA information returns with the IRS is April 2.
The reporting deadlines in 2018 are for the 2017 calendar year, and are as follows:
Note: Employers filing 250 or more Forms 1095-B or 1095-C are required to electronically file them with the IRS.
The Health and Wellness section features valuable information from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) Healthier Worksite Initiative. The initiative addresses Workforce Health Promotion, a topic that is receiving a lot of attention in workplaces today. Well-constructed and well-run programs can reduce costs to the employer and improve employee health, productivity and morale.
The information provided in this section is designed as a resource for Workforce Health Promotion program planners in all types of organizations. Here you will find information, resources, and step-by-step toolkits to help you improve the health of your employees.
The CDC has included some very helpful information, guidelines and resources for planning a healthier workplace including:
A well-written job description is vitally important to making sure your employees understand a job’s responsibilities and requirements. It is also a key resource to help you review employee performance, hire employees, develop recruitment advertising and make sure your compensation is competitive so you can attract the best talent.
When developing your job description, be sure to comply with disability nondiscrimination laws such as the Americans with Disabilities Act. Compliance guidance is available from the Office of Disability Employment Policy and the Job Accommodation Network (JAN). For more information on recruiting and hiring people with disabilities, please see the U.S. Department of Labor’s page on Hiring People with Disabilities.
The following are a number of the major components of a good job description:
It’s a good idea to review job descriptions on a regular basis as tasks and requirements may change. In addition, you want to make sure you have realistic expectations about the jobs being performed.
Hiring the successful applicant will involve a number of important tasks, steps and paperwork. See the summary below for key information.
The following are the various steps and requirements involved in the new hire process:
New and existing small employers should look into whether the Small Business Health Care Tax Credit can help them provide insurance to their employees. The credit can be worth up to 50% of the amount a small business contributes toward employees’ premiums.
The credit benefits employers that:
A Small Business Health Care Tax Credit Estimator is available from Healthcare.gov, and an IRS Small Business Health Care Tax Credit information page provides additional details on claiming the credit.
Federal agencies recently proposed to amend the definition of short-term, limited-duration insurance so that it may offer a maximum coverage period of less than 12 months after the original effective date of the contract, rather than the current maximum period of less than 3 months. The proposal would also revise the required issuer notice that must be displayed in the contract and any application materials.
While the current definition applies to policy years beginning on or after January 1, 2017, a non-enforcement policy applies to policies sold before April 1, 2017, and that end on or before December 31, 2017. The current definition and non-enforcement policy would continue to apply unless and until the proposal is finalized. If finalized, the proposal would apply to insurance policies sold on or after the 60th day following publication of the final rule. Policies sold on or after this date would have to meet the definition of short-term, limited-duration insurance in the final rule in order to be considered such insurance.
Under the Affordable Care Act, short-term, limited-duration insurance is exempt from certain market reforms. The allowable duration of such insurance is currently limited to less than 3 months after the original effective date of the contract. In addition, this insurance is not considered minimum essential coverage, which is necessary for an individual to satisfy the individual mandate unless an exemption applies.
Click here to read the proposal in its entirety. A fact sheet is also available.
The City of Austin has passed an earned sick time ordinance. Highlights of the ordinance are presented below.
All private employers are generally covered by the ordinance. To be eligible for earned sick time, employees must work in Austin for an employer (including work performed through the services of a temporary or employment agency) for pay for at least 80 hours in a calendar year.
An employer must grant an employee one hour of earned sick time for every 30 hours worked in Austin. Employers are not required to allow employees to accrue more than the yearly cap of earned sick time. The yearly cap depends on employer size, as follows:
An employee may request earned sick time for an absence from scheduled work time caused by certain events (§ D). However, the ordinance does not require any employer to allow an employee to utilize earned sick time on more than 8 calendar days in a given calendar year.
Employers must display a sign describing the requirements of the ordinance in at least English and Spanish in a conspicuous place (or places) where employee notices are customarily posted.
An employer that provides an employee handbook to its employees must include in the handbook notice of employee rights and remedies under the ordinance. Also, at least monthly, an employer must provide each employee with a statement (electronically or in writing) showing the amount of the employee’s available earned sick time.
The ordinance is expected to take effect on October 1, 2018, pending the mayor’s signature. However, for an employer with no more than 5 employees at any time in the preceding 12 months (excluding family members), the ordinance is not effective until October 1, 2020. Click here for additional details.
Note: Certain provisions of the ordinance may be subject to change upon final approval by the mayor. Stay tuned for additional updates regarding the ordinance.