by James DeChene

In advance of the January 1, 2019 enactment date, the Delaware Department of Labor has released the notice sheet employers will be responsible for providing to new and current employees.  Employers can provide either a digital or hard copy of the sheet, which can be found at the Delaware DOL website, with a link on the left side -- https://dol.delaware.gov/

In addition, for employers with 50 or more employees, note you will be required to provide interactive training for all employees within 12 months of the enactment date, and within 12 months for all new employees. That training is required to be repeated every two years. Those who are in supervisory positions will need additional supervisor-specific training as well. Topics for non-supervisor employees must include the following:

1. The illegality of sexual harassment
2. The definition of sexual harassment using examples
3. The legal remedies and complaint process available to the employee
4. Directions on how to contact the Department
5. The legal prohibition against retaliation

For supervisors the additional training must include:

1. The specific responsibilities of a supervisor regarding the prevention and correction of sexual harassment
2. The legal prohibition against retaliation

Note that if employer-provided training to employees or supervisors prior to January 1, 2019, satisfies the requirements listed above, no additional training is required until January 1, 2020.

Please be aware that questions may arise on what constitutes an “interactive” training and how to satisfy the training topics. The State Chamber’s Employer Advocacy and Education Committee is taking a look at how employers can be compliant, and will continue to provide updates as we get them.

by James DeChene

The General Assembly ended work at 8:30 a.m. on July 1. Included was Grant in Aid and capital spending. A bill passed at 4 a.m. to raise minimum wage by $.50 the next two years. The bill did not get a house hearing and was a controversial action decried by House Rs. DSCC supported passage of a bill to sustain the funding for the state’s brownfield’s program. Also passed was a bill mandating sexual harassment training. DSCC worked to amend that bill making it better for business. Look for a more in depth recap in the next issue of Delaware Business magazine. 

by James DeChene

This week in Dover featured the crush of bills needed to be heard before the end of session early morning July 1. Included were: modifications to the WARN Act (Chamber supported), the failure of the legalization of recreational marijuana (Chamber opposed passage), a bill allowing insurance companies to offer ERISA type plans to smaller employers (Chamber supported), and the supplemental spending bill that contains raises for state employees.
 
Still out there awaiting June 30 action are the bills related to minimum wage, the Workplace Fraud Act, sexual harassment training, and the bond bill, as well as whatever last minute surprises crop up.

by James DeChene

This week the Senate passed the FY2019 $4.27 billion budget, where it will now come before the House for consideration before June 30. Contained within are raises for state workers, increases to special education funding, and it sets aside $46 million in deferred spending for next year’s operating budget. The Senate also approved a bill Wednesday that will provide 12 weeks of paid leave for state employees. Governor Carney signed the bill late Wednesday night. Also passed was a resolution creating a study group on the impacts of predictive scheduling on the retail, hospitality and food industries. The Chamber and the Retail Council have spots on the taskforce, and the measure must now pass the House to take effect.
 
Released from House Labor Committee was a measure mandating sexual harassment training in the workplace. The Chamber worked to amend this bill to reflect what the business community already does related to training. That bill now goes to the House floor for a vote.
 
HB409, related to the WARN Act governing how employers must notify Department of Labor of significant layoffs or plant closings, passed the House. It was released from Senate Labor Committee and now faces a Senate vote. This was another bill the Chamber worked to amend, with feedback from our members.
 
Four days remain in the 149th General Assembly.

by James DeChene
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The Senate introduced the FY19 budget this week and it is now under review by members of the Senate in preparation for a potential vote next week. This introduction is the earliest in, if not history, certainly in recent memory, and is a result of a windfall of projected revenues for this fiscal year and next. As mentioned earlier the budget total is $4.3 million with approximately $46 million set aside for deferred spending in the following year.
 
Also this week, an amended version of HB409 passed the House with State Chamber support. Making minor changes to how companies with over 100 employees alert the Department of Labor of pending significant layoffs or plant closures. The Chamber worked with the Department on modifying a number of provisions contained in the bill to protect small businesses.
 
A bill mandating sexual harassment training stalled in the House Labor Committee this week. The State Chamber has been working for the last 3 months to make changes to the legislation to take into consideration what the business community in Delaware already does for training. That bill continues to be worked on, and is expected back in committee next week.
 
With 7 days left of session, there remain a number of bills pending important to the business community—minimum wage, legalization of recreational marijuana and biometric privacy to name a few. Stay tuned for more details as they happen.

by James DeChene

With the General Assembly back this week a few bills of interest to the business community were worked in both committees, and on the House and Senate floors.
 
SB204 related to storm water management is a bill the business community and DNREC have been working on together. It provides a way for redevelopment to operate by establishing interim standards and criteria in order to permit redevelopment projects to move forward while revised regulations are being drafted. The interim standards set forth in this Act would effectively "sunset" upon the adoption of regulations governing redevelopment. 
 
SB80, related to the electric industry, allows for investments in infrastructure to be included as an increase without having to go through a PSC rate case. The benefit is to help lengthen the time between filing rate cases, which are costly, whose cost then gets passed along to the rate payer. The bill was a joint effort between large energy users and the energy industry.
 
SB113, a bill related to the SEU, would provide businesses the opportunity to put a voluntary assessment on energy and/or capital improvements for the life of the unit. The potential benefit to a business is the ability to take a longer term loan that may not be granted under normal borrowing practices. The bill passed the Senate, and now heads to the House to be assigned to committee.
 
With 10 legislative days left, there are many bills of interest remaining including the budget, bond bill, sexual harassment training, marijuana legalization and apprenticeship training requirements on certain public works projects—all in all a jam packed agenda. More to come.

by James DeChene

The JFC completed work on a $4.3 billion budget this week, leaving roughly $61 million in additional spending between now and June 30th. Restoration of Grant in Aid funding from last year’s cuts are expected (about $8 million), but there will still be a hefty amount left to distribute, which may be sent to the Capital Improvement Committee for an increase in one-time infrastructure spending this year.
 
Next week, the General Assembly is back in session, and starting the countdown of 13 legislative days left until June 30. They will have their hands full with pending gun legislation, finalizing spending, and working on the remaining bills relevant to the business community including making changes to the WARN Act, Sexual Harassment Training, Minimum Wage, and Biometric Data Privacy. The Chamber hopes the General Assembly will introduce and pass the first leg of a constitutional amendment related to budget smoothing. We will keep you informed on all these issues, and others as they come up.

The General Assembly is currently on Easter Break, and when it returns, it will address several issues important to the business community. Below are a few issues to keep an eye on.

In regards to the budget:

• The most recent DEFAC report shows an increase of $101 million over this fiscal year and next over previous predictions.
  
• The increases are primarily composed of increases to PIT (federal tax law having impact), and fewer abandoned property returns (based on higher level of scrutiny of applicants). Note that money is already earmarked for expenses, but the timing is pushed out. These are not things on which to base a budget.
  
• IRS guidelines on repatriation of overseas profits and how states will divvy up those taxes remain to be written. The hope is that Delaware will receive some of that money, but caution that it will most likely be one-time money.

  
Labor Relations:  

• Sexual Harassment — rewriting who is covered, including independent contractors.  This legislation would require all employees receive DEDOL created literature related to sexual harassment to be kept in their employee file; and employers with over 50 employees to provide two hours of sexual harassment training.
  
• Predictive scheduling — Industries like food, hospitality, retail would be required to set two-week schedules, with penalties for changing schedules without two weeks' notice to the employee and if employees arrive 30 minutes before/after their scheduled block. Employees would have to be paid if sent home early. Employers could have a pool of employees who can be called in emergency, but the employees would be able to decline.