GUAM employers, employees and attorneys were given an update yesterday on the latest labor laws during the Labor Law Compliance Conference held at the Sheraton Laguna Resort in Tamuning.
Department of Labor Director Leah Beth Nahalowaa said they had around 300 people attend each day of the three-day conference which concluded yesterday.
“We want to let the employees know their rights. Lately, we’ve been getting a lot of complaints from employees regarding employers with regard to discrimination as well as wage and hour issues. We’ve been getting a lot of those so in order to help the employees, we’ve asked the EEO and the wage and hour folks to come out to let them know of their rights when it comes to wage issues, overtime, fair labor standards, and discrimination. We put this together for employees for free,” Nahalowaa said.
The conference also discussed regulations, compliance issues and employment rights with employers.
During one presentation, Raj Sundram, of the OSHA Honolulu Office, touched on penalties and fines that have increased. Nahalowaa said this information is important for businesses to know.
“If we can avoid those penalties and fines, it would be good for the businesses because OSHA comes to Guam unannounced; and if we can help the employers know what those citations OSHA are looking for, it would be good for them so they won’t get fined,” she said.
Among the presenters was Carol Igoe, senior trial attorney for the Equal Employment Opportunity Council Los Angeles District Office. She addressed the final regulations of the American Disabilities Act Amendments Act and the Genetic Information Non-Disclosure Act, or GINA.
“We want to let the employer community here on Guam understand that under GINA, which is a new law, there are restrictions on employees’ family medical histories that employers can get and their obligations to keep that information confidential if employees do give it,” she said.
