Increasing the state minimum wage and prompt identification of injured workers are key elements of two bills passed by the Legislature that the State Industrial Commission is charged with implementing.
HB65 not only increases the state's minimum wage to reflect the federal standard, it also authorizes the commission to establish a minimum wage and working conditions for minors, according to Chairman Stephen M. Hadley.SB9 was a significant bill, Hadley said, because it provides a means for injured workers who have no transferable skills to set some training for other jobs to get them back to work quickly. He said it will include prompt identification of injured workers to determine their needs.
The bill says the first priority for injured workers is to get them back to work on the same job. If that isn't possible, the next priority is to get them a modified job with the same employer, and the next possibility is getting the same job with a different employer.
The last scenario is retraining to get the person into a new job quickly, the bill says.
SB9 also provides for hiring a coordinator, a counselor and a secretary to identify injured workers and coordinate their retraining needs. Hadley said the bill makes employers more aware of an employee's needs and focuses attention on responsibilities of employers and employees.
HB65 was another significant bill, Hadley said, because it increased the state minimum wage for adults to reflect the federal minimum wage. Signing of the bill by Gov. Norm Bangerter means adults not covered by the Fair Labor Standards Act will get the same minimum wage, which goes to $3.80 per hour on April 1.
The bill was the result of a many-months study by the Labor Code Recodification Task Force, consisting of representatives of labor and management, who compromised to help the 8,700 Utahns not covered by the federal minimum wage provisions.
Another part of HB65 gave the commission the responsibility to establish the hours when minors could work and also the wages they earn. The commission has held two public hearings. A third is scheduled next week in Cedar City, after which a decision will be made.
Here are the other bills passed by the Legislative and watched by the commission:
- SB6 brings the commission's Anti-Discrimination Division into compliance with the Administrative Procedures Act.
- SB13 made some changes in the Employer's Reinsurance Fund (formerly the Second Injury Fund) increasing the reserve requirements from the current $5 million so the fiscal soundness is maintained by taking inflation into account. It also allows payment of benefits to permanent totally disabled people after the initial obligation by the insurance carrier is completed.
- SB34 made some revisions in the Uninsured Employer Fund and allows an administrative law judge to order an uninsured employer to reimburse the fund directly rather than go through the court system. The fund was established to provide workmen's compensation benefits to injured workers employed by businesses without workmen's compensation coverage.
- SB35 standardized the reporting of injuries between the Utah Division of Occupational Safety and Health and the commission's Industrial Accidents Division. Hadley said the bill should reduce paperwork for everybody.
- HB195 contains amendments to the Workmen's Compensation Act and allows electronic recording of hearings by administrative law judges. Regarding the law covering occupational diseases, the bill allows the commission to appoint a medical panel.
- HB192 allows the commission to use its own attorney in legal proceedings but coordinate the activities with the Utah attorney general's office.
- SB82 brings the Utah Department of Employment Security into conformity with federal law regarding employer contributions for unemployment.