State Legislative Issues
Contact Your State Representative About SB593
SB593, which provides much needed reforms in the Arkansas Unemployment Compensation System, has been passed by the Senate and has been passed out of committee in the House. The next step is a full vote on the floor of the House of Representatives. Please contact your Member of the State House of Representatives NOW to express your support for SB 593.
Please Support HB 1728 and SB 593
As you all should know by now, the Arkansas Unemployment Trust Fund is seriously indebt to the Federal Government. For the last two years, the Management Team on theADWS Advisory Council (chaired by Russell Gunter, ARSHRM Governmental AffairsDirector) has been working on a solution that was balanced between benefit cuts andtaxable wage base increases. The Labor Team on the ADWS Advisory Council rejectedmanagement’s efforts.
Legislative Alert HB 1352
Last year, the Arkansas Supreme Court decided that an individual (supervisor, manager, HRprofessional, etc.) could be sued personally and be held personally liable for retaliation againstan employee. We believe this case was wrongly decided. Representative Linda Tyler of Conway(a former HR professional herself) has agreed to sponsor legislation to reverse this decision andreturn the law to what it should be, i.e., the employer, not the individual, is the sole entity thatcan be sued and held liable for employment discrimination and/or retaliation.
HB 1873 Concealed Weapons
The House of Representatives “railroaded” a bill to passage whichwould allow any employee with a concealed weapon permit to have a gun, out of sight, intheir locked car, while in an employer’s parking lot. A copy of HB1873 is attached. Underthe bill, it would be illegal for an employer to prohibit such an employee from having thegun in the employer’s parking lot, and illegal to discriminate against any such employee forbringing a gun to work.The bill is now in the Senate and there are some efforts underwayto make a couple of amendments
