In This Issue:

- Your School Is Religious – Does That Mean It’s Exempt? By Greg Ballew (Kansas City) -

You’ve just received notice from your state unemployment commission that the School owes $10,000 in back unemployment taxes. You don’t understand how this occurred since your religious school has always been treated as exempt from unemployment. It’s only after searching your records that you see that the unemployment commission disagreed with your assertion of exempt status and your school failed to appeal the determination on a timely basis. It has now taxed you for three years of unpaid taxes, penalties, and interest. Now what?

- Responding To The EEOC’s Criminal Background Check Initiative By Philip Marchion (Ft. Lauderdale) -

As most of our readers have probably heard by now, the EEOC seems to want all employers to discontinue, or at least significantly curtail, their use of criminal-background checks. The EEOC’s Guidance outlines the agency’s position on criminal-background-check policies, but leaves many important questions unanswered, particularly with respect to schools, which are often required to conduct criminal-background checks. So, what, if anything, should schools be concerned about in light of this bold policy move by the EEOC? To the surprise of some, the answer may actually be no different than what you are already doing...

- OSHA Whistleblower Protections In Schools By Tiffani Casey (Atlanta) -

The Labor Department recently strengthened its Occupational Safety and Health Act Whistleblower Program by dedicating additional funds to training its investigators, performing more thorough investigations, and reassigning responsibility for the Whistleblower Program directly to the Office of the Assistant Secretary of Labor for greater oversight of the program. Schools are covered by the OSH Act, and like most industries, should expect to see an increase in whistleblower claims under the newly-fortified program...