In a quick three and a half hour seminar, the Missouri Employer Committee brought local businesses up-to-date on Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE), Family Medical Leave Act (FMLA), Rapid Response and the Career Prep Certificate Program.
With over 30 employers in attendance at the Mar. 10 training session, the Country Kitchen meeting room in Cuba was buzzing with conversation.
The first segment of the seminar focused on Rapid Response. Alan Galindo with the Missouri Career Center in Rolla explained the benefits of the Rapid Response program.
The Rapid Response Program provides businesses and workers experiencing job losses with information and assistance to help alleviate the economic and unemployment distress resulting from these employment actions.
Workers are encouraged to visit a Missouri Career Center nearest them for help finding employment or starting a new career.
The second segment focused on the Career Prep Certificate Program.
Graduating seniors may be eligible for the new Career Prep Certificate. This is a result of legislation passed in 2006 and is designed to promote academic and work readiness for Missouri High School graduates.
A+ coordinator, Cathy Wells, and Keith McCarthy, St. James High School principal, did a great job of endorsing the program and identifying the major areas of study that schools can concentrate on for a higher percent of student successes.
For information, contact Cathy Wells, A+ coordinator, at cwells@stjschools.org.
The third segment focused on ICE. Jeffrey M. Othic, group supervisor with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), an agency of the Department of Homeland Security, presented an interesting PowerPoint segment and lecture outlining the staggering number of illegal aliens hitting the U.S. borders each day.
A revised I-9 form is scheduled to take effect on Apr. 3. How to stay in compliance and the use of E-Verify was covered thoroughly.
The fourth segment focused on FMLA. The Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division published a final rule under the Family and Medical Leave Act. The final rule became effective on Jan. 16.
Presenter Sue Herren, investigator with Department of Labor, reviewed pertinent topics.  Thankfully, reference material was made available to attendees as the FMLA changes could be quite overwhelming.
Nancy Montgomery, Human Resource director with Tacony Manufacturing and chairperson of the Missouri Employer Committee, commented, “It’s amazing the number of forms, laws, changes and revisions that a company is expected to keep up with. Without training sessions similar to those offered by Missouri Employer Committee, it would be nearly impossible to clearly understand what is required for compliance.”