Labor Day

       Every Labor Day the  Department of Labor and Industrial Relations (Department)  is reminded of its purposes under the law to ". . .administer programs designed to increase the economic security, physical and economic well-being, and productivity of workers, and to achieve good labor-management relations, . . " (Section 26-20, Hawaii Revised Statutes). While this requirement in the law provides direction, it is the compassion and energy of the individuals who work in all the programs throughout the State that make the execution of these goals possible.  Like every business in Hawaii and across the United States it is the laborers, the employees, the workers, who make the business succeed, and the Department  is no exception.
     Many of the Department individuals are dedicated State employees with decades of experience and expertise.  This year the Department recognizes three employees with 40 years of service.  Edwina Luke    in the Administrative Services Office, Carol Kanayama with Workforce Development Division, and Nora Ebata with the Hawaii Labor Relations Board.  All three women are valuable assets to the Department.  Other dedicated employees will be recognized for 30, 20 and 10 year anniversaries of their State employment. 
    No matter how long someone has worked for an employer each person's contribution to the business is notable and that is an important element of the Labor Day holiday.   I hope other employers around the State will pause this Labor Day and recognize the value each one of their employees brings to their business and remember to say "Mahalo."  Happy Labor Day 2012!

Proposed Rules Public Hearing Sept. 18

      Notice of the public hearing on Sept. 18 for proposed rules for Boilers and Pressure Vessels appeared in the Star Advertiser yesterday, August 15.  A copy of the proposed rules and the legal notice summarizing the changes have been posted on the DLIR website.  To view them click here. 

      These proposed rules have already been reviewed by the Small Business Regulatory Review Board who supported the need to update the safety standards of this type of equipment. See SBRRB Minutes of June 20 Meeting, Item IV A. 

Free Workshops Developing Language Access!

August is Language Access Month in Hawaii.  This August, The Office of Language Access, ((OLA) will sponsor its 5th Annual Hawaii Conference on Language Access. It is a two day conference on "Translation: Maximizing Quality and Minimizing Costs" and will take place August 22-23, 2012 at the East-West Center at UH Manoa.

The registration deadline has been extended to Wednesday, August 15, 2012.The conference is free but you must register.   This is also a great opportunity for businesses with Language Access Services and Products to reach customers.  See the registration form for how to be an exhibitor! Exhbitors space will be available from 8 to 4:30 each day with several breaks throught out the day for attendees.   The Agenda for the two days is full of great programs and speakers.  Continental breakfast and lunch is included. The second day has two tracks of programs to select from. Selected programs scheduled are listed below.   

 

 

WEDNESDAY, AUG 22 

• Keynote – Federal Guidelines on the Translation of Vital Documents, Deeana Jang, Chief, Coordination and Compliance Section, Civil Rights Division, U.S. Department of Justice
• Keynote – Implementation of Federal Guidelines Among DHHS Recipients in Region IX, Michael Leoz, Regional Manager, Office for Civil Rights, U.S. Department of Health and Humans Services, Region IX, San Francisco 
• Translation of Vital Documents in Hawai`i 
•  Luncheon Speaker – Hawaiian as an Official Language: Issues and Challenges, Dr. Kerry Laiana Wong, UH Hawaiian Studies (bento lunches provided)
• Translation of Vital Documents: The NYC DOE Experience – Kleber Palma, New York City - Department of Education, Translation and Interpretation Unit
• Translation of Vital Documents: The Washington State DSHS Experience – Jason Reed, LEP Program Manager, Economic Services Administration, Department of Social and Human Services, State of Washington
•  The Basics of Translation 
•  Panel: Language Issues in Translation -

Optional: Pau Hana Gathering, no host dinner, for those interested at Ryan’s Grill at Ward Centre, 1200 Ala Moana Boulevard.

 THURSDAY, AUG. 23

 

 Breakout 1                                          Breakout 2
 Ethics for professional Translators         Identifying Vital Documents and Languages for Translation
Careers in Translation                            The Use of Plain English
Internet Resources for Translators          Contracting and the Cost of Translation
Certification of Translators                      Funding Resources for Translation
Translation Techniques                           Tracking and Managing the Translation
Running a Translation Business               Translator's Top 10 Pet Peeves

FINAL PLENARY SESSION :Ensuring Accuracy in Translation.

HOPE TO SEE YOU THERE!

Updates: Prevailing Wage Surveys and Proposed Rules

   Proposed Rules:  Work continues on revising and proposing elevator and boiler rules.  Proposed amendments to the Boiler and Pressure Vessel rules Chapters 12-220 to 12-225, Hawaii Administrative Rules, passed the Small Business Regulatory Review Board at the June 20 meeting and next step of getting the governor's approval and publishing the notice of public heaing is in process.   Proposed changes to the Elevator rules continue to be developed.  The focus of the changes continues to be bringing the rules up to current national industry standards and providing a safe environment for the public.

   Prevailing Wage Surveys:  Due  August 3. This Friday is the deadline for submitting any information on the Prevailing Wage Survey being conducted by the Reasearch and Statistics Office.  The prevailing wage survey reaches out to contractors who conduct the following work:  Chlorinator, Drapery Installer, Fence Erector (Chain Link), Concrete Mixer Driver/Booster Driver, Termite Treater and Water Well Driller.  The surveys are important to the State as they determine the prevailng wage on the wage rate schedule for the next year in those classifications of jobs for all State and county construction work under Hawaii's "little Davis-Bacon", Chapter 104, Hawaii Revised Statutes.  Contractors should have received their survey forms last month.  If contractors believe they should be participating and want to be included in the survey, they can contact the Research and Statistics office at by email at dlir.rs.wrs@hawaii.gov or call (808) 586-9019, for information on how to participate.

Winning Videos Announced

The US DOL had a Campaign for Disability Employment and announced  the video contest winners of 'What can YOU do?'  They have asked for the public to vote before June 8 for the runner up videos.
See the winning videos here.
To see the other videos  and vote click here.

The gist of the message is people with disabilities are great employees.
Focus on their abilities, what they CAN do and find a valuable asset to your company.


Part of the press release is reproduced below.

WASHINGTON — The Campaign for Disability Employment, a collaborative of leading disability and business organizations funded by the U.S. Department of Labor's Office of Disability Employment Policy, has selected the winning videos in the 2012 "What can YOU do?" video contest. This nationwide contest challenged filmmakers to produce disability employment awareness videos that reflect the diversity of skills people with disabilities offer, challenge common misconceptions about disability employment and reinforce the CDE's core message that, at work, it's what people CAN do that matters.

The 2012 "What can YOU do?" video contest winners were selected in three categories: employer, youth and general public. Judging was based on originality, content, reflection of campaign themes and categories, production value, impact and accessibility. Winning videos now will be used in support of the campaign's national effort to increase the employment of people with disabilities.  To see the whole press release click here.

And the winner is . . .

The current trend in technology is creating "apps" -- even the government is doing it.  Earlier in the year I pointed to some challenges the USDOL was making to developers to find interesting ways to use the data that is available on their website.  (See February 2, 2012 post)  The Equal Pay App Challenge winners have been announced. 

Unfortunately, I have yet to get a mobile device that will support its use, so have not been able to play, but for those who do have an iPhone or iPad you might have some fun with the Gender Gap Game, especially if you're a male.  The game asks the player to guess at whether a particular salary amount for a particular job is a male salary average or a female average.  I challenge you to play the game until you find one where the female salary is higher.  This is why it may be somewhat frustrating for women.  The intent however is education, so that women will be stronger negotiators and understand the worth of their position.

The good news is that Hawaii, is actually above average in this area.  Where the national average has women earning 77 cents to every dollar a male earns, wahine in Hawaii are earning 80 cents to that dollar. Great news would be that we earn the same amount for the same job.  An interesting fact sheet on this material was produced last month as part of equal pay day April 17 and can be found here. 

But you're reading this to learn the winning app, so here is a link to the app walk through video that shows how to play.  Find it at GenderGapApp.com  For the contest runners up see http://equalpay.challenge.gov/.  Can't wait to hear what you think.

OES Arriving Soon in Your Mailbox!

     The Occupational Employment Survey (OES) will be mailed out soon from the DLIR Research and Statistics Office.  I urge you to take a moment and fill it out and return it as soon as possible.  The information gathered is confidential.  Everyone's participation is important.

       The Occupational Employment Survey is directed to employers in order to gather the data.  It is a national project funded by the Bureau of Labor Statistics. This is useful data for both employers and employees. 

     Just the other day a friend was finally offered a job (Yeah!) after being unemployed for a whole year.  She was at the stage of negotiating the details of her new job, including salary and asked me what she could expect to be paid. I had no idea because she is an art director and I am an administrator, so I sent her to the Research and Statistics HIWI website, specifically, the Occupational Employment Survey. (See the Jan 30 post on this blog)


     When my friend found the salary range for her particular job title, she recognized that she was likely going to take a cut in pay from her last job in another state. Having this information was helpful for both parties.  It gave realistic goals for my friend that she could work with and helped her employer by remaining competitive for good employees.

     The data, like all data, is only as good as its source.  Data from the DLIR can be relied on for it's integrity and accuracy because their mission is to serve Hawaii.  The broader the spectrum of collection, the more accurate the information reported.  DLIR needs employers to respond to the survey that is sent out by the Research and Statistics Office to ensure the best possible sampling.  Employers can expect to find the survey in their mail boxes next week.  Be on the lookout.