Job Extremes in Focus as Heat Dome Arrives

As a heat dome forecast to bring triple-digit temperatures to the Southwest U.S. starting Tuesday, searches for “extreme heat on the job” and related have spiked, Google Trends showed early Tuesday.
More than 25 million Americans will be under a heat alert issued by the National Weather Service.
Five states have created their own workplace heat safety rules and several more are close to adopting them, Anastasia Christman, of the National Employment Law Project, told Marketplace on Monday.
OSHA has been drafting new heat-specific rules for four years, but it is unclear exactly what those rules would be, according to the report. They would likely trigger things like required rest and water breaks when the heat index reaches certain thresholds.
The U.S. Chamber of Commerce has pushed back against early proposals. Marc Freedman, VP of workplace policy at the group, told Marketplace that while “nobody disputes that overexposure to heat is a hazard,” current general guidelines for rest, water and shade are effective.
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All New York City employers face a July 1 deadline for posting in an easily visible place and individually distribute to each employee a “Know Your Rights at Work” poster, law firm Davis + Gilbert is reminding clients.
In a Tuesday blog post, the firm highlighted that if employers communicate with employees online or via mobile application, they must also make the poster available on that platform.
Violations of the law are subject to a civil penalty of $500 per incident by the Department of Consumer and Worker Protection (DCWP).
As required by the Workers’ Bill of Rights Law passed late last year, DCWP created the poster in consultation with the New York City Mayor’s Office of Immigrant Affairs (MOIA) and the City Commission on Human Rights (CCHR).
The multilingual poster includes a QR code, which directs individuals to the comprehensive Workers’ Bill of Rights hosted on DCWP’s website.
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Senators Edward J. Markey (D-MA), Tina Smith (D-MN), and Bob Casey (D-PA) have introduced the Warehouse Worker Protection Act, which aims to protect warehouse workers from unsafe work speed quotas and increase transparency around quota policies.
In a joint press release, the trio cited Amazon and Walmart, highlighting recent reports of high injury rates at Amazon warehouses, as well as feedback from Walmart workers who said quotas made it hard to take bathroom breaks.
The bill has been endorsed by several of the nation’s biggest unions, including the Teamsters and United Food and Commercial Workers.
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