News Details

NEW FEDERAL GINA LAW TAKES EFFECT NOVEMBER 21,^st

INCLUDES WORKPLACE POSTER CHANGE

On November 21, 2009, a new federal law titled the “Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act” (GINA) will go into effect. Title II of the new law signed on May 21, 2008, prohibits the intentional collection of genetic information about job applicants and employees, and use of genetic information in employment decisions.  According to the EEOC, “genetic information” includes, for example, information about an individual’s genetic tests, genetic tests of a family member, and family medical history. Genetic information does not include information about the sex or age of an individual or an individual’s family member, or information that an individual currently has a disease or disorder. Title I of the law also includes strict confidentiality requirements for handling of genetic information.

Title I of GINA amends portions of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA), the Public Health Service Act, and the Internal Revenue Code, and addresses the use of genetic information in health insurance. Additional information on this aspect of GINA is available at the following link:  http://www.eeoc.gov/policy/docs/qanda_geneticinfo.html.

Lastly, another portion of the GINA law amends the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) to allow the federal Department of Labor to assess penalties of up to $50,000 for each child labor violation that causes the death or serious injury of a minor. Such penalties may be doubled up to $100,000 each if the violation is found to be repeated or willful.

The EEOC is providing an update to its mandatory “EEO is the Law” workplace poster to reflect the new GINA law. The EEOC provides a supplement to its federal “EEO is the Law” poster available at the link below. Employers may simply print off the supplement and place it near their current “EEO is the Law” poster which is part of the large, free workplace poster distributed by Iowa Workforce Development. A copy of the poster supplement or a complete revised poster is available at the following link: http://www.eeoc.gov/posterform.html.

IWD updated its large, free workplace poster about a year ago after changes were made to the federal Family and Medical Leave Act and Americans With Disabilities Act. The agency is awaiting any additional law changes before deciding whether to reprint the poster again. A decision is anticipated in the summer of 2010.