Page 168 - An Indispensible Resource for Being a Credible Activist

leave will be with or without pay. Employees must use the leave from work to, among other
things, (1) obtain medical care or mental health counseling; (2) seek legal assistance in
addressing issues arising from the act of domestic or sexual violence; or (3) make the
employees’ homes secure from the perpetrator. Except in cases of imminent danger, employ-
ees must provide appropriate advance leave notice as required by the employer’s policy,
along with documentation of the act of domestic or sexual abuse. All personal identifying
information documenting domestic or sexual violence in the workplace will be deemed
confidential.
Wages paid. The maximum authorized amount of day-labor contracts was increased in
the State’s school districts to $280,000, an amount to be adjusted annually by the Consumer
Price Index. The contracts affected include those for construction, renovation, remodeling,
or maintenance of existing facilities. If a person has been ordered to pay a civil penalty for
a noncriminal traffic infraction and the individual is unable to comply with the court’s order
due to certifiable financial hardship, the court shall allow the person to satisfy the civil
penalty by participating in community service until the penalty is paid. The person shall
then receive credit for the penalty at the hourly credit rate specified under the Federal Fair
Labor Standards Act, and each hour of community service shall reduce the civil penalty by
that amount. The specified hourly credit rate is the wage rate then in effect under the Act
and that an employer subject to the Act’s provisions must pay per hour to each employee.
If the individual has a trade or profession for which there is a need, the specified credit rate
for each hour of community service shall be the average prevailing wage for that particular
trade or profession. The community service agency shall record the number of hours worked
and the date the service is completed and shall submit the information to the clerk of the
court on appropriate agency letterhead bearing an authorized signature. The letter shall cer-
tify that the hours completed by the individual equal the amount of the civil penalty and
that the debt is paid in full. The legislation took effect on July 1, 2008.
Worker privacy. The home addresses, phone numbers, and addresses of places of em-
ployment of the spouses and children, and of the schools and daycare facilities attended by
the children, of active or former law enforcement personnel, including correctional officers
and correctional probation officers, personnel of the State Department of Children and
Family Services who are involved in investigations, personnel of the State Department of
Health whose duties support investigations, and personnel of the State Department of
Revenue or of local governments whose responsibilities include revenue collection and
enforcement, are currently exempt from the State’s public-records requirements. Added to
this exempt category are the following State employment positions: general and special mag-
istrates, judges of compensation claims, administrative law judges of the Division of
Administrative Hearings, and child support enforcement hearing officers. It is feared that the
release of such identifying information might place these individuals and their family mem-
bers in danger of physical and emotional harm from disgruntled criminal defendants or lit-
igants. Therefore, the harm that might result from the release of the information outweighs
any public benefit that could be derived from disclosure of the information. The State
amended statutes concerning the expansion of exemptions from public-records requirements
for records and timesheets of employees who are victims of sexual violence. The bill, which
would extend future legislative review and repeal, revises a statement expressing the public

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