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FEATURED NEWS
2026-04-30T05:00:00Z
NewsIndustry NewsEnglishFleet SafetyFocus AreaIn-Depth ArticleEnforcement - DOTRoadside InspectionsTransportationUSA
A new DataQs risk: When ‘clean’ inspections go missing
Most fleet safety managers know DataQs as an essential online tool for correcting bad roadside inspection data. When used properly, it protects carriers from errors that can unfairly damage the company’s Compliance, Safety, Accountability (CSA) scores.
But there’s a troubling trend emerging: bad actors are using DataQs not to fix bad data, but to steal good data.
What’s happening?
DataQs allows almost anyone to submit a “request for data review” (RDR) asking an enforcement agency to correct or reassign inspection or crash data. Increasingly, some carriers are submitting RDRs claiming that a clean (violation-free) roadside inspection attributed to another carrier should instead belong to them. They may even submit falsified, outdated, or publicly available records to support their claim.
If successful, the result is a double hit:
- The requesting carrier gains a clean inspection, improving its CSA scores and its image among enforcement, customers, brokers, and insurers.
- The rightful carrier loses that inspection, harming its scores and safety profile.
In many cases, this happens quietly — unless the affected carrier is watching for it. And because DataQs reviews can take weeks or months, damage may persist even if the error is eventually corrected.
Inspection data involving leased vehicles may be at particular risk, since multiple companies are involved and the operating motor carrier may not be apparent.
How would you even know?
When an RDR is submitted that involves your USDOT number, the DataQs account holder associated with your company typically receives an email notification.
Another way you may be alerted to activity involving your data is if an astute employee at the state agency reviewing the RDR contacts you to alert you to the possible fraud.
In both cases, these emails or notifications may be overlooked, ignored, or filtered, especially if the DataQs account is tied to a former employee. If no one is monitoring the notifications, a fraudulent reassignment request could be approved without your knowledge.
What can you do to protect your data?
Keeping a close eye on your roadside inspection data and CSA scores can help alert you to changes that you did not approve. Be sure to:
- Confirm that the DataQs account holder is a current, responsible employee who actively monitors the email address.
- Respond quickly to suspicious RDRs involving your account; silence may be interpreted as agreement.
- Be ready to submit documentation showing a clean inspection legitimately belongs to your company (this means keeping inspection records organized).
- Periodically reconcile your inspection history, looking for any missing inspections, especially clean ones, and investigating unexplained changes.
Most safety programs focus on using DataQs offensively to challenge violations or crashes that don’t belong. Increasingly, it also needs to be used defensively to protect the integrity of the data.
Key to remember: Fraudsters are using DataQs to steal clean inspection data from unsuspecting motor carriers. Fleet managers need to watch the data — and their email box — closely to avoid harm to their company’s CSA scores.
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RECENT INDUSTRY HIGHLIGHTS
2026-04-30T05:00:00Z
NewsIndustry NewsSafety & HealthElectrical SafetyConstruction SafetyGeneral Industry SafetyElectrical SafetyIn-Depth ArticleEnglishFocus AreaUSA
National Electrical Safety Month: A good time to re-energize your safety program
Every May, National Electrical Safety Month offers employers a timely reminder to revisit a hazard that often hides in plain sight. Electricity powers nearly every workplace, and because it is so routine, people often underestimate the risk. But electrical hazards remain a serious cause of workplace injuries, fatalities, fires, and costly downtime.
According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, a total of 70,276 occupational fatalities occurred from all causes with 2,070 of these were due to contact with electricity. Beyond worker injuries, the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) has consistently identified electrical failures and malfunctions as a significant cause of commercial and industrial fires. The construction industry had the highest number of electrical fatalities (907), followed by professional and business services (212), trade, transportation, and utilities (171), natural resources and mining (138), and manufacturing (120). Just five occupations in the construction trades (electricians, construction laborers, roofers, painters, and carpenters) experienced 30% of all electrical fatalities.
The important thing to remember is this: electrical incidents do not only happen to electricians. Maintenance personnel, machine operators, contractors, and even office staff can be exposed to electrical hazards.
The risks are often ordinary things
Some of the biggest electrical hazards are everyday issues that get overlooked until something goes wrong. It is often these “small” issues that lead to larger events. Common examples include:
- Damaged cords or plugs
- Overloaded circuits or power strips
- Improper use of extension cords
- Missing panel covers or unlabeled breakers
- Energized troubleshooting without proper controls
- Poor lockout/tagout practices during maintenance
- Worn tools or equipment with damaged insulation
Electrical safety is more than compliance
Electrical Safety Month can be a great trigger for employers to move beyond compliance and focus on prevention. A few practical things organizations can revisit this month include:
- Basic shock and fire hazards
- Safe use of portable electrical equipment
- Recognition of damaged wiring or components
- Arc flash awareness
- Emergency response procedures related to electrical incidents
Revisit lockout/tagout
Many serious electrical injuries happen during servicing and maintenance when hazardous energy is not fully isolated. Electrical Safety Month can be a good opportunity to:
- Audit lockout/tagout procedures
- Observe whether procedures are being followed in the field
- Review authorized employee training
- Verify disconnects, labels, and isolation points are accurate
Even the most compliant programs often uncover gaps during these reviews.
Check the health of your equipment
Electrical safety often starts with the condition of your equipment, so use May as a good reminder to give things a quick check. This can include inspecting:
- Electrical panels
- Checking cords and tools for wear or damage
- Verifying proper grounding and bonding
- Reviewing preventive maintenance
- Using thermographic inspections to spot hot spots
Catching a loose connection or an overloaded component early can save you from dealing with a much bigger issue down the road.
Don’t forget arc flash
Along with checking the condition of your equipment, it’s also a good time to take a closer look at arc flash hazards, which remain one of the most serious risks in industrial environments. An arc flash can happen in a split second, producing extreme heat, pressure waves, and severe burns, yet it’s not uncommon for facilities to be working with outdated studies, missing or incorrect labels, or PPE requirements that have slowly drifted over time as equipment changes. Use the opportunity to pause and ask a few important questions:
- Is our arc flash study still current?
- Are labels accurate after recent modifications?
- Are employees wearing the right protective equipment, and do they clearly understand approach boundaries and work restrictions?
Taking the time to revisit these basics often uncovers gaps that aren’t obvious during day to day operations but can make a big difference in keeping people safe.
Contractors matter too
Finally, you can’t forget about contractor oversight. Even the strongest internal electrical safety programs can start to break down if expectations for contractors aren’t clearly defined or consistently reinforced. This can be a good time to revisit host contractor responsibilities, energized work rules, permit expectations, lockout/tagout coordination, and how communication is handled during outages or maintenance activities. When everyone isn’t aligned on roles and procedures, small misunderstandings can quickly turn into serious risks. In fact, many electrical incidents stem from coordination breakdowns just as often as technical failures.
Keys to remember: National Electrical Safety Month is a chance to pause, look critically at controls, and strengthen the systems that keep people safe.
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2026-04-30T05:00:00Z
NewsHuman Resource ManagementHuman Resource ManagementIn-Depth ArticleJob SpecificationsHR ManagementEnglishHuman ResourcesIndustry NewsWage and HourWage and HourHR GeneralistFair Labor Standards Act (FLSA)Associate RelationsFocus AreaUSA
What the joint employer proposal means
The U. S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division (WHD)’s proposed rule on joint employer status revises the analysis for assessing joint employer relationships under three federal wage and hour laws:
- Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA)
- Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA
- Migrant and Seasonal Agricultural Worker Protection Act (MSPA)
If the rule were finalized as written, joint employment would be harder to prove — meaning it’s more beneficial for employers since it involves less compliance risk.
The proposed rule covers general principles, vertical joint employment, horizontal joint employment, and the relevance of certain common business practices
Vertical relationships
Vertical joint employment occurs where an employee’s work simultaneously benefits two unrelated entities at the same time. It often centers around whether business partners that are either higher or lower than the other in a particular business structure — such as general contractors and subcontractors, franchisors and franchisees, or staffing agencies and their clients — are joint employers of an employee.
The proposed rule has a four-factor test for potential vertical joint employment situations. It looks at who:
- Hires or fires the employee,
- Substantially supervises and controls the employee’s work schedule or conditions of employment,
- Determines the rate and method of pay, and
- Maintains the employee’s employment records.
Additional factors might be relevant in assessing vertical joint employment, but a unanimous finding on the four factors in either direction would establish a "substantial likelihood" regarding whether an individual or entity is a joint employer with another.
The proposal differs from the 2020 rule for vertical relationships in a handful of ways:
- An employer’s “reserved control," — the reserved right to act — may be considered, but carries less weight than exercised control.
- Economic dependence factors may be considered, but they carry less weight than the four core factors and aren’t the “ultimate question” of the analysis.
- Other additional factors, such as whether the employee has a continuous or repeated relationship with the potential joint employer, or whether the employee performs work at a location owned or controlled by the potential joint employer, may be considered.
- Excludes three independent contractor factors, as those are relevant only in assessing whether a worker is an employee or an independent contractor. The three factors are:
- Whether the employee is in a job that otherwise requires special skill, initiative, judgment, or foresight;
- Whether the employee has the opportunity for profit or loss based on their managerial skill; and
- Whether the employee invests in equipment or materials required for work or the employment of helpers.
Horizontal relationships
In "horizontal" joint employment relationships, an employee works separate hours for two (or more) employers in the same workweek. The issue is whether the employers are associated enough with the worker’s employment to be seen as both employing the worker. Typically, each employer employs the worker for some hours worked, and if the employers are connected with each other with respect to the employee, then they’re joint employers and must combine all hours worked for them by the worker during the workweek to determine legal compliance.
Under the proposed rule, employers will generally be sufficiently associated if:
- There is an arrangement between them to share the employee's services;
- One employer is acting directly or indirectly in the interest of the other employer in relation to the employee; or
- They share control of the employee, directly or indirectly, because one employer controls, is controlled by, or is under common control with the other employer.
Situations where the employers have little to do with the employment of specific employees — such as sharing a vendor or being franchisees of the same franchisor — alone aren’t enough to establish joint employment.
Key to remember: The joint employer proposed rule is designed to change how employers determine their relationship with workers.
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2026-04-29T05:00:00Z
NewsIndustry NewsIndustry NewsSafety & HealthMaritime SafetySpecialized IndustriesMarine Terminal OperationsEnglishFocus AreaUSA
OSHA extinguishes Open Fires in Marine Terminals standard
On April 28, OSHA revoked its Open Fires in Marine Terminals standard at 1917.21 after determining that the standard is no longer necessary to protect marine terminal employees from occupational safety and health hazards. The standard prohibited open fires and fires in drums or similar containers. OSHA stated that since this is no longer typical practice, removing 1917.21 would lessen the compliance burden without compromising worker safety.
The agency noted that containerization and technological advancements in the marine terminals industry have reduced employees’ exposure to the elements. If exposure occurs, employees can wear heated jackets, which were unavailable when the Open Fires standard was first issued in 1983.
2026-04-29T05:00:00Z
NewsIndustry NewsIndustry NewsAssociate Benefits & CompensationAssociate RelationsHR GeneralistFamily and Medical Leave Act (FMLA)Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA)HR ManagementEnglishFocus AreaHuman ResourcesUSA
Employer fires employee who asked for FMLA and wins its case
Angie received generally positive feedback for her work until Brenda, a new supervisor, took over in August 2020. Within months, Angie claimed she started to receive unfounded criticism and oversight at work.
In January 2021, Brenda put Angie on a performance improvement plan (PIP). When the PIP ended, Brenda told Angie that she wasn’t successful in making improvements and suspended Angie for 1 day.
On June 2, Angie took leave under the federal Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA). When she returned on June 23, things changed:
- Her supervisory responsibilities had shifted to the new manager,
- A project she had been working on was placed on hold, and
- She was assigned to work on a different project.
In early July, the employer suspended Angie for 5 days as a result of a post-PIP meeting between Angie, Brenda, and HR regarding her job performance.
In August, Angie gave two project-related presentations that didn’t go well. In September, Brenda put Angie on administrative leave and told her that the company intended to terminate her.
On November 4, Brenda put Angie on administrative leave. On November 12, Angie asked for FMLA leave again, but the employer denied it because of its termination decision. Angie’s last day of work was November 22, 2021.
Employee sues
Angie sued, claiming that the employer violated her FMLA rights; that the leave constituted a ‘negative factor’ in the employer’s termination decision.
The employer argued that the brief time between Angie’s second leave request in November and the termination wasn’t enough, by itself, to be FMLA interference. It also argued that it had substantial evidence that Angie’s termination was in the works long before her November FMLA leave request.
The court rules
The court agreed with the employer. By the time Angie submitted her second FMLA leave request in November, she had already been subject to a PIP, been suspended twice, met with her supervisors at least twice regarding her work performance, been placed on administrative leave, and been informed of the company’s intent to terminate her.
Tomlinson v. City of Portland, District of Oregon, No. 23-cv-188, April 26, 2026.
Key to remember: When an employer has strong documented evidence of an employee’s poor job performance, it can help overcome a claim that it violated the FLMA.
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2026-04-29T05:00:00Z
NewsVirginiaFamily and Medical Leave Act (FMLA)LeaveFamily and Medical Leave Act (FMLA)Time offHR ManagementEnglishLeaveAssociate Benefits & CompensationMilitary LeaveChange NoticesChange NoticeHR GeneralistAssociate RelationsFocus AreaHuman Resources
Virginia passes new paid leave law
Effective dates: April 1, 2028, and December 1, 2028
This applies to: Employers with employees in Virginia
Description of change: On April 22, 2026, the Virginia General Assembly accepted the Governor’s amendments to legislation creating Virginia’s new paid family and medical leave program. The program will be funded by both workers and employers, similar to unemployment insurance. Employees may take up to 12 weeks of paid leave in a benefit year, which is the period of 52 calendar weeks beginning on the start date of leave.
Funding for the program is provided through premiums assessed to employers and employees, beginning April 1, 2028. Employers with more than 10 employees must contribute 50 percent of the premiums. Paid leave benefits begin being paid out on December 1, 2028.
The amount of a benefit is 80 percent of the employee's average weekly net earnings, not to exceed 100 percent of the statewide average weekly net earnings. This amount will be adjusted annually to reflect changes in the statewide average weekly wage.
Employees may take the paid leave for the following reasons:
- Caring for (bonding with) a new child from birth, adoption, or foster care placement;
- To care for a family member with a serious health condition;
- The employee’s own serious health condition;
- To care for a covered service member who is the covered individual's next of kin or other family member;
- Because of a qualifying exigency leave caused by a family member’s military duty; or
- To obtain safety services for the employee or a family member. Employees may take up to 4 weeks of leave to seek safety services in a benefit year.
Family members include a child, grandchild, grandparent, parent, sibling, spouse, or domestic partner of an employee, including those with step, foster, or adopted relationships, and includes someone who:
- Regularly resides in the employee's home or where the relationship creates an expectation that the employee cares for such individual, and
- Depends on the employee for care.
Employees may take the paid leave continuously or on an intermittent or reduced leave schedule. Employers must maintain group health care coverage during the leave.
Employees who have worked at least 120 days before leave are entitled to job protection.
Employees will apply for the benefits through the Virginia Employment Commission, but the leave may run concurrently with leave under the federal Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA).
Employers must post a related notice and provide employees with written notice of the law upon hire, annually, and when an employee requests leave.
Employees must give their employer notice of the leave as soon as practicable.
View related state info: FMLA - Virginia
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Copyright 2026 J. J. Keller & Associate, Inc. For re-use options please contact copyright@jjkeller.com or call 800-558-5011.