Msboa june 14

Volume 44 Issue 6 • June 2014

Look Inside for Membership Opportunities....page 11!

OperatorThe

$1000 Recipient: Parker T. Hemmingsen, Alden, MN

School transportation has affected my life in many importantways. I have used school transportation to participate insporting events as well as to go on field trips throughout myyears in school. The biggest way that school transportationhas affected me, however, is through growing up in a familywhich has owned the school buses for our school district foralmost one hundred years.

My dad is a current co-owner of Hemmingsen’s Transfer inAlden, Minnesota. He and his cousin are the fifth generationto own and work in the company. I hope to one day carry onthe business to become the sixth generation in the Hem-mingsen family to own the business. The family businessstarted in 1902 as a dray line hauling different products topeople in the area. The business then began transportingstudents in the Alden-Conger school district in the 1920s.They continue to this day to be the only bus company thatthe school district has used to transport their students sincethat time. The company owned the first motorized schoolbus in Freeborn County, Minnesota. I feel honored to tohave to have grown up in a family with such a lengthy schooltransportation background.

I actually probably wouldn’t be here today if it weren’t forschool bus transportation. My grandma met my grandpawhen she was in high school. She was a senior and mygrandpa was a couple years older. He happened to be herschool bus driver. They started dating shortly after that andeventually got married. So if they hadn’t het that one day onthe bus, they wouldn’t have gotten married and had a family,and I would not be here today.

I have been riding in school buses since before I could walk.My family has taken several trips to different towns andstates to pick up new buses to use in our school districtthroughout my childhood. I have always thought that it issuch an exciting time to be with when the company gets anew bus for the school district. My goal is to work towardgetting my own bus license after I turn eighteen and some-day drive a school bus to transport future students in theAlden-Conger School District.

School transportation is a very important part of my life. Ithas provided my family with great livelihood that has creat-ed family bonds down through several generations. I amvery proud to come from a family with strong roots in theschool bus and transportation business.

$500.00 Recipient: Matt Donnay, Kimball, MN

School transportation has affected my life in many ways. Istarted riding the bus in kindergarten. I loved riding thebecause I had a great bus driver. Her name was JoannHendricks. Joann and I liked to argue tractors being whichone is better John Deere or Case. I thought John Deerewas and she thought Case was. We would always tell eachother stories from our farms. I always looked forward to rid-ing the bus because I could talk farming. As I grew older,Joann and I kept giving each other a hard time.

My third grade year the bus routes got switched and I wasno longer riding the bus with Joann. I was sad because Ihad nobody to argue tractors with. My new bus driver washer son, Lonnie. At first I was scared of Lonnie, but as Ibecame to know him we became good friends. One day, heeven gave me a special John Deere hat. To this day, I stillhave the hat, but it’s in pretty tough shape. I will alwaysremember that because at my age to get a new hat for noparticular reason was special.

My sixth grade year, the bus routes got switched again andI no longer had Lonnie as my bus driver. I got stuck with hiswife, Bev. Bev was really nice and treated me fair. Shealways let me get away with things that other kids didn’t getaway with on the bus. She was really nice. As I grew olderand my sister was able to drive I didn’t ride the bus muchanymore. Every once in a while I would run into Joann andtell her how much better John Deere is than Case.

One day, I was shooting trap out at the Kimball Rod and GunClub. Lonnie was there and asked if I was interested in ajob for the summer. I told him I would be. He told mewhenever I get time to stop in and figure things out.

Continued on page 3.

Joe Beaton Scholarship WinnersEd. Note: The following essays are the recipients of the 2014 Joe Beaton MSBOA Scholarship.

Another Year Passes

So as you read this newsletter hopefully you have finishedor just about finished another safe school year. Many chal-lenges have presented themselves once again this year.needless to say it hasn’t been an easy year......but thenagain it never really is. Every year seems like we have to

work harder and harder and smarter to get the job done and still make a living in ourchosen industry.

We all struggle with driver availability. We all struggle with fuel prices and bus costsand parts costs. The bottom line seems to shrink as we all try and figure a way to makeit all work.

What never fails to amaze me is that the organization we have holds strong no matterwhat the challenges. Whether it is legislatively or battling for our individual contractsthis group of operators and their employees keep working and making the best prod-uct available for the customer.......and what a customer they are. From pre-school ageschool students through seniors in high school we safely transport them all throughgood and bad weather under all types of conditions. The age group that rides with uson charters has no limit as to how old they can be. And we serve them all safely andefficiently as this is simply what we do.

I am very impressed with the MSBOA organization and how it is run and the informa-tion that is shared with all members both large and small. We need to continue to com-municate among ourselves as knowledge is in the act of sharing......and we all have alot of safe miles and stories to share. THAnKS to all members for another safe year inthe school bus industry in Minnesota.

Hopefully as you are reading this you are also packing your bags and families andheading for Ruttgers Sugar Lake Lodge for our Summer Convention on June 8-10th,2014. It’s going to be a great conference and you won’t want to miss it. Hope to seeyou there.

Stay Safe and Be Kind!Sincerely,Rudy Lundahl, President of MSBOA

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BBOARDOARD OFOFDDiRecTORSiRecTORS

RAYME BERNICk, DELANO

7763.972.3991/CELL [email protected]

ROBBIE ELLIOT, MOORHEAD


CONNIE GRISIM, STEWARTVILLE


DOUG GRISIM, LAkE CITY


TOM HEY, MARSHALL

507.532.4043 /CELL [email protected]

kEN INSELMANN, WILLMAR


SHELLY JONAS, ANNANDALE

320.274.8313 / CELL 612.599.0431

[email protected]

BRIAN kOCH, WACONIA


JIM kOONST, BELLE PLAINE

952.873.2362 / CELL [email protected]

STEVE LATOUR, ST. PAUL


RUDY LUNDAHL, DULUTH


MICHAEL PUTzkE, PAYNESVILLE

320.243.4455 / FAX [email protected]

GARRETT REGAN, FARIBAULT

507.334.5121/ CELL 651.470.7948

[email protected]

JOSH SCHIFFLER, CROSBY


BETHANY SCHUBERT, SAINT STEPHEN


The OperatorMISSION STAT E ME NT:

THE PURPOSE OF THE OPERATOR

IS TO PROVIDE THE MEMBERSHIP

OF THE MINNESOTA SCHOOL BUS

OPERATORS ASSOCIATION WITH

INFORMATION REGARDING

CURRENT INDUSTRY ISSUES.

THE OPERATOR IS PUBLISHED 11

TIMES A YEAR BY THE MSBOA,

10606 HEMLOCk ST. NW •

ANNANDALE, MN 55302.

FOR MORE INFORMATION CALL

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yEAr. COPYRIGHT 2014

MEMBERS MAY MAkE PHOTO-

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CO-EDITORS:

SHARI DANzEISEN & SHELLY

JONAS

LAYOUT & DESIGN: SHARI DANzEISEN

VIEWS PRESENTED IN THISNEWSLETTER MAY NOT NECESSARILY REPRESENT THEOPINIONS OF THE ENTIRE MEM-BERSHIP OR ITS BOARD OF DIRECTORS.

PRESIDENT

RuDy LunDAHL

FIRST VICE PRESIDENT

JOSH SCHIFFLER

SECOND VICE PRESIDENT

TOM BuRR

TREASURER

TOM HEy

Ex-OFFICIO

GAyLEn LEnz

From the PresidentRudy LundahlVoyageur Bus Company, Duluth, MN

So around the middle of June of 2012 I started working forHendricks Sand and Gravel and Hendricks Bus Service. Iwas happy he had asked me because I had alwaysdreamed of working for an excavating company. At first, Ididn’t know their employees too well and it was hard to talkto them. They were so nice and would talk to me like theyknew me. Everyday Joann cooks us a homemade lunch.It’s great to have somebody cook dinner for you becausethen you don’t have to bring a lunch and it saves a lot oftime and money. As time went on, I got to know the employ-ees better which were Lonnie and Bev’s sons, Eric and Joe.Eric and Joe have been extremely good to me and havetaught me many things. Their other employee was Jimunterberger. Jim looked after tme that summer and helpedme learn how everything works. After my first summer, Irealized how much I enjoyed doing this kind of stuff andknew it was something I wanted to do the rest of my life.

The summer of 2013 was one that I will never forget. Theday after school was out I went right back to work. Jim hadretired and they had hired a new employee, Justin Kuechle.I spent most of the the summer in the bobcat doing finishwork and other jobs. They have taught me how to work onthings and repair them. Everyday Joann would have dinnerfor us and we would all meet at the shop at noon to eat anddiscuss the rest of the day’s plans. I was sad when I had togo back to school in the fall of 2014. I wanted to just workinstead, but I knew I had to go to school. After schooleveryday I would go to work for a few hours. Over winterbreak I heldped get the buses ready for bus inspection. Iwas in charge of taking care of the seats in the bus. If theyhad holes or something I either had to patch them orreplace the whole seat cover. When I got done with theseats I would usually check all the fluids and make sure allthe lights worked. If I got all that done before Joe or Justingot done checking the brakes or changing a tire orsomething, I would help them. This taught me a lot aboutbuses and how much work it actually is to keep them all run-ning. They have about 20 buses total.

Today, I am still working for Hendricks Sand and Gravel andHendricks Bus Service. I will graduate this spring and planon working ofr them the rest of the summer until I start col-lege at Ridgewater in Willmar, Mn. I am going to really missworking with and for great people like them. They havebecome a second family to me. Eric, Joe, and Justin alltreat me like their brother. We give each other a hard time,which makes it fun. When we’re not working together weare usually hunting, fishing, or snowmobiling together. Welike to work hard, but we also know how to have fun. If Ithink about how I’ve come to know such great people it’sbecause of school transportation. Ever since kindergarten Ihad a dream of working for Joann and her son, Lonnie.School transportation has given me this opportunity and Ican’t imagine my life any other way. I don’t even refer to myboss as my boss, it’s more like a friendship. Joann is

referred to as “Granny” and she wouldn’t have it any otherway. She treats me better than she treats her own grand-children. I am truly blessed to have had such an opportuni-ty like this and I owe it all to school transportation.

$500.00 Recipient: Ben Jonas, Annandale, MN

When I was young I rode the bus after school everyday, butunlike every other kid on the bus I wasn’t riding the bushome I was riding it to the bus company. My mom works atM&M Bus Service in Annandale, and my grandparents ownit. So everyday after school I would ride the bus and getdropped off at the bus company. Most days were spent sit-ting around waiting for my mom to get off work so I couldfinally go home. However, some days I would get to helparound the office doing simple tasks like organizing thatmonth’s MSBOA newsletter and putting it in an envelope.When I rode the bus as a kid I didn’t realize how much busdrivers put up with on a daily basis they are dealing witharound seventy loud screaming kids who are not always thebest behaved, while driving on the roads getting everyonesafely to their home.

Bus drivers go above and beyond what is asked of them. Atthe end of every school year, my bus driver would pack acooler full of Freezies and give one to every kid as they goton the bus. When I was young I was just happy to be get-ting a Freezie on a hot summer day, but now that I am olderI realize how much extra effort she went through. It was notrequired of her to bring a cooler and buy us all a Freezie.Why did she do it? Justto put a smile on everykids face and makethem happy. She wasan extraordinary personwho loved kids, andenjoyed making themhappy.

Even now that I don’tride the bus homeeveryday I see exam-ples of bus drivers goingabove and beyond theircall of duty.

Continued onPage 4.

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Joe Beaton Scholarship Winners Continued from Page 1.

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For the three years I was on the football team, and the varsity bus always had the same bus driver. He didn’t miss a singlegame. He wasn’t just driving the bus so he could be paid for driving there and watching a game. no, he did so much more.He would greet each and everyone of us before getting on the bus, and after the game was over win or lose he was therefor us. not only did he drive the bus, but he organized a team meal for the team and coaches the day before every homegame. Every week he would tell us who donated time and/or money to this meal, and we would give them a big round ofapplause. Then we would all shout his name, “Bruce!” really loud and give him a round of applause. However, that is notall he did for the team on a weekly basis. After every away game he had prepared enough sandwiches for everyone on theteam bus to take two, and a bottle of Gatorade as well. This wasn’t required of him, but he did it anyway. not only is Brucereally good at getting every kid he drives to like him, but he also is really a talented driver. The first year our football teammade it to state, he had to back the bus and trailer through a parking lot so full you could barely drive a car through it. It wasso ridiculously narrow that our football coach would tell him, “We are going to go to state again just so I can see if you candrive that bus in reverse again through that parking lot without hitting anything.” Sure enough, the next year we when wemade it to state again he made it though the narrow parking lot again.

not only have bus drivers impacted my life, but school transportation as a whole. Last year I had the opportunity to partici-pate in a video that is sold internationally fo bus drivers to watch how to deal with an angry parent. It seemed like a prettyminor thing at the time, as I just sat on the bus and took a pretend beating from a phony angry parent. But it helped meunderstand even more what bus drivers have to deal with constantly. not only do they have to worry about driving the busand keeping everyone safe, but they also have to be aware of what is going on inside of the bus and be concerned for thechildren’s well being on the bus and after they get off. Also it helped me understand how I should handle that sort of situa-tion when I am a concerned parent. It is cool to know that a video I am in is helping bus drivers around the world learn whatto do in a situation like that.

Off the bus my mom makes a difference in every child’s life in the state without them even knowing it. She frequently visitsthe Capitol in St. Paul fighting and lobbying for bills to pass to make school transportation even safer. She is constantly con-cerned with every child’s well-being, and she does everything she can to make sure that they stay safe. Even though we livein a small town she is concerned about how kids in the cities are getting home from school, and their safety riding the metrobus to and from school everyday with the general public. This has taught me that everyone can make a difference if they arepassionate in what they do, and anyone can achieve great things if they only work for it.

My mom, Bruce, and my childhood bus driver all have something in common - they are passionate for their job. They goabove and beyond what is asked of them becasuse they care for children and their well-being. People see a school bus dri-ver by and they don’t think much about it, they just think that it is the way kids get to and from school, but it is so much more.It is protecting our youth, the next generation, getting them safely to school day in and out, and that is what people shouldbe thinking the next time they have to stop and wait for a school bus as it is picking up or dropping off kids. All of this hasimpacted me in my understanding of school transportation and life. I have learned that school transportation is very impor-tant in every child’s life and that being passionate and working hard for something can allow you to achieve great things.

4

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Joe Beaton Scholarship Winners Continued from Page 3.

As many of you know, over the past several years, I have strongly recommended to the membership that they explore theoption of purchasing Employment Practices Liability Insurance (“EPLI”) to insure against employment law claims. EPLI poli-cies typically cover the defense costs for most employment law claims and any liability, less a deductible and subject to lia-bility limits. Because your risk of employment law claims is far greater than most other claims (unless you make medicaldevices, generate hazardous waste by-products, etc), this is insurance you should have, unless you can afford to “self insure”that $300,000 award or $25,000 settlement, plus the associated defense fees and costs. note that the average cost todefend an employment law suit through a jury trial can easily reach $250,000.

To ensure the membership has options, Chubb Insurance, one of the largest EPL carriers in the country, has partnered withthe MSBOA and Arthur J. Gallagher to provide a cost effective EPLI policy option containing all the typical protections oftenfound within EPL policies along with a few other additional protections. I recommend that the membership explore this optionas not only will this policy insure against typical claims, such as “wrongful discharge” claims, but it will also provide some cov-erage for wage and hour and immigration claims –coverage that is often not found in EPL policies. Additionally, since thisEPLI policy has the MSBOA endorsement, Chubb and Arthur J. Gallagher have agreed to share a portion of their profits withthe MSBOA arising out of the sale of this product to the membership. The more members who purchase this EPLI product,the more revenue the two will share with the Association. Finally, as I have indicated before, often EPLI policies provide fordefense by the insurer’s own “captive” lawyers, who do not know you or your industry and will often give priority to the carri-er’s interests and wishes over your own when there is a conflict. To ensure that the membership is not “stuck” using an insur-ance company’s designated counsel, this policy will allow members to choose our firm, if they wish, to defend against any

employment-related lawsuit.

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The MSBOA is offering a new benefit through GMFleet & Commercial. Many of the vehicles you buyincluding pick-ups, vans, and SuV’s are available at adiscount for MSBOA Members. Go to www.msboa.com for all of the information. Included is a listof all the vehicles eligible for the discount and howmuch the discount is. There is also a form online onour website for you to print out and bring to your deal-er that gives your dealer the proper fleet pricing codefor our organization.

If you are planning to purchase new vehicles soon - besure check it out and take advantage of these savings!

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Congratulations on a Safe School year!!!

A Time for recognitionLt. Brian Reu

As we near the end of another school year, companies and organization are taking time to recognize outstanding employees.We have been invited to attend several of these award presentations and appreciate the opportunity to express our congratu-lations to the recipients.

While this year has not been without serious incidents, crashes and challenges, there have also been moments when driversand bus assistants have taken heroic actions to keep students safe. Two such incidents involved school bus fires — situationsreferred to by the nTSB as “Thermal Events.” In each case, the drivers and bus assistants used their training to safely evac-uate students from the bus.

These are high-profile events and certainly deserve recognition and awards, but I also want to express our appreciation to dri-vers all around the state for the actions they take on a daily basis to ensure their students make it to school and back safely.These actions include conducting a thorough pre-trip inspection, managing student behavior while ensuring that each child isproperly seated, driving with due diligence and attention, and checking the buses upon completion of each route to ensure thateach child made it to their destination safely. Some might consider these to be minor things — however, if any of these stepsare skipped, the chances of something terrible happening increase significantly.

The State Patrol held an awards banquet recently, and I was able to attend as one of ourschool bus inspectors was recognized for actions that earned him a “Life Saving Award.”The Life Saving Award is given to employees who prevent the death of another personunder conditions in which no unusual hazard exists to the employee involved. I had theprivilege of presenting the award to CVI Ethan Hofschulte at the southeastern MinnesotaRegional Safety and Compliance Outreach in Byron. It was a great opportunity to presentEthan with this award in the presence of several of his peers and associates he works with.Ethan was nominated for his actions related to a crash that occurred on February 18, 2014.While he was enroute to zumbrota to conduct school bus inspections CVI Hofschulte cameacross a rollover crash in the median of Highway 52. The crash had just occurred; no oneelse was on scene and the snow was still settling. Ethan stopped to assist and advisedState Patrol dispatch of the situation. A Ford Ranger was on its side, and the driver wasburried under the snow and trapped inside of the vehicle. The doors of the vehicle werelocked, so Ethan used his flashlight to break out the passenger-side window to gainaccess. Ethan and another passerby broke out the windshield to improve access. Theydug the snow away from the driver’s head and face, and she told them that she was final-ly able to breathe. Ethan's quick thinking and actions that day clearly helped save thiswoman’s life.

As the year closes, we know this may be a time of transition. To those who will be off forthe summer, I wish you a peaceful and relaxing break. Some may be contining to workthroughout the summer, transporting students, and I wish you continued saftey as you trav-el the roads. Many are choosing to retire this year, and I’m sure this is an exciting time foryou.

I want to say thank you to each of you in the student transporation industry for your con-tinued dedication and passion. until we see you again, drive safely!

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Register for the 2014MSBOA Summer conference

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Looking for new training ideas for your currentdrivers? Looking to update some of your oldtraining materials for new drivers? Look nOFuRTHER!!! In2008, MSBOApartnered with

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Copies are available for immediate ship-ment. Please find the order form insertedinto this issue of The Operator. Proceedsfrom this video go to fund new safety pro-jects for MSBOA.

A Job Well Done!Steve LaTour, Monarch Bus Service, Inc. St Paul/Minneapolis

I want to take this time to thank all the owners, supervisors, dispatchers, and mechanics and of course the drivers through-out the State of Minnesota for the job you do safely each and every day. As I think back over this past school year my firstthought is “how did we do it?”

We experienced many different challenges throughout this school year, starting with school being canceled the first weekbecause the temperature was too hot. Just when things are finally starting to run smoothly the winter season arrived. Boy!What a winter to remember with the cold temperatures and all the snow. We also experienced the most school closings inthe Metro Area that I can remember.

now we are starting to experience a driver shortage in our industry. I truly believe that we would not have survived this schoolyear if we didn’t work with some great people. I feel the people in our industry are truly genuine and really have safety astheir number one priority.

I suggest while you are enjoying your summer break take a few moments and reflect back over the past school year anddon’t forget how you did it.

May everyone have a great and SAFE Summer!

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Get your Kicks at the MSBoASummer Conference! June 8-10, 2014 • Sugar Lake Lodge, Cohasset, MN • By Shari Danzeisen

We are getting ready for a great summer conference! Please see the full agenda in this issue of The Operator and get reg-istered! We will be at Sugar Lake Lodge again this year. We will start our conference with our Golf Tournament on SundayJune 8, 2014 at 2:30PM. This year’s golf tournament organizer is Hoglund Bus Co., Inc.

Can you believe it? This summer will mark our 66th year as an association! In honor of this, we are going to use the theme“Get your Kicks on Route 66” for our Sunday night event. Let’s celebrate our nation’s automotive and cross country high-way hey day! Dress up with your jeans, white Tshirts, leather jackets, pedal pushers, circle skirts, red lipstick, ponytailsslicked back hair and sunglasses! If you have a classic car, we’d like to organize a classic car show to enhance our outdoorbus display on Sunday night. If you can bring your classic car, please contact Rudy Lundahl at either 218-724-1707 or 218-343-6846. We will be having fundraisers on Sunday night as well. please consider donating an item for the silentauction and a bottle of wine for the wine raffle. The funds raised on Sunday night directly benefit the “Friends of theMSBOA” pAc Fund and the MSBOA Safety Fund.

Monday morning we are going to focus on Special needs Transportation. “The How and Why Behind Special needs”:With years of experience, Kristin and Ben will give a unique perspective on special needs transportation. They will discussmany different topics including finding the best driver and paraprofessional team, what you may not know about the IEPprocess and funding ideas for working with the district to transport students in need of special equipment. To preface thosediscussions, Kristin’s presentation will overview the DPS training module for special ed drivers and monitors; Ben will be giv-ing his talk called “Second Impressions: A First Hand Perspective on Disabilities”. As if that wasn't enough, we have a largepanel of special transportation experts to answer your questions regarding special transportation. The discussion willinclude: Special Education basics preschool to age 21; When should transportation be included at the IEP meeting; Cus-tody issues legal, physical, Tribal; Discipline issues and do's and don't; Documentation; Day treatment and care and treat-ment; and Funding for equipment needs.

After lunch on Monday, we will be having a MnDOT specialist to speak on the topics of: Hours of Service, and DOT Auditsand Interventions. At MSBOA, we receive several calls asking what to do if you have a non-school group that wants to hireyou for a trip. We hope MnDOT can clear up any of your questions regarding providing this service. DOT Audits can be aconcern, as hard as you try you may wonder if you are upto date with all of your files. This presentation should giveyou the answers you need.

Monday night we will honor our Transportation Specialists,and have our Safety Fund Raffle. The President’s Ban-quet is always a wonderful time to reminisce and spendtime with your peers in the the school bus industry. Thesocial hour before the banquet is very generously spon-sored by Dave Bakken, Wells Fargo Insurance.

Tuesday morning we will regroup to focus on Departmentof Public Safety updates, have a presentation by TomRevnew of Seaton, Peters and Revnew, and hold elec-tions for the MSBOA Board of Directors.

please make an effort to attend this years MSBOASummer conference. it is our chance to share ourcommon goal of providing the very safest and bestservice possible - and our chance to unwind after along school year. register online atwww.msboa.com. Sales

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On Mothers’ Day, May 11, 2014, Gov. Daytonsigned the Women’s Economic Security Act(WESA) into law with many sections of WESAbecoming effective the following day, May 12,2014. As a result, employers should familiarizethemselves with the new requirements andupdate their handbooks as soon as possible.Below is a brief summary of some of the morenotable requirements that became effective onMay 12, 2014.

Provisions Impacting All Employers Regardlessof Size:

Wage Disclosure Protections: Under WESA,employers cannot prohibit employees from dis-closing their wages as a condition of employ-ment or take adverse action against anemployee for discussing their wages. Employ-ees can bring civil action against employers forviolating these provisions, and seek back pay,reinstatement, restoration of lost service creditand attorney fees. WESA explicitly requires anotice of these rights, protections, and reme-dies in an employer handbook, if the employerprovides a handbook.

Nursing Mother Accommodations: UnderWESA, employers must provide nursing moth-ers with a room or other location that: (1) is nota bathroom or bathroom stall; (2) is shieldedfrom view, free from intrusion; and (3) includesaccess to an electrical outlet for expressingmilk. Employers may not retaliate againstemployees for asserting this right. Additionally,employees may bring a civil action againstemployers for violating these provisions, seek-ing damages and attorney’s fees.

Provisions Impacting Employers With 21 orMore Employees:

Pregnancy And Parental Leave: Prior toWESA, employers with 21 or more employeeswere required to provide employees with up tosix weeks of unpaid leave to an employee forthe birth or adoption of a child if the employeeworked at least half-time for the past 12 monthsprior to the leave. WESA expands the amountof available unpaid leave for eligible employeesto up to 12 weeks of unpaid leave. Additional-ly, unpaid leave must be granted to an employ-

ee who is: (1) a biological or adoptive parent forthe birth or adoption of a child; or (2) a femaleemployee for prenatal care, or incapacitateddue to the pregnancy, child birth or related con-dition.

Pregnancy Accommodations: Employers with21 or more employees must provide reason-able accommodations to an employee for con-ditions related to pregnancy, childbirth, or relat-ed health conditions, if an employee requestsone, with the advice of her healthcare provider.A reasonable accommodation requires employ-ers to engage in the interactive process withthe employee and could include temporarilytransferring the pregnant female employee to aless strenuous or hazardous position for theduration of her pregnancy, if requested. Anemployee does not need to get advice from herhealthcare provider to request accommoda-tions for more frequent restroom breaks, snackor water breaks, seating, or limits on lifting over20 pounds. The employer also does not haveto provide a reasonable accommodation thatimposes an “undue hardship” on the operationof the business. An employer may not retaliateagainst employees for requesting such accom-modations.

Expansion of Sick Leave: Employees may nowuse accrued personal sick leave benefits pro-vided by the employer for absences due to anillness of or injury to the employee's mother-in-law, father-in-law, and grandkids (includingstep-grandchildren, biological, adopted or fos-ter grandchildren). Previously, employeescould use accrued personal sick leave forabsence due to an illness of or injury to theemployee's child, spouse, sibling, parent,grandparent, or stepparent under the sick leavestatute.

Safety Leave: Under WESA, employees mayalso use accrued personal sick leave time for“safety leave”, which is “leave for the purposeof providing or receiving assistance because ofsexual assault, domestic abuse, or stalking.”Employees may take safety leave to obtaintheir own assistance or to obtain assistance fora relative covered under the sick leave statute(see above). Once again, an employer maynot retaliate against an employee for request-

ing or using sick leave.

No Discrimination based on Familial Status:The Minnesota Human Rights Act was alsoamended to prohibit discrimination based on aperson’s familial status. “Familial status”means having one or more minor children livingwith (1) their parent or parents or the minor'slegal guardian, or (2) the designee of the par-ent or parents or guardian with the written per-mission of the parent or parents or guardian.These protections against discrimination alsoapply to any person who is pregnant or is in theprocess of securing legal custody of a minor.

Additionally, WESA includes the following pro-visions that impact certain employers.

Pay Equity Certification: Most businesses whohave more than 40 full-time employees on anyday in the last 12 months and a contract ofmore than $500,000 with the State of Minneso-ta, a state agency, the Metropolitan Council,Metropolitan Parks and Open Space Commis-sion, the Metropolitan Airports Commission orthe Metropolitan Sports Facilities Commission,will have to obtain a certificate of pay equitycompliance. Continued on Page 11.

Legal Notes 9

hoTline Phone: (952) 921-4622

By Thomas Revnew, esq., of seaTon, PeTeRs & Revnew

Best Values:

Legal Hotline for MSBOA members

Employee Handbook & Employment Materials Package $1,075 (includes 2 hours

of attorney time – hourly rates thereafter)

Drug & Alcohol Testing Package $525 (includes 1 hour of attorney time – hourly

rates thereafter)

Ask for MSBOA discounts on Handbook ($100) and on D/A TestingPackage ($50)

Contact Tom Revnew

7300 Metro Blvd, Suite 500 | Minneapolis, MN 55439

Tel 952.921.4622 | Fax 952.896.1704 www.seatonlaw.com

Time to Update Your Handbook:The 2014 Women’s Economic Security Act

The 2014 Legislative Session, whichbegan on February 25th, ended lateFriday night May 16th, two days beforethe State’s Constitutional deadline fora regular Session. no Session is “reg-ular” and no two Sessions are alike.not since 1990 has the DemocraticParty controlled all three branches ofState government, House, Senate,and the Governor’s office. Environ-mentalists, unions, and organizationswith intentions to alter social culturehad a free rein to attempt to pass Leg-islation designed to benefit their orga-nizations at the expense of businessesand the beliefs of large portions of theState’s citizens.

Taxes and fees for government ser-vices went up. The State’s next twoyear budget, to be developed nextyear, is expected to grow State gov-ernment by nearly $6 Billion based onpredictions (more than a 10%increase.) Minnesota passed a $1.1Billion public works projects bill torebuild, upgrade, or create Stateowned and non-profit buildings andstructures, known as the Bonding bill.An anti-bullying bill was passed thatwill affect how students interact withone another in the school environ-ment, including riding on a school bus.A women’s economic security act waspassed that will affect businessesregarding sick leave, wage equality,cause the creation of private areas fornursing mothers, and expands the def-inition of time off to care for an expand-ed list of “relatives.” In addition theLegislature passed a $9.50 minimumwage bill.

As MSBOA members may recall fromthe April newsletter, the Department ofPublic Safety’s bill to create a gross-misdemeanor offense , with loss of “S”endorsement for a year, for failure toperform a post-trip inspection thatresults in a child left unattended on aschool bus failed to progress and didnot become law during the 2014 Ses-sion. MSBOA worked with the Patrolto soften the language to allow for amore workable fine/penalty. Schoolbus contractors are committed to stu-dent safety, and are utilizing various

methods, electronic and human, toavoid any and all instances of studentsbeing left unattended on a school bus.This proposal will likely appear againnext year, therefore, MSBOA shouldcontinue to work to find commonground with the State Patrol on thisissue.

As mentioned in previous articles theService Employees Internationalunion (SEIu) had specifically targetedthe school bus industry by introducinga Legislative proposal to severely limitschool districts ability to independentlydecide whether a district’s best inter-ests are served by contracting for stu-dent transportation or have districtemployed drivers. SEIu’s proposalwould have created a paperwork night-mare for districts to prove that con-tracting is or is not more cost effective.The amount of detail and analysis thatwould have been required by their billwould have hamstrung district’s deci-sion making process to basically con-clude that district employees, that canthen be unionized, would be more costeffective.

The rhetoric expressed by the unionattempted to portray contractors asoverpaid, un-safe, and create an envi-ronment that is un-caring to the needsof students. Fortunately, for MSBOA,the Minnesota Legislature decidednumerous times that SEIu’s proposalwas without merit and did nothing toimprove student transportation safetyor lower student transportation costs.MSBOA members were very activeand communicative with their localState House members and State Sen-ators regarding their opposition to thisproposal. MSBOA members effortsvery much helped stall and ultimatelycaused the proposal to not move for-ward. The American Federation ofState, County, and Municipal Employ-ees (AFSME) attempted a similareffort that would have caused munici-palities to perform a similar falseanalysis that would have limited oreliminated cities, counties and schooldistricts to utilize vendors (includingschool bus contractors.)

Duringthe lasttwentyf o u rmonthsm u c hpublici-ty hassurrounded the misuse by state andlocal government employees access-ing the public’s driving records withouta legitimate purpose. Intertwined withthe misuse, has been the Departmentof Public Safety’s push for increasedaccess fees for legitimate purposesunder the argument of cracking downon misuse. Without a State law, theDepartment of Public Safety sent out amemo stating that access to the database fees would increase. Attemptsby a large coalition of data base usersformed to oppose the fees and to cre-ate a State Commission on Data wereunsuccessful in regards to limiting thefee increases. MSBOA was part ofthis coalition, however, the only pieceof Legislation that passed was theCommission. In the next LegislativeSession, MSBOA will be working tofind an inexpensive system for schoolbus contractors to access the alreadyexisting State data base to researchpotential and existing employees dri-ving records as required by State Law.

As is the normal course of Legislativecycles, the election season started thesecond that the Legislature adjourned.All eight united States Congressmanare up for re-election, as is unitedStates Senator Al Franken. Five indi-viduals are vying for the opportunity torun against Governor Mark Dayton,three are former Legislators, one is acurrent State Senator, and one is abusinessman. All 134 State Houseseats are up for election, the StateSenate does not run for election until2016. It is way too early to determinethe direction the public may vote, withsix months before the election manymood swings and public perceptionwill occur.

10

Legislative updateBy Tom keliher, keliher Government Affairs Consulting, LLC.

Phone (612) 723-5168 • Email: [email protected]

11

MSBoA drug Testing ProgramThe MSBOA has teamed up with Clinical Research Labs foryour drug testing needs as required for DOT testing. The pro-gram was designed to support the MSBOA and to help controlcosts for its members. For more information or to join the pro-gram contact:

William [email protected]

MVr Checks In December, the State of Minnesota sent a letters to compa-nies that subscribe to their bulk data services for the purpose ofconducting motor vehicle record checks. In part, the lettersstated that they were no longer allowing bulk subscribers topurchase their data in an effort to tighten security. All datarequests had to be done on an individual record request fol-lowing February 4, 2014.

This means that those who subscribe to services like TLT willbe unable to track license changes. In January, TLT (a MSBOAmember) notified its customers that they will no longer be inbusiness after February 5th. The MSBOA Office has contactedanother MSBOA Associate Member, Trusted Employees, to seeif we can offer a lower rate for individual MVR checks.

Trusted Employees has put together a special offer for MSBOAMembers. We will be posting the information on our website.Make sure to log in the Members Benefit section for moredetails.

International onCommand Account Hoglund Bus Company has provided access to anyone who isa member of the MSBOA to International’s OnCommand ICBus Service Portal. you can look up warranty information anddiagnostic support.

Please see the MSBOA Members Benefit section for your user-name and password.

other BenefitsAdditionally, through our partnership with Business Advantagewe are able to offer savings at Grainger, Office Max and OfficeDepot, HP as well as fuel at Holiday. All of these offers are onour website.

AC delco/Factory Motor PartsThe MSBOA has partnered with AC/Delco Factory Motor Partsto enable cost savings for you on your OEM parts.

Representatives from AC/Delco Factory Motor Parts will be incontact with your operation to see if they can help you savemoney on parts.

MSBOA Member Special OffersAs part of an on-going effort to supply you with added value to your MSBOA membership, we offer the following programs:

Continued from Page 9.

In order to obtain a certificate, the chairperson of the board or chief exec-utive officer of the businesses will be required to submit a signed state-ment that provides, among other things:(1) the business is in compliance with Title VII of the Civil RightsAct of 1964, the Equal Pay Act of 1963, Minnesota Human Rights Act,and Minnesota Equal Pay for Equal Work Law;

(2) that the average compensation for its female employees is notconsistently below the average compensation for its male employeeswithin each of the major job categories in the EEO-1 employee informa-tion report for which an employee is expected to perform work under thecontract, taking into account factors such as length of service, require-ments of specific jobs, experience, skill, effort, responsibility, working con-ditionsof the job, or other mitigating factors;

(3) that the business does not restrict employees of one sex to cer-tain job classifications and makes retention and promotion decisions with-out regard to sex;

(4) that wage and benefit disparities are corrected when identifiedto ensure compliance with the laws cited above; and

(5) how often wages and benefits are evaluated to ensure

compliance with the laws cited above.

The equal pay compliance statement will also require the business toindicate whether it sets employee compensation and benefits by utilizing:(1) a market pricing approach; (2) the state prevailing wage or union con-tract requirements; (3) a performance pay system; (4) an internal analy-sis; or (5) an alternative approach to determine what level of wages andbenefits to pay its employees. If the business uses an alternativeapproach, the business must provide a description of its approach..

Businesses that are required to get certification will need to pay a $150filing fee when submitting the compliance statement. This provisionapplies to any solicitation made on or after August 1, 2014.

Extension of Unemployment Benefits: Starting October 5, 2014, employ-ees who are forced to quit their jobs as a result of a sexual assault orstalking of either the employee or the employee’s immediate family mem-ber are eligible for unemployment compensation. Please feel free to contact Tom Revnew with any questions regardingthese changes and how best to address the challenges these new leg-islative burdens impose on your business.

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From the President . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2

Legal Notes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .9

Legislative Update . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .10

MSBOA PlannerSave these dates!

minnesota School Bus Safety Committee

meets 3rd Weds. of every month

Locations Vary

Contact: LeAnn Livingston 651-982-8193

Transportation Issues Study Committee

meets 4th Weds. of every month

Contact: Keith Paulson 763-506-1132

Office of Pupil Transportation Stakeholders

Quarterly meetings Held, Dates Vary

Contact: Lt. Brian reu 651-405-6047

June 8-10, 2014

mSBOA Summer Conference

Sugar Lake Lodge

Cohasset, mn

Northern RegionSergeant James Senenfeldernorthern Regional TrooperPhone (612) 360-5172E-mail: [email protected]

Metro RegionSergeant Paul DavisMetro / Central Regional TrooperPhone (612) 685-4820E-mail: [email protected]

Southern RegionSergeant Chad DauffenbachSouthern Regional TrooperPhone (507) 430-0791E-mail: [email protected]

MN State PatrolContacts

Listed to the right is contact infor-mation for the state troopers incharge of school bus transporta-tion.

Use this contact information!They are ready to help with anyquestions or concerns you mayhave!

in This issue:

MSBOA LeGAL HOTLiNe(952) 921-4622 • Tom Revnew at Seaton, Peters & Revnew