Flashings

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Olympic stadium sports Sarnafil roof system

A roof system from Sarnafil Inc., Canton, Mass., has been installed on the Stadium of Peace and Friendship, which will house the volleyball, beach volleyball, tae kwon do and handball competitions during the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens, Greece.

Located in the Faliro Coastal Zone Olympic Complex, the stadium, which holds 14,000 people, has a concave Sarnafil roof system. Although the roof system is sold only in Europe, it is similar to Sarnafil's thermoplastic single-ply EnergySmart roof system. The roof system is supported only by pillars at its perimeter. During the project, Sarnafil-trained technicians were on hand to assist the stadium's roofing workers.

A Sarnafil roof membrane also was used to cover the Salt Lake City Olympic Oval Speed Skating Arena for the 2002 Olympic Games.

Can you demand employees to speak English?

Many roofing contractors have employees who don't speak English. Although some contractors believe English as a second language training is not necessary for employees' duties, there are employers who require employees to speak English.

Legally, this requirement usually is acceptable. However, it still needs to be investigated before being enforced because the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission says such requirements only are acceptable if they are "justified by business needs." Following are some examples where requiring English-speaking employees would be justified:

• If a non-English-speaking employee has a supervisor and co-workers who speak only English for business communication purposes, the employee can be required to speak English. However, this would not apply to nonwork-related conversations.
  
  
• An employee can be required to speak English if he is working on a task where English is necessary, such as a conversation using technical English terms.
  
  
• Safety issues can warrant an English-speaking requirement, whether it is simply for a fire drill evacuation or an especially safety-conscious job.

If you require employees to speak English, make sure employees know and understand this requirement so they are not punished wrongfully for not speaking English. Otherwise, this could leave you open to a discrimination lawsuit.

Source: Adapted from Illinois Employment Law Letter as cited in The Manager's Intelligence Report, June issue.

generalRoofing and creditors reach agreement

Fort Lauderdale, Fla.-based generalRoofing, its senior lenders and an Unsecured Creditors Committee have reached an agreement with regard to the terms of a proposed support agreement, which specifies the future treatment of all classes of unsecured creditors in generalRoofing's Plan of Reorganization.

On May 3, generalRoofing filed to reorganize under Chapter 11 of the Bankruptcy Code and since then has been negotiating the terms of payment and reciprocal release on project liens with a committee of representative unsecured creditors. The Plan of Reorganization was scheduled to be filed for final approval by July 27. The support agreement has been approved by the committee and now has become part of the Plan of Reorganization. It is said the plan will lead to generalRoofing emerging from bankruptcy and resuming its usual operations.

"This support agreement progresses our efforts toward normalizing our relationships with our suppliers," says Bart Roggensack, generalRoofing's president and chief executive officer. "Now, we will be able to focus 100 percent of our energy on completing our turnaround and emerging as a unified and financially sound organization. We are confident that with the support of the Unsecured Creditors Committee, we will be able to emerge from bankruptcy by the end of September."

Hours-of-service regulations vacated

The U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia has rescinded the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration's (FMCSA's) hours-of-service regulations, sending them back to FMCSA for review. The court mostly focused on the new "sleeper berth" rules and the increase in allowable driving time between breaks from 10 hours to 11 hours. The court said FMCSA did not assess the effect the new rules would have on drivers' physical conditions.

FMCSA has 45 days to review the decision and determine whether to seek other legal remedies. The regulations went into effect Jan. 4, and the current hours-of-service regulations will remain in effect during the 45-day review period. In the meantime, FMCSA will advise federal authorities and state law enforcement partners of their responsibilities with regard to continued enforcement of the regulations.

The order resulted from a lawsuit filed by Public Citizen, Citizens for Reliable and Safe Highways and Parents Against Tired Truckers.