On May 22, President Bush signed the Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act of 2008 into law.  As previously reported in EmployNews, GINA will prohibit discrimination in employment and insurance underwriting based upon genetic testing information.  GINA takes effect in November 2009, and the Department of Labor has one year to develop regulations implementing its employment provisions.

An overlooked portion of GINA raises fines for violation of federal child labor laws under the Fair Labor Standards Act.  Maximum fines for child labor violations that result in the death of or serious injury to a minor increased from $10,000 to $50,000 per violation.  The penalty for any other child labor violation increases from $10,000 to $11,000 per violation.  Also, the maximum penalty for overtime or minimum wage violations under the Fair Labor Standards Act increased from $1000 to $1100 per violation.  These new fine levels take immediate effect, and apply to any violation that occurs as of May 22 or later.