Louisiana employers and employers across the country are required to protect a worker’s privacy. The federal Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) requires that healthcare providers, insurance companies, pharmacies and others keep a patient’s medical information private. Employers who are self-insured are covered under HIPAA, too. ... continue reading
An employee with a serious health condition, or who needs to care for a family member with a serious health condition is, in most cases, eligible for federal FMLA leave. FMLA (Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993) provides eligible employees with up to 12 weeks of ... continue reading
State and federal agencies have been cracking down on Florida employers regarding wage and hour issues. Under particular scrutiny are misclassification of employees as independent contractors, exempt status and overtime. An example is a recent case heard in the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals, where the court ... continue reading
Many Delaware employees wonder what the law is regarding paid holidays. One company might give 5 paid holidays while another gives 10. Is there a federal law establishing the specific paid holidays for employees? The answer is no. There is no federal law that ... continue reading
The federal HIPAA (Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act) prohibits providers within the healthcare field from sharing medical information on that person with written consent. HIPAA covers “third party administrators” as well. Workers who collect group health insurance payments or counsel about benefits are prohibited from sharing that information ... continue reading
When conducting an on-site compliance inspection in awarding federal contracts, inspectors will, as part of their routine inspection, check that the employer has properly displayed the NLRA (National Labor Relations Act) posters. Every Wisconsin federal contractor is obligated to display a NLRA poster under Executive Order 13496. ... continue reading
Ohio, like many other states without a family or maternity leave law at the state level, must follow the guidelines for federal FMLA leave. FMLA (Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993) provides Ohio employees with up to 12 weeks of unpaid, job-protected leave per 12 month ... continue reading
Georgia employers need to be aware of several recent courts cases involving companies attempting to artificially lower the hourly wage for straight time to avoid paying overtime. The 5th Circuit Court of Appeals recently heard the case of Gagnon v. United Technisource. In this case, when United ... continue reading
Ever wonder why so many holidays fall on Monday in Oklahoma and other states? The reason is the Uniform Monday Holiday Act of 1968 (UMHA). This federal law was enacted in 1971 and provided several “floating” Monday holidays. For example, Memorial Day is officially the 30 th of May, ... continue reading
Recent court rulings show that state and federal agencies are coming down hard on employers regarding wage and hour issues, including misclassifying employees as independent contractors, exempt status and now overtime. An example is a recent case in the 5 th Circuit Court of Appeals. This case ... continue reading
The NLRA (National Labor Relations Act) poster lets workers know they have the legal right to join a union, form a union or assist a union. The poster also includes information about entering into collective bargaining agreements with the employers, and lists examples of legal and illegal contracts. Displayed ... continue reading
Tennessee does not have its own family or maternity leave laws at the state level, so employers must follow the guidelines of the federal FMLA. FMLA (Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993) provides employees with unpaid, job-protected leave for up to 12 weeks every12 month period. ... continue reading
A few Idaho employers have been manipulating hourly wages to avoid paying overtime. Federal and state agencies have been getting tough with employers on overtime issues, and with misclassifying employees as exempt or as independent contractors. A recent overtime case was heard by the 5 th Circuit ... continue reading
Employees might wonder, “What are the paid holidays in Virginia for 2011? The answer depends upon the employer. There is no federal law which requires an employer anywhere in the U.S. to observe any holiday, nor is there a federal law requiring employees be provided with ... continue reading
According to the federal IRCA (Immigration Reform and Control Act), it is a crime for an employer to knowingly hire someone who is not legally authorized to work in the United States. Employers, however, often unintentionally violate this law when they hire a worker whose I-9 documents seem legitimate ... continue reading
In the past, a South Carolina supervisor or manager who verbally abused all employees was not guilty of discrimination or of creating a hostile work environment. They were simply bad managers. A hostile work environment occurred when the subject of abuse was targeted because of their sex, ... continue reading
In what is considered a landmark case, the judge ruled that the OFCCP could not continue to ask for more and more information to audit. Instead, the original audit scheduling letter set limits on which documents the agency could review. Therefore, the audits performed by the OFCCP were not ... continue reading
In recent litigation between the U.S. Department of Labor and Novartis Pharmaceutical Corp., DOL’s increase in strictness regarding interpreting federal regulations came to light. The specific regulations involved were the federal guidelines governing salaried exempt employees. Of particular interest were the occupations of outside salespeople and exempt administrators. ... continue reading
Parents and guardians in several states, including California, Illinois and Colorado, are allowed to take unpaid leave to attend school events, such as parent-teacher conferences. California parents, guardians and grandparents with custody of K-12 children may school visitation leave, too. In fact, California has two separate school ... continue reading
Some undocumented workers in Missouri may qualify for workers’ compensation benefits. In Texas, New York, Florida and Utah, the state laws specifically grant undocumented workers the right to collect workers’ compensation benefits when they are injured at work. In nine other states, including Louisiana, New Jersey and Connecticut, state ... continue reading
A recent case in the federal 2 nd Circuit Court of Appeals may change the perception of creating a hostile work environment. Kaytor v. McCarthy ruled that although Daniel McCarthy verbally abused and threatened employees of all races, sex and color, that did not excuse him from guilt of ... continue reading
Colorado federal contractors and federal contractors across the U. S. will be happy to learn that audits performed by the Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP) are limited in scope. According to the ruling by the administrative law judge in a recent court case, OFCCP cannot ... continue reading
The U.S. Department of Labor handles about 10% of the wage and hour enforcement in this country. That may not seem to have much of an impact, but many states utilize the federal regulations as the blueprint for their own guidelines regarding exempt salaried employees. That is ... continue reading
There are many states in the U.S. that provide employees with time off to attend school events. Among those states are North Carolina, Minnesota, Massachusetts and Nevada. In these states, a parent or guardian of a kindergarten through grade 12 child may take leave for parent-teacher conferences and classroom ... continue reading
Undocumented workers in Kansas may qualify for workers’ compensation in some cases. In Arizona and Wyoming, courts ruled that an undocumented worker does not qualify for workers’ comp. According to these findings, an illegal immigrant cannot legally enter into an employment contract, and therefore is not an employee. ... continue reading
A recent case has interesting implications for workers in Mississippi. In 2004, David McCarthy, an employee at Electric Boat Corp. was going through a divorce and began verbally abusing all of his employees, regardless of sex, color or race. Because he did not target a specific protected group, he ... continue reading
Michigan federal contractors that prefer not to be the subject of unending audits will be happy with a recent ruling regarding the OFCCP (Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs). The good news revolves around the scope that the OFCCP has when conducting an audit, and will also ... continue reading
In recent litigation with Novartis Pharmaceutical Corp. the U.S. Department of Labor issued an opinion that pharmaceutical reps do not qualify as outside salespeople under FLSA (Fair Labor Standards Act). According to the DOL, pharmaceutical reps cannot legally sell their merchandise nor can they take orders for ... continue reading
Employers in several states, including Minnesota, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Vermont and Nevada, are required to provide employees with unpaid leave to attend school events. California has instituted two school visitation laws which prevent businesses from taking negative action against workers who take time off for classroom events. ... continue reading
Many South Dakota companies have experienced an injured employee filing for worker’s compensation, and then discovering that the worker was an illegal immigrant. Employers could be unaware that a worked was illegal, because often the employee presented convincing fake documents when hired. Then, during medical treatment or ... continue reading
