On August 18, 2015, the Tribunal administratif du Québec (TAQ) confirmed the decision of a health institution to not renew the status and privileges of one of its physicians after he refused to undergo refresher training to acquire skills that were necessary to perform his new duties.1 The physician in question, a hematology specialist, had been hired as a researcher several years ago ...
On August 27, 2015, the National Labor Relations Board (“NLRB” or the “Board”) issued its decision in Browning-Ferris Industries of California, Inc., upending decades of well-settled precedent to establish a new, broad standard for determining when two entities are “joint employers” under the National Labor Relations Act. 362 NLRB 186 (2015) ...
The financial pressures resulting from the “narrow network” phenomenon are well-known to healthcare providers and payers. Many providers have been eliminated from existing networks in order to allow participating providers access to a greater volume of patients. Those remaining providers have seen lower reimbursement rates and other cost containment measures ...
A Texas federal court recently ordered an insurer to reimburse an oil and gas company for costs and expenses incurred while defending against environmental claims. The court found that a duty to defend existed even though the insured failed to immediately notify the insurer of the occurrence, giving rise to the claim as required by the insurance policy, and despite alleged willful miscon- duct that was excluded from coverage under the policy ...
The FDA recently issued final guidance regarding the size, shape, and other physical characteristics of generic-manufactured tablet and capsule dosage forms. The guidance noted that differences in physical characteristics of a dosage form could affect patient compliance and acceptability of medication regimens, or could lead to medication errors. The main reason for the FDA’s guidance appears to be that many patients can experience difficulty swallowing tablets and capsules ...
This is the age of government regulation. Businesses pay millions of dollars each year to comply with ever-increasing regulatory requirements intended to avoid catastrophic loss to persons and property. While corporate America underwrites the lion’s share of the cost associated with enhanced safety, the benefits are realized primarily by consumers, politicians and insurers. Yes, insurers. A dollar spent on preventing loss is a dollar saved by insurance companies ...
On July 6, 2015, in response to an executive order signed by President Obama, the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) published a proposed rule that could significantly impact overtime regulations under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). Among other changes, the proposed rule will increase the minimum salary threshold to qualify for the “white collar” exemptions to $50,440 per year, which could affect an estimated 4.6 million workers ...
The U.S. Department of Labor (“DOL”) has proposed significant changes to the overtime pay regulations of the Fair Labor Standards Act (“FLSA”) ...
Last year California passed the Healthy Workplaces, Healthy Families Act of 2014 (the “Act”), which requires employers to provide paid sick leave at a rate of one hour for every 30 hours worked starting on July 1, 2015. Recognizing some of the ambiguities of the Act, this month California passed Assembly Bill No. 304, which clarifies and amends certain aspects of the Act. The amendments of AB 304 took effect on July 13, 2015 ...
Continuing a trend of increased scrutiny of independent contractor relationships, the U.S. Department of Labor (“DOL”) has issued new guidance to employers warning that "most workers" should be classified as employees and not independent contractors ...
Continuing a trend of increased scrutiny of independent contractor relationships, the U.S. Department of Labor (“DOL”) has issued new guidance to employers warning that "most workers" should be classified as employees and not independent contractors ...
On 29 June 2015, a new regulation on the procedure for employing foreign manpower (ie Minister of Manpower Regulation No. 16 of 2015) entered into force, revoking the previous regulation, Minister of Manpower Regulation No. 12 of 2013. Some important provisions in the new regulation include the following: • In general, an employer of foreign manpower must employ at least ten Indonesian workers for every one foreign worker ...
Last June 12, Bill 42, entitled «An Act to group the Commission de l’équité salariale, the Commission des normes du travail and the Commission de la santé et de la sécurité du travail and to establish the Administrative Labour Tribunal1» (the «Loi Act to group the CÉS, the CNT and the CSST and to establish the ALT” or the “Act”), received Royal Assent ...
Last week, the Second Circuit delivered a highly anticipated ruling on whether companies may continue to use unpaid interns. In what represents a clear victory for companies, the Court adopted a flexible “primary beneficiary” test to determine whether workers should be properly classified as interns or employees ...
In a decision rendered on April 30, 20151, the Administrative Tribunal of Québec (the "ATQ") upheld a decision of the board of directors of a university hospital centre that refused to renew the status and privileges of a physician who failed to fulfill the obligations associated with the enjoyment of these privileges. Firstly, it should be noted that the applicant's clinical competence was not questioned in this case ...
On June 15th, the Court of Appeal of Quebec, inCommission de la santé et de la sécurité du travailv.Caron,1issued an important judgment that changes the law governing an employers’ duty to accommodate employment injuries ...
On Tuesday, the U.S. Department of Labor (“DOL”) unveiled its highly anticipated proposed changes to the overtime pay regulations of the Fair Labor Standards Act (“FLSA”). These proposed changes are predicted to broaden coverage to nearly fivemillion additional workers ...
Multilaw’s Labour & Employment practice group has released the 2015 edition of How to Hire and Fire: A Global Guide. The collaborative electronic guide serves as a quick but practical guide for everyday labor and employment concerns by providing a summary of key employment law principles across 105 jurisdictions. The guide reflects the law in each jurisdiction as of January 1, 2015 ...
On June 6th, 2015, Law No. 20,850, which creates the Financial Protection System for Diagnostics and Treatment of High Costs, and pays posthumous tribute to Luis Ricarte Soto Gallegos, has been published. This law creates a financial protection system for diagnostics and high cost treatments which will be defined by the Ministry of Health by means of a Supreme Decree ...
A recent Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals decision reinforces the Fifth Circuit’s willingness to enforce private settlements of Fair Labor Standards Act (“FLSA”) claims while simultaneously making clear that there are limits to such enforcement ...
On April 29, 2013, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (“OSHA”) launched the Temporary Worker Initiative (“TWI”) with the purpose of increasing its focus on temporary workers in order to highlight employers’ responsibilities to ensure these workers are protected from workplace hazards. A temporary worker is defined by OSHA as one hired and paid by a staffing agency and supplied to a host employer to perform work on a temporary basis ...
FIFA Kickback and Bribery Allegations & Insurance For Related Third-Party Investigations Bribes of $40,000 stuffed in envelopes, a flight to Europe solely to retrieve a briefcase full of cash and a$10 million payoff to secure votes for choosing the World Cup host country are among the allegations in the recent indictment against FIFA representatives and related business associates ...
Bribes of $40,000 stuffed in envelopes, a flight to Europe solely to retrieve a briefcase full of cash, and a $10 million payoff to secure votes for choosing the World Cup host country are among the allegations in the recent indictment against FIFA representatives and related business associates. The indictment contains charges of racketeering, wire fraud and money laundering arising out of alleged kickbacks and bribes that the defendants gave or received ...
On June 1, the United States Supreme Court reversed and remanded Equal Employment Opportunity Commission v. Abercrombie & Fitch Stores, Inc.1 to the Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals and held that in order to prove a disparate-treatment (or “intentional discrimination”) claim, an applicant need only show that his need for a religious accommodation was a motivating factor in an employer’s decision not to hire him ...
