If your company utilizes temporary workers supplied by a staffing agency, you may be a target of OSHA. On April 29, 2013, the Deputy Assistant Secretary of OSHA, Richard Fairfax, issued a memorandum to its Regional Administrators, entitled “Protecting the Safety and Health of Temporary Workers.” Mr ...
On April 8, 2013, the Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission (“OSHRC” or the “Review Commission”) reversed an administrative law judge’s (“ALJ’s”) decision vacating a lockout/tagout (“LOTO”) citation issued to Otis Elevator Company (“Otis”). See Secretary of Labor v. Otis Elevator Company, OSHRC No. 09-1278 (Apr. 8, 2013) ...
The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) has become active in scrutinizing and striking down employers’ social media policies. Three times in the last year, the NLRB issued Operations Management Memoranda providing employers with direction on drafting and applying social media policies. The NLRB specifically evaluated social media policies to determine whether they violated the employee bill of rights in Section 7 of the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA) ...
On April 16, 2013, in a 5-4 opinion, the United States Supreme Court decided whether an offer of judgment that fully satisfies the named plaintiff’s individual claim in a Fair Labor Standards Act (“FLSA”) action moots the plaintiff’s collective action claim. In Genesis HealthCare Corporation v ...
After the recent change in the practice of the authorities with respect to protection offered to pregnant definite term employees from having their employment terminated, which gained much media attention and resulted in significant public reaction, the Serbian Parliament has adopted the Law on Amendments of the Labour Law at the beginning of April 2013 ...
1 The regulator The Insurance Commission is the insurance regulator. It is a government agency under the Department of Finance. The Commission supervises and regulates the operations of insurance and reinsurance corporations, which need to be authorised ...
On April 17, 2013, the Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General (OIG) released an Updated Provider Self-Disclosure Protocol (SDP), which replaces the original SDP published in 1998. The SDP is used by providers and suppliers to voluntarily disclose violations of the fraud and abuse laws. According to the OIG, it has received more than 800 disclosures since the SDP’s inception, resulting in more than $280 million in recoveries ...
The decision of the Indian Supreme Court to deny Novartis’s application for patent protection for an improved version of its patented Glivec drug – the culmination of a seven-year battle - has certainly made the headlines. There are a number of reasons for this. First, Glivec is a well-known drug – described by some as a ‘wonder drug’ – that’s used to combat cancer, including leukaemia and gastro-intestinal cancer ...
Vol. XI, Issue 1 of SyCip Salazar Hernandez & Gatmaitan's Employment & Immigration Update focuses primarily on the salient provisions of Philippine Republic Act No. 10361, also known as the Domestic Workers Act or Batas Kasambahay ...
Haynes and Boone, LLP’s Immigration Practice Group would like to inform employers of two recent immigration changes: (1) a revised Form I-9 for Employment Eligibility Verification by employers; and (2) a new Form I-94 Arrival/Departure Record procedure for foreign nationals upon entry to the United States. Revised I-9 Form for Employee VerificationOn March 8, 2013, United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (“USCIS”) issued a new Employment Eligibility Verification Form I-9 ...
The decision of the Court of Appeal in the La Capitale Case has been expected since February 2012 when the Superior Court dismissed the Class Action taken against an insurer who, with the consent of the policyholder, had unilaterally modified the waiver of premiums clause in a group insurance contract2. To better understand the context, please refer to our NEWSLETTER IN JUNE 2012 following the Superior Court judgment ...
It is generally understood that an employer has the authority to manage and control its employees to ensure its business runs smoothly. In exercising such authority, an employer can adopt and implement policies that govern how employees perform their work. In certain circumstances, an employer can even adopt a policy to control the physical appearance of its employees. However, this power is limited both by legislation and the employment contract ...
The new Family Law Act (“FLA”) came into force today, March 18, 2013. It replaces and repeals the Family Relations Act (“FRA”). The FLA carries forward the basic structure established under the FRA, with some fine tuning to deal with issues not adequately addressed under the FRA. This bulletin highlights the major changes to pension division under the new FLA ...
It is International Women's Day today, March 8 – an opportunity to bring the challenges women face in the workplace to the fore. Laws to protect women being discriminated against in the workplace because of their "family status" have existed for some time. What has been less clear is what the legal definition of "family status" means. Even at the highest court level, it's unclear as there have been few decisions to help define the term ...
On March 1, 2013, the Court of Appeal rendered a judgment on the insurer's duty to defend and indemnify the insured in the area of commercial general liability insurance.1 It confirmed the decision of the trial judge which had held that the insurer has the duty to defend and indemnify,2 and ordered it to reimburse its insured for the amounts paid to settle the claim of a third party and the amounts incurred by the insured in defending itself against the action ...
Only the terms of the insurance policy itself - and not the provisions of an underlying indemnity contract - determine the scope of coverage afforded to an additional insured, provided that the insurance and indemnity provisions in the underlying indemnity contract are separate and independent from one another. For additional insured and indemnity provisions to be deemed “separate and independent,” “Texas law only requires the additional insured provision to be a discrete requirement ...
On 31 January 2013, the Chinese Supreme People’s Court (“SPC”) issued the Fourth Judicial Interpretation on Certain Issues Concerning the Application of Law in Cases Involving Labor Disputes (“SPC-Rules IV”) which came into effect on 1 February 2013. The SPC-Rules IV are based on the current employment laws and regulations and further detail several practice-relevant issues ...
A federal court jury in Illinois found that nursing home operator Momence Meadows fraudulently billed Medicare and Medicaid for “worthless services” and falsely certified compliance with health care laws and regulations, resulting in $28 million in damages to the government. United States ex rel. Absher v. Momence Meadows Nursing Ctr., Inc., No. 2:04-cv-02289 (C.D. Ill. Feb. 8, 2013) ...
It took thirteen years, four months, and five days of heated debates and passionate protests before the country’s first reproductive health law was passed. Four days shy of Christmas last year, President Aquino finally signed the 24-page bill into law. It is now Republic Act No. 10354 or The Responsible Parenthood and Reproductive Health Act of 2012 (RH Law). The passing of the RH Law, however, does by no means close this chapter of Philippine history ...
On January 29, 2013, President Obama announced his plan for comprehensive immigration reform. While the proposal to require mandatory, phased-in electronic employment verification has obvious implications for employers, the proposal to provide a pathway to earned citizenship may have an unforeseen effect on employers, as well. While surprising to some, many individuals in all walks of life do not have work authorization but are still members of the workforce ...
On January 4, 2013, Judge Irene M. Keeley of the United States District Court for the Northern District of West Virginia issued a Memorandum Opinion and Order that partially granted the Defendant’s Motion for Summary Judgment in the case of Eddy v. Biddle, Barr and Dolgencorp, LLC, Civil Action No. 1:11CV137. Judge Keeley subsequently entered a Final Judgment on January 11, 2013, and the case was dismissed with prejudice ...
Employers nationally continue to struggle with how to respond and adapt to the ever- changing landscape that is the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (often known as ObamaCare or the ACA). We at Spilman Thomas & Battle will continue to work with you through 2013 and beyond as the implementing regulations for the ACA continue to be issued. We are working to identify strategies to help employers navigate the process in the manner that best serves their respective industries ...
