The Employment Appeal Tribunal has held, in the case of Burns v Santander UK plc, that an employee who is remanded in custody for 6 months while awaiting trial was not entitled to claim wages for that period. Mr Burns was arrested and charged with various criminal offences. He remained in custody for 6 months until his trial. Santander wrote to him to say that he would not be paid while he was in custody ...
The Government launched its consultation on modern workplaces on 16 May 2011. The consultation contains proposals for a system of shared flexible parental leave, the extension of the right to request flexible working to all employees, changes to the Working Time Regulations to deal with the interaction of holiday and sickness absence and proposals to require employers to carry out equal pay audits if they lose an equal pay claim ...
The Department for Business Innovation and Skills has now published its final guidance on the Agency Workers Regulations, which come in to force on 1 October 2011. The final guidance makes the provisions and requirements in relation to pay between assignments clearer especially in relation to annual leave. There has also been a minor change to remove one-off non-contractual bonus payments from the definition of pay ...
Guidance to assist with determining who falls within the definition of a disabled person under the Equality Act 2010 came into force on 1 May 2011. It sets out the constituent parts of the statutory definition and provides examples to help to determine whether a person is disabled or not ...
The national minimum wage will increase from 1 October 2011 as follows: The adult rate (age 21 and over) will increase to £6.08 per hour. The development rate (for 18 to 20 year olds) will increase to £4.98 per hour. The rate for young workers (16 to 17 year olds) will increase to £3.68 per hour ...
The TUC and CIPD have updated their guidance on managing age to take into account good practice developments since 2006 and the phasing-out of the default retirement age from 6 April 2011. It supports the Acas guidance on managing without a retirement age and reflects the business case for extending working life and employing people of all ages ...
Employers are likely to let out a collective groan of exasperation over the recently launched consultation on shared, flexible parental leave and the extension of the right to request flexible working to all employees ...
Employers are likely to let out a collective groan of exasperation over the recently launched consultation on shared, flexible parental leave and the extension of the right to request flexible working to all employees ...
On June 16, 2011, the Supreme Court issued an opinion in Smith v. Bayer allowing a plaintiff to pursue class certification in a state court action after a federal court had denied certification in a substantially similar case. The Court held that it was improper for the federal court to enjoin the state proceeding under the “relitigation exception” of the Anti-Injunction Act because the issues were not identical and the state court plaintiff was not a party to the federal lawsuit ...
On June 20, 2011, the Supreme Court issued its opinion in Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. v. Dukes, reversing a Court of Appeals decision that had affirmed certification of a nationwide class of 1.5 million female employees in a gender discrimination suit against Wal-Mart. In a 5-4 decision, the Court held that class certification was improper because the named plaintiffs failed to satisfy the commonality requirement of Rule 23(a)(2) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure ...
The Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act (the “Act”) was signed into law by President Obama on July 21, 2010. The Act was enacted to address many regulatory issues, including to promote financial stability in the United States “by improving accountability and transparency in the financial system,” “to end ‘too big to fail,’” and “to protect consumers from abusive financial services ...
Yesterday a three-judge panel from the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit became the first appellate court to uphold the constitutionality of the minimum coverage provision of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (the “Act”), requiring that Americans obtain health insurance. Opinions are expected from the Fourth and Eleventh Circuits later this summer ...
Are you already using E-Verify for all of your new hires? If not, you will soon be required to. The North Carolina legislature passed "An Act to Require Counties, Cities and Employers to Use the Federal E-Verify Program to Verify the Work Authorization of Newly Hired Employees" (the "Act"), which was signed into law by Governor Beverly Perdue on June 23, 2011 ...
It's been a long time coming, but the EEOC has finally published the official regulations for Title II of the Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act (GINA). (Title I addresses non-discrimination in the context of health insurance, and regulations for that Title will be issued by the Departments of Labor, Health and Human Services, and Treasury.) GINA was originally enacted on May 21, 2008, by, President George W. Bush, and became effective November 21, 2009 ...
On June 13, 2011, the Supreme Court issued its opinion in United States v. Jicarilla Apache Nation, 564 U.S. ___ (2011), holding that the fiduciary exception to the attorney-client privilege does not apply to the United States government’s administration of Indian trusts ...
During the 2011 legislative session that just ended, Texas Governor Rick Perry signed into law a bill that allows rural hospitals to employ physicians, known as the “corporate practice of medicine,” despite the state’s long-standing ban on such practices. This legislation, along with similar recent legislation, signals that Texas might eventually do away with its ban on corporate employment of physicians altogether ...
In April 2011, the Department of Labor (“DOL”) issued a final rule that could have a significant impact on employers that use a “tip credit” to satisfy their obligation to pay employees minimum wage. Although courts have generally required employers to notify employees of (but not explain) the tip credit, the new rule requires employers to provide very specific and detailed information regarding their use of the tip credit ...
On July 5, 2011, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) published a proposed rule in the Federal Register that would make a number of changes to the Medicare program’s home health prospective payment system for calendar year 2012.Most significantly, the proposed rule would reduce Medicare payments to home health agencies by 3.35% or approximately $640 million in 2012. The reduction reflects the combined effects of (i) a home health market basket update of 2 ...
Traditionally a federal responsibility, immigration reform has become a hot button topic for state lawmakers across the United States. According to the National Conference of State Legislatures, in the first quarter of 2011, state legislators in the 50 states and Puerto Rico introduced 1,538 immigration-related bills and resolutions. This surpassed the first quarter of 2010, when 1,180 bills were introduced ...
Texas health care providers, health insurers and health clearinghouses face new mandates and increased penalties over the use of electronic health records (EHR) as a result of HB300, which was passed in the 2011 Texas legislative session and signed into law by Governor Rick Perry. The Texas legislation expands privacy rights of patients beyond that contained in federal HIPAA legislation ...
On July 1, the Texas Supreme Court handed down an opinion that has the potential to impact any case where medical or health expenses are at issue. In the wake of the Court’s ruling, a plaintiff may not recover medical expenses for amounts that the plaintiff’s health providers bill but have no right to be paid. In addition, the Court held that such bills are inadmissible - including to show pain and suffering. Case Background and Issues Presented Haygood v ...
Advances in digital technology have created a virtually limitless supply of content available in “byte-sized” forms, where original works are being increasingly “atomized” into smaller, digestible digital content pieces for consumers and content providers alike ...
The Internal Revenue Service has proposed guidelines detailing how tax-exempt hospitals can conduct a Community Health Needs Assessment (CHNA), as required in the 2010 Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA). Although this new requirement is not effective until taxable years commencing after March 23, 2012, the IRS issued its guidance now because hospitals may choose to start the process of conducting CHNAs and implement strategies in advance of the effective date ...
A June ruling by the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals has provided a bit of a relief for employers who face Fair Labor Standards Act retaliation claims from employees. The Supreme Court's ruling in Kasten v. Saint-Gobain Performance Plastics Corp., 131 S.Ct. 1325, 1329, 179 L. Ed. 2d 379 (2011) represented a significant victory for employees, but now all is not lost for employers. In Maynor v. Dow, No. 10-40771, 2011 U.S. App. LEXIS 12759 (5th Cir ...
Supporting OSHA’s aggressive semi-annual regulatory agenda, Deputy Assistant Secretary of Labor for OSHA, Jordan Barab, recently warned a research symposium that, “despite what goes on in Congress, [OSHA] [has] absolutely no intention of pulling back or retreating.” Barab alerted attendees that OSHA’s regulatory agenda aims to extend enforcement beyond traditional manufacturing and construction sectors ...
