Expert Compliance Insights & Tips for Businesses

August 16, 2011

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Cignet's $4.3 Million Civil Penalty Represents New Phase in HIPAA Privacy Rule Enforcement

When earlier this year the Office of Civil Rights (OCR) hit Cignet Health with a $4.3 million civil penalty, it represented the opening volley in teethier enforcement of the HIPAA Privacy Rule under a new law that vastly increased the potential for fines. Cignet received the first-ever civil penalty under 2009's Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health (HITECH) Act, wh...

August 15, 2011

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OFCCP Plans Compensation Data Collection Tool

OFCCP

The Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP) has issued an Advance Notice of Proposed Rulemaking to invite the public to provide input on the development and implementation of a compensation data collection tool. Possible uses for the collected data include generating insight into potential problems of compensation discrimination at the establishment level that might warrant furth...

August 11, 2011

28 view(s)

OSHA Expected to Release Revised HAZCOM Standard Soon

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) is set to issue a revised hazard communication (HAZCOM) standard soon to incorporate the Globally Harmonized System of Classification and Labeling of Chemicals (GHS). The GHS was developed from a United Nations initiative that seeks to set worldwide standards for how chemicals are classified (according to their danger, or hazard) and how ...

August 7, 2011

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Last of COBRA Subsidy Recipients Rolling Off the Rolls

ARRA COBRA COBRA subsidy

As part of the government's effort to combat the pitfalls of the recession, Congress in March 2009 passed a 65-percent government-funded subsidy for laid-off employees who signed up for a COBRA health insurance extension. The program ran from September 2008 to May 2010, with 15 months of subsidies available for any employee who was "involuntarily terminated," a phrase that was int...

August 5, 2011

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HHS Expands List of No-Co-Pay Preventive Services for Women

This week the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) added several new, no-cost-to-patients preventive services to the list it aggregates as part of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA). The newly added services for women will have to be offered with no co-pay by all health insurance policies on their first plan year beginning on or after Aug. 1, 2012, making the effect...

August 3, 2011

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DOL to Revamp, Strengthen Whistleblower Protection Program

After critical audits by the Government Accountability Office (GAO) in 2009 and 2010, the Department of Labor (DOL) is implementing several measures to enhance its Whistleblower Protection Program. The federal whistleblower provisions consist of 21 statutes protecting employees who report violations of various workplace safety, airline, commercial motor carrier, consumer product, environmental,...

August 2, 2011

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NLRB General Counsel Clarifies That Social Media Commentary Can Be Punished

Well, yes, in certain situations, anyway. Background: In Connecticut, a famous incident involving American Medical Response, which fired an employee for her bad-mouthing comments on Facebook, led to legal action by the local office of National Labor Relations Board (NLRB), which in turn led to a settlement and shudders in the business world that it might have to put up with endless employee tir...

August 1, 2011

45 view(s)

Genetic Information and Company Wellness Programs

ADA EEOC GINA

The Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act (GINA) prohibits the gathering of genetic information from employees or new hires unless such information is deemed "job-related and consistent with business necessity." Another exception pertains to voluntary wellness programs, with the stipulation that the information obtained is kept confidential and not used in a manner that viol...

July 31, 2011

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EEOC Aims to Ban Pre-Hire Criminal Background Checks

The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) held a wide-ranging meeting on July 26 to discuss a ban on pre-employment criminal background checks. A proposed regulation is expected to be released the week beginning Aug. 1, 2011, or shortly thereafter. In reaching this decision, the EEO commissioners indicated their main concern was the high rate of recidivism and return to prison among...

July 29, 2011

43 view(s)

Wal-Mart Plaintiffs in Court to Revive Their Case on a Narrower Basis

Betty Dukes Wal-Mart

Lawyers for the Wal-Mart plaintiffs, whose massive class-action lawsuit was shot down by the U.S. Supreme Court as being too big and unfocused, are back in court today (July 29, 2011) to argue for a revival of the sex-bias complaint but on a narrower basis and with multiple lawsuits. The attorneys hope to file one class-action lawsuit in California and then move on to other states to replicate ...

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