Expert Compliance Insights & Tips for Businesses

May 3, 2010

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DOL Mulls New Approach to Compliance

The Department of Labor (DOL), in issuing an updated regulatory agenda this past week, announced it was considering a major change in its approach to enforcement. Instead of letting businesses play what it called a "catch me if you can" game, the DOL said it will issue regulations requiring each company to develop and implement its own compliance plan. In essence, this would require c...

April 29, 2010

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Court Delays Red Flags Rule for Accountants

FACTA Red Flags Rule

First attorneys got themselves exempted. Physicians then jumped in on sought a similar court order, and now accountants have succeeded in getting a judge to free them from the upcoming implementation of the Red Flags Rule, which requires companies to set up procedures to prevent identity theft. The Red Flags Rule is part of the Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions Act (FACTA), which Congress p...

April 28, 2010

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Bill Introduced to Eliminate/Criminalize Worker Misclassification

DOL independent contractors Labor Secretary Hilda Solis

Even as the Department of Labor (DOL) and Internal Revenue Service (IRS) begin scouring workplace records for the improper classification of employees as independent contractors, Congress is weighing in with patches to the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) to put some bite behind the bark. Senator Sherrod Brown, D.-Ohio, has introduced the Employee Misclassification Protection Act (EMPA), which a...

April 27, 2010

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Wal-Mart Hit With Huge Class-Action Gender Bias Suit

Supreme Court Wal-Mart

No stranger to labor disputes or the courtroom, Wal-Mart has now been hit with a class-action gender bias lawsuit affecting as many as 1.5 million female employees. In a close ruling, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco voted 6 to 5 to certify class-action status. Wal-Mart immediately said it would appeal to the Supreme Court. The lawsuit was originally filed in June 2001, and i...

April 23, 2010

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OSHA Increasing Penalties and Aiming Higher

David Michaels OSHA Severe Violator Enforcement Program

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), while legally bound to a fine structure with limits, is seeking to raise its average fine from the $1,000 range to the $3,000 to $4,000 range while awaiting higher fine approval from Congress. OSHA Director David Michaels announced on April 22 what the agency is calling its Severe Violator Enforcement Program (SVEP), which replaces the c...

April 20, 2010

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OSHA to Emphasize Enforcement of Worker Training

OSHA worker training

Effective April 28--Workers Memorial Day--the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) will step up enforcement of worker training requirements, especially for non-English speakers. "OSHA will also assure that its Compliance Officers check and verify not only that the training has been provided, but that it was provided in a format that the workers being trained can understand,...

April 16, 2010

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California Adopts Federal Standard on Unpaid Interns

FLSA unpaid interns

The California Division of Labor Standards Enforcement (DLSE) had long made life complicated for employers in the state who wanted to bring on board unpaid interns, adding an extra five criteria to those spelled out in the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). But all that has changed now that the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) has launched a crackdown on using unpaid interns as unpaid employees. Th...

April 9, 2010

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OSHA Unveils Goals of New Strategic Plan

David Michaels Hilda Solis OSHA

The Department of Labor (DOL) has released its strategic plan for 2010-2016 with the overall objective being "good jobs for everyone," in the words of Secretary Hilda Solis. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) recently held a Web chat to discuss its part in the DOL strategic plan, during which it characterized its overall plan in these words: “OSHA is focus...

April 8, 2010

104 view(s)

The “Billion-Year Contract” Case Explained

Church of Scientology FLSA L. Ron Hubbard Sea Org

A federal judge has dismissed claims against the Church of Scientology by a (former?) member who alleges she was forced to work 100-hour weeks for no pay under a billion-year contract for the religion's elite Sea Organization, according to a report in The Baltimore Sun. U.S. District Judge Dale Fischer issued a written order saying the plaintiff, Claire Headley, was not covered by the Fair Labo...

April 6, 2010

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Got Interns? Then Maybe You'll Get a Knock on the Door

The Department of Labor (DOL) and its Wage and Hour Division (WHD) are not only targeting independent contractor misclassification, but they're also now coming after the misclassification--and misuse--of interns. M. Patricia Smith, who went after New York employers for the misclassification of interns when she was that state's labor secretary, is now heading up the campaign for the federal DOL ...

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