Expert Compliance Insights & Tips for Businesses

March 4, 2010

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OSHA Issues Letters to Firms with Highest Injury, Illness Rates

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has dispatched about 15,000 letters to companies to notify them that their rates of illness and injury are higher than average. These so-called DART (Days Away, Restricted and Transfer) reports generally are followed up by OSHA inspections, if the past be any guide. OSHA has made no official announcement about the computer-generated lette...

March 3, 2010

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More Clarity on HITECH Provisions Promised Soon

HIPAA HITECH

Though HITECH (the Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health act) took full effect this past Feb. 17, provisions regarding business associates were still vague, as we noted at the time. Now, the Office of Civil Rights (OCR) in the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), the law's oversight agency, is promising to issue proposed rules soon, which typically would be fo...

March 2, 2010

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Empire Strikes Back: FTC Appeals Lawyer Exemption on Red Flags Rule

FACTA FTC identity theft Red Flags Rule

To make a long story short, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has been trying--with delayed implementation--to get the nation's businesses that grant credit to protect their clients' and consumers' identities by requiring them to adhere to a Red Flags Rule. The Red Flags refer to steps in the credit process that might indicate an identity-theft threat. The nation's financial institutions are a...

February 26, 2010

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If Congress Can't Comply With OSHA, How Can the Rest of Us?

Good question, and the answer is probably that complying with the regulations of the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) probably requires constant vigilance. An Office of Compliance inspection recently showed that 70 percent of all Congressional offices exhibit employee workplace safety violations. The good news is that most of the infractions are minor compared to the inspect...

February 24, 2010

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HHS Begins Listing Medical Record Breaches on Web

ARRA HITECH

As required by law, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has begun publicly listing breaches of private health information (PHI), generally in medical records, when the breach totals 500 or more individuals. Though breach notification rules under HITECH (Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health Act) went into effect in September 2009, a grace period provi...

February 23, 2010

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IRS Begins Audit of 6,000 Firms for Misclassification and Other Abuses

IRS IRS audit IRS business audit

As reported here this past November when the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) announced its plans, the federal tax agency has commenced the first phase of its audit of 6,000 firms of all sizes and industries to root out abuses of executive pay, fringe benefits, record-keeping, and misclassification of employees as independent contractors. The Employment Tax National Research Project (NRP) will st...

February 19, 2010

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Ohio House Bill 434 Poses Risk to Businesses

Ohio WARN Act WARN Act

The federal version of the WARN (Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification) Act affects businesses with 100 or more employees and requires 60 days' advance notice of layoffs (if they reach a certain level) and of company closings. In lieu of advance notice, the firm can pay 60 days' wages and benefits on the day of discharge or cessation of operations. Ohio legislators evidently d...

February 17, 2010

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EEOC Loses Big and Has to Pay the Piper (Read: Rival Attorneys)

The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) has been ordered to pay $4.56 million in attorneys' fees and "reasonable" expenses after shoddily pursuing a sexual harassment lawsuit against a trucking firm and losing. In ordering the reparations, Chief Judge Linda Reade of the Northern Division Court of Iowa said the EEOC had "wholly abandoned its statutory duties" in no...

February 16, 2010

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Maine Legislature to Consider Tying Minimum Wage to Inflation

Maine Minimum Wage Law

On Thursday, Feb. 18, the Labor Committee of the Maine legislature will hold hearings on a proposed law to tie the state's minimum wage into the cost-of-living index. The Maine minimum wage currently rests at $7.50 an hour, 25 cents higher than the federal rate. The indexing law was introduced in 2009 by Representative John Tuttle, D.-Sanford, who is also chair of the House Labor Committee...

February 11, 2010

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Like Other DOL Agencies, OFCCP to Beef Up Enforcement

Barack Obama DOL OFCCP

The Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP) is receiving a 33-percent budget increase for fiscal 2011 and will use the money to hire 213 new compliance officers and launch a more rigorous enforcement program. The OFCCP is tasked with monitoring compliance with federal labor laws and regulations by contractors working on federal government contracts. In announcing its "unprec...

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EEOC Issues New National Enforcement Plan Through 2029

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