Expert Compliance Insights & Tips for Businesses

OSHA Nominee Withdraws on Cusp of Confirmation

May 15, 2019

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Scott Mungo, poised to win confirmation as administrator of the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) after a wait of 17 months, abruptly withdrew his name from nomination on Tuesday. No reason immediately surfaced. Scott Mungo[/caption] The Senate was set to take a final vote on his nomination in the next few we...

Uber Drivers Are Not Employees, NLRB Advises

May 15, 2019

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The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB), in three cases involving ride-share drivers, has issued an "Advice Memorandum" concluding that the Uber drivers who filed the charges were "independent contractors," not employees. Therefore, the regions where the charges were filed should "dismiss the charges, absent withdrawal." The memo, written in April but released yesterday, lists ten criteria...

May 14, 2019

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OSHA Revises Safety and Health Standards

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) today issued a final rule revising 14 provisions in its recordkeeping, general industry, maritime and construction standards that it said might be "outdated, confusing or unnecessary." The rule, as published in the Federal Register, is said to reduce "regulatory burden while maintaining or enhancing worker safety and health, and improv...

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Washington State Adds Public Option Health Insurance

May 14, 2019

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As "Medicare for All" becomes the mantra of several candidates for president, all progressive Democrats, Washington State on Monday inaugurated its own version of a public option health insurance plan, based on expanding the qualifications for Medicaid to 500 percent of the federal poverty line, or $62,450 a year for a single person. The agency running Medicaid for the state is being instruc...

May 13, 2019

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Private Insurance Pays Double Medicare Rates

A Rand Corp. study has found that people with private insurance -- 156 million of them with health insurance from work -- pay, on average, twice more for hospital care than what those on Medicare pay. The study is based on payment rates by private insurers in 25 states to 1,600 hospitals, and concludes that had the rates been the same as Medicare across the board, the nation would have saved...

May 8, 2019

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After Four Months, EEOC Has a Quorum

Janet Dhillon was approved today by the U.S. Senate on a 50-43 party-line vote to assume the role of chairperson for the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC). The current acting chair, Victoria Lipnic, will remain as a commission member. Janet Dhillon, new EEOC Chair Dhillon's approval brings the total numbe...

May 8, 2019

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EEO-1 Pay Data for 2017 and 2018 Due by Sept. 30

The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), pursuit to a federal judge's order, has published a notice in the Federal Register stating that all affected companies must report their pay data for 2017 and 2018 (Component 2 of the EEO-1 Report) by Sept. 30, 2019. Businesses with at least 100 employees and federal contractors with at least 50 employees and a contract of $50,000 or more w...

DOL Not Backing Federal Minimum Wage Hike

May 7, 2019

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While Democrats in both houses of Congress are drafting legislation to basically double the federal minimum wage -- from $7.25 to $15 an hour -- Department of Labor (DOL) Secretary Alexander Acosta told legislators that "we do not support a change in the federal minimum wage at this time." Labor Secretary Acosta Appe...

May 7, 2019

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Employed Doctors Now Outnumber the Self-Employed

For the first time since the group began tracking physician employment trends, the American Medical Association (AMA) reports that the percentage of physicians who are employed -- working in a hospital, for instance -- now outpaces the percentage who own their own practices. According to the most recent survey, taken in September 2018, 47.4 percent of doctors are employed while 45.9 percent are...

April 30, 2019

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HHS to Base HIPAA Fines on Culpability

The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) in late April issued a notice of enforcement discretion regarding fines for violations of HIPAA (Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act) and its privacy, security and breach rules. The fine structure was established in 2009 with a piece of legislation titled the Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health (HITEC...

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