Preview / Hot News
EMPLOYERS SHOULD THINK TWICE BEFORE FIRING A SAFETY COMPLAINER
May 20, 2014
The Labor Department recently filed a lawsuit against an employer for allegedly firing a worker who filed a safety complaint with the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA). According to the suit, the employee contacted OSHA on May 9, 2011, alleging safety and health hazards in ...
BLS ANNOUNCES FINAL 2012 FATAL OCCUPATIONAL INJURY COUNTS
May 16, 2014
The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) recently analyzed workplace fatalities and released a summary of its data to help employers understand the numbers and causes of fatal injuries in the workplace. According to the BLS data, 4,628 people lost their lives on the job in 2012, up from the ...
NEW VIDEO EXPLAINS THE VALUE OF INJURY AND ILLNESS PREVENTION PROGRAMS
May 13, 2014
The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has released a new seven-minute video that explains how injury and illness prevention programs enhance workplace safety and health. An injury and illness prevention program is a systematic process that employers can use to find and fix ...
DATA BREACH RESULTS IN $4.8 MILLION HIPAA SETTLEMENTS
May 9, 2014
Two health care organizations have agreed to settle charges that they potentially violated the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA) Privacy and Security Rules by failing to secure thousands of patients' electronic protected health information held on their ...
RECORDKEEPING REQUIREMENTS REMINDER
May 5, 2014
Employers should be aware of recordkeeping requirements that apply to them including the length of time each employee’s record must be retained. Employers covered by federal anti-discrimination laws (ADEA, Title VII of the Civil Rights Act , EPA) must follow the requirements listed ...
STOLEN LAPTOPS LEAD TO HIPAA SETTLEMENTS OF $1.9 MILLION
April 25, 2014
As a recent settlement resolution demonstrates, unencrypted laptop computers and other mobile devices pose a significant risk to the security of patient information and can cost employers millions. In two cases involving stolen laptops, the two providers (covered entities) have paid the U.S. ...
FINAL RULE INCREASES PENALTIES UNDER TITLE III OF THE ADA
April 22, 2014
On March 28, 2014, the Department of Justice issued a Final Rule that adjusts for inflation the civil monetary penalties assessed or enforced by the Civil Rights Division, including those assessed under Title III of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (ADA). For the ADA, ...
PREGNANCY DISCRIMINATION LAWSUITS ON THE RISE
April 18, 2014
Pregnancy discrimination lawsuits continue to grow as the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) heightens enforcement actions on behalf of pregnant applicants and employees. The EEOC announced settlements in four such cases in just the last 30 days. These cases are instructive ...
EEOC RAISES FINE FOR FAILING TO POST REQUIRED NOTICES
April 15, 2014
The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) has increased the fine for failure to post the required federal anti-discrimination labor law notices. Employers who fail to post the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), Title VII of the Civil Rights Act (Title VII), and the Genetic ...
EMPLOYERS URGED TO PREVENT TEXTING WHILE DRIVING
April 11, 2014
Motor vehicle crashes are the leading cause of death on the job, accounting for more than 2 out of every 5 fatal work injuries in 2012 , according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Because millions of workers’ jobs require them to spend part or all of their work day driving ? visiting ...
