Workforce Bulletin

By Jennifer Nutter

Until recently, California retail employers could leverage the threat that employees suing them for nonpayment of wages (including sales commissions), fringe benefits, or health and welfare or pension fund contributions would have to pay the employer’s attorneys’ fees in the event that the claim was unsuccessful.  Labor Code Section 218.5 provided that the court “shall” award the “prevailing party” its attorneys’ fees in such cases (assuming a request was made at the beginning of the suit).

It had long been argued by attorneys representing ...

By:  Kara Maciel, Adam Solander and Brandon Ge

On September 5, 2013, the Internal Revenue Service (“IRS”) released two proposed rules to implement important reporting requirements under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (“ACA”), which will help determine penalties under the Employer Mandate and should be of great importance to hospitality employers. 

One rule would require information reporting by insurers, self-insuring employers, and other parties that provide health coverage (“minimum essential coverage”). The other rule would require ...

I recently coauthored an article in TechLifeSciNews, "The Affordable Care Act: Technology Companies Must Continue Compliance Efforts," with Gretchen Harders, one of my colleagues in the Employee Benefits practice at Epstein Becker Green. 

Following is an excerpt:

Technology companies are in the unique position of developing new products and technologies for the healthcare industry, while at the same time acting in the role of employer subject to the healthcare reform mandates under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2010, as amended ("ACA"). Whether the company ...

By: Robert Groban and Susan Gross Sholinsky

Recent settlements with Forever 21 and Macy’s announced by the U.S. Justice Department’s Office of Special Counsel (“OSC”) underscore the importance to retail employers of training staff regarding the anti-discrimination provisions of the Form I-9 requirements.

Most employers are familiar with the Form I-9 requirements that direct employers to obtain original documentation establishing the identity and work authorization of all new employees hired since November 7, 1986.  In their eagerness to satisfy their Form I-9 ...

Apple Inc.'s practice of requiring hourly employees to wait (off the clock) in order to undergo "personal package and bag checks" prior to meal breaks and at the end of shifts is the subject of a purported wage-hour collective action.

Our blog contributor Anna A. Cohen, an Associate in the Labor and Employment practice at Epstein Becker Green, was quoted in an article titled “TGI Fridays Busted for Family Leave Violations.”

Following is an excerpt:

The leave policy of TGI Fridays violates the Family and Medical Leave Act, and the popular restaurant chain has agreed to change its company-wide policy and pay one employee back wages, according to the Department of Labor (DOL).

The DOL announced the company's agreement on Aug. 7, following an investigation of a TGI Fridays restaurant in Shreveport, La. There, an ...

Back in January, we posted a breaking news story here on the OSHA Law Update blog about a major settlement of an OSHA enforcement action renewing the grain industry’s right to have employees work inside grain bins with energized sweep augers under certain specified conditions -- aka, Ten Sweep Auger Safety Principles.

Since the settlement became a final order of the OSH Review Commission in January, federal OSHA’s national office in Washington, DC issued a May 3, 2013 Enforcement Memorandum to all of the Agency’s Regional Offices that memorialized the terms of the settlement ...

By Anna A. Cohen

Demonstrating the importance for employers to review their FMLA practices, an investigation by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division (DOL) revealed that T.G.I. Fridays’ FMLA policy and notification practices did not comply with the law. Specifically, the policy did not include information on the FMLA’s military family leave provisions, information on the right to take FMLA-covered leave on an intermittent or reduced schedule basis, and misstated the 12-month employment requirement for FMLA eligibility as being 12 continuous months. 

Join Eric J. Conn and Amanda Strainis-Walker, attorneys from Epstein Becker & Green's national OSHA Practice Group, for two in-person OSHA briefings on Tuesday, September 24th in Philadelphia, PA and Wednesday, September 25th in Pittsburgh, PA.

The presentations will focus on why it's important to and how best to prepare for and manage OSHA inspections.  Here is the invitation:

To register for the 9/24 Philadelphia Briefing, click here.

To register for the 9/25 Pittsburgh Briefing, click here.

 

If you have questions about these events, please contact Eric J. Conn, Head of the ...

By Eric J. Conn, Head of Epstein Becker & Green’s OSHA Practice Group

OSHA recently announced a campaign to raise awareness about the hazards likely to cause musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs) among health care workers responsible for patient care.  Common MSDs suffered in the patient care industry include sprains, strains, soft tissue and back injuries.  These injuries are due in large part to over exertion related to manual patient handling activities, often involving heavy lifting associated with transferring and repositioning patients and working in awkward positions.

“The best control for MSDs is an effective prevention program,” said MaryAnn Garrahan, OSHA’s Regional Administrator in Philadelphia. “[OSHA’s] goal is to assist nursing homes and long-term care facilities in promoting effective processes to prevent injuries.”

As part of the campaign, OSHA will provide 2,500 employers, unions and associations in the patient care industry in Delaware, Pennsylvania, West Virginia and the District of Columbia with information about methods used to control hazards, such as lifting excessive weight during patient transfers and handling.  OSHA will also provide information about how employers can include a zero-lift program, which minimizes direct patient lifting by using specialized lifting equipment and transfer tools.  Here is a resource regarding Safe Patient Handling from OSHA's website.

Employers in the healthcare industries should be on high alert, because whenever OSHA provides information about hazards it believes are present, a focus on enforcement is soon to follow.  This is particularly true when it comes to hazards for which OSHA has no specific standards or regulations, like ergonomics.  In these circumstances, OSHA is limited in its enforcement to use of Sec. 5(a)(1) of the OSH Act – the General Duty Clause.  The General Duty Clause is used by OSHA to issue citations in the absence of a specific standard, in situations where employers have not taken steps to address “recognized serious hazards.”  Efforts like OSHA’s present campaign to advise healthcare employers about hazards in their workplaces, is OSHA’s way of making you “recognize” the hazard, so the Agency can more easily prove General Duty Clause violations.

Of course, there are plenty of other reasons that healthcare employers should take note of the rate of MSD cases in patient care work.