Now, Just Why Are We Firing Bob?
(Healthcare Update, No. 1, February 2013) When dealing with the separation of an employee, there is often more than one thing the employee did that warranted termination. But when categorizing the...
View Article'Tis The Season: Employers And The Flu
(Healthcare Update, No. 4, November 2013) This flu season may be one of the worst in years, but the experts at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) cannot monitor its severity and...
View ArticleWhat's An "Individualized Analysis" – And Why Should I Care?
(Healthcare Update, No. 4, November 2013) The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) poses ongoing compliance challenges and attracts significant attention from plaintiffs' lawyers and the Equal...
View ArticleFacebook: The New Water Cooler – Not The New Vegas
(Healthcare Update, No. 4, November 2013) As of June 2013, Facebook, the reigning social-media giant, had 1.15 billion monthly active users who spent an average of 8.3 hours a month on Facebook....
View ArticleHow To Analyze A HIPAA Breach
(Healthcare Update, No. 1, February 2014) The Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health Act (HITECH Act) and subsequent regulations have changed several aspects of compliance with...
View ArticleProposed "Independent Misclassification" Law
(Healthcare Update, No. 1, February 2014) Government efforts aimed at cracking down on perceived independent-contractor misclassification show no signs of slowing down as 2014 begins. On November 12,...
View ArticleHealthcare Reform Watch List: Top Five Concerns for Healthcare Industry HR...
Keeping up with healthcare reform regulations is a challenge for all employers, but healthcare providers may face unique burdens. Here are the top five issues human resources professionals should keep...
View ArticleOFCCP Setting Its Sights On TRICARE Providers?
Healthcare providers are waiting anxiously to see the Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs’ (OFCCP) most recent position on whether it will continue trying to assert jurisdiction over them...
View ArticleWork A Full Eight Hours? That's Not In My Job Description!
According to the EEOC, healthcare employers are disproportionately represented in the ranks of those sued for violations of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). Baptist Health South Florida,...
View ArticleHow The ADA Impacts Your Hiring
Most employers understand their fundamental obligations under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) to protect against disability discrimination and to provide reasonable accommodations to...
View ArticleEbola Preparedness
How should an employer respond when it learns that an employee is planning a trip to West Africa to visit family? What if other employees refuse to come to work because they fear that the returning...
View ArticleDon't Fall Into The Gap: Wage/Hour Lawsuit Highlights Risks For Employers
In August, the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for the 3rd Circuit affirmed dismissal of five purported class or collective actions brought against a number of healthcare systems and their affiliates....
View ArticleHow To Analyze A HIPAA Breach
The Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health Act (HITECH Act) and subsequent regulations have changed several aspects of compliance with HIPAA, including the way covered entities...
View ArticleClean-Uniform Policy May Lead to Additional Pay
Most healthcare employers require employees to wear some sort of uniform. Of course, the most familiar uniforms in this setting are “scrubs,” but some employers require lab coats or other garments....
View ArticleHealthcare Employer Lands in Patient-Privacy Predicament
Healthcare providers are required by law to maintain the privacy of most patient information, and there are good business reasons for medical practices to protect patients’ personal information. In a...
View ArticleDOL's Wage Rule for Home Care Workers on Hold
A federal judge has scuttled key aspects of the U.S. Labor Department's (DOL's) rule that would have extended the federal Fair Labor Standards Act's minimum wage and overtime requirements to many home...
View ArticleHIPAA' s Criminal Charges Pack a Heavy Punch
Almost all healthcare providers and health plan administrators are familiar with the detailed requirements of the privacy and security rules under the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability...
View ArticleIgnorance Is Not Bliss In The Joint-Employment Context
Hospitals, residential-care facilities, home-health agencies, and other employers in the healthcare industry often subcontract labor through outside vendors to fill positions like travel nurses,...
View ArticleWas This Doctor A "Good Fit"?
A Wisconsin hospital scored an important victory in a recent failure-to-hire case involving an allegation of race discrimination. The underlying facts offer a timely reminder to all healthcare...
View ArticleHospitals Are Still In The OFCCP's Crosshairs
On February 12, 2015, U.S. Labor Department’s Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP) underscored its intent to continue to scrutinize hospitals, including nonprofit hospitals. The...
View ArticleHealthcare Employer Lands in Patient-Privacy Predicament
Healthcare providers are required by law to maintain the privacy of most patient information, and there are good business reasons for medical practices to protect patients’ personal information. But...
View ArticleRisky Business: A Three-Step Plan For Addressing Harassment By Nonemployees
Employers have long understood that they face potential liability when an employee is sexually harassed by another employee and they do nothing to prevent or fix the known problem. It is also true,...
View ArticleThe Case Of GINA And The "Devious Defecator"
In a case dubbed “the mystery of the devious defecator” by a Georgia federal district judge, an Atlanta jury recently awarded a $2.2 million verdict against a company that requested DNA samples from...
View ArticleHIPAA Enforcement On The Rise
The number of claims filed under the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) have skyrocketed in recent years. The latest figures from the U.S. Department of Health and Human...
View ArticleShift Worker Rules Warrant Special Attention
The long-term-care industry depends on shift workers to provide patient care 24 hours per day, seven days per week. But even experienced and sophisticated employers can find the application of state...
View ArticleSix Proven Tactics To Help Avoid The "Ticking Time Bomb" Employee
Each new headline in the news describing the latest workplace violence tragedy reminds managers and human resources executives of their tremendous responsibilities in attempting to help prevent such...
View ArticleContracts May Not Be All They're Cracked Up To Be: The Extension Of Legal...
For many years, employers have generally embraced a policy of utilizing at-will employment as often as possible, where employers and employees can end their relationship with each other at any time...
View ArticleA New And More Flexible Approach To Internship Programs
Class action lawsuits filed by interns who claim they should be classified as employees have proliferated over the last few years. In these types of cases, a large number of interns have argued that...
View ArticleNaughty Neonatal Nurse Nixed After Nineteen Years; Hospital Wins Age...
A veteran neonatal nurse practitioner who was fired after one too many acts of misconduct could not prove age discrimination, a federal appeals court recently confirmed. The case presents healthcare...
View ArticleCourts Continue To Expand ERISA Church Plan Exemption
Most employers know that there is a federal law – the Employee Retirement Income Security Act, or ERISA – that governs employer-sponsored employee benefit plans. There are a few notable exceptions...
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