Articles and Blogs

Over the years, we have “followed” the NLRB’s analysis of employer social medial policies. You can catch up on this evolution by accessing our past HR Insights blogs. Employee’s “Like” of Another’s Facebook Rant Is Protected The evolution continues. On October 21, in an unpublished opinion, the Second Circuit (with district courts in Connecticut,... READ MORE

Menorah Medical Center believed it was complying with the Kansas State peer review statute when it required peer review investigations be kept confidential, when it told employees that they were not allowed to bring a union representative to a peer review committee meeting and when it refused to provide peer review committee documents to... READ MORE

Background Employers continue to await information regarding the effect of the Department of Labor’s (“DOL’s”) proposed changes to the companionship services exemption under the Fair Labor Standards Act.  As previously reported, the DOL issued a new rule significantly changing the scope of the companionship services exemption.  Though the new rule was scheduled to take... READ MORE

President Obama signed a new Executive Order on September 7, 2015 that will require certain federal contractors to provide employees up to 56 hours of paid sick leave per year.  The leave can be used for the employee’s care or if the employee needs to take care of a family member.  The new obligations... READ MORE

In a highly anticipated decision, the NLRB has restated and redefined the standard for determining when employers will be found to be joint employers for purposes of the National Labor Relations Act (“NLRA”).  The NLRA governs labor management relations in the private sector.  This three-to-two decision applies long-established principles to find that two or... READ MORE

Background On August 13, 2015, the Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General (“OIG”) issued a Memorandum Report (the “Report”) that examined the overlap between physician-owned hospitals (“POHs”) and physician-owned distributors (“PODs”) of spinal devices. PODs are medical device distributors whose owners are often physicians that use the devices sold by... READ MORE

On August 21, 2015, the Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit (the “Court”) issued a ruling in Home Care Association of America v. David Weil, also known as the “companionship services lawsuit.” Unfortunately, it is more bad news for the home care industry. The Court ruled that the Department of Labor (“DOL”) has the... READ MORE

On August 21, 2015, the Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit (the “Court”) issued a ruling in Home Care Association of America v. David Weil, also known as the “companionship services lawsuit.” Unfortunately, it is more bad news for the home care industry. The Court ruled that the Department of Labor (“DOL”) has... READ MORE

On July 15, 2015, the U. S. Department of Labor (“DOL”) issued a Wage and Hour Division Administrator’s Interpretation that reasserts the broad definition of employee such that employers will rarely find that the individuals who work for them can be classified as independent contractors. This interpretation, although not having the effect of law,... READ MORE

On July 15, 2015, the U. S. Department of Labor (“DOL”) issued a Wage and Hour Division Administrator’s Interpretation that reasserts the broad definition of employee such that employers will rarely find that the individuals who work for them can be classified as independent contractors. This interpretation, although not having the effect of law, does indicate... READ MORE