March 08, 2010 5:34 pm
The Joint Commission (TJC) recently released interim staffing effectiveness standards for its hospital and long term care certification programs that will become effective July 1, 2010. TJC defines staffing effectiveness as the appropriate level of staffing to provide the best possible outcome in a particular care setting. The original standard, introduced in 2002, required tracking of certain indicators to detect staffing problems, and from there to determine if there was a relationship between the staffing level and patient care. Feedback indicated that the standard did not really address the issue, yet its implementation was very costly. TJC implemented the interim standards until such time as it completes its review of the current standards.
March 08, 2010 5:33 pm
The New Jersey Appellate Court recently ruled against a company who attempted to use personal emails the plaintiff employee sent on the company computers in the employment discrimination suit she filed against the company. The plaintiff sued the defendant company for employment discrimination about a month after leaving their employ. While still employed there, she sent emails to her attorneys using her personal email account, but on company computers. When she found out the company had accessed her emails she filed a temporary restraining order (TRO) requiring the company to turn over all personal communications and to prevent the company from using the emails in the pending litigation. The Appellate Court overturned the TRO on the basis of the company’s electronic communications policy. Specifically, they held that a policy that permits an employer to review the content of their employees’ personal emails for no particular business reason is not likely to be enforceable.
This is a good example of why policies and procedures must be drafted carefully and clearly, and address legitimate business concerns, in order to be effective and enforceable when tested.
March 04, 2010 10:25 am
On March 2, Congress voted to extend unemployment benefits for 30 days, allowing Congress to work on a more comprehensive, longer term extension of benefits that would last through the end of 2010. President Obama signed the legislation on Wednesday.
Roughly 400,000 Americans were scheduled to lose their unemployment benefits as of the end of February. The national unemployment rate dropped a little in January, to 9.7% from 10% in December. February’s unemployment numbers are due out on Friday.
The legislation, the Temporary Extension Act of 2010 (H. R. 4691), also extends the deadline for qualifying for subsidies for COBRA continuation coverage, allowing workers who are involuntarily terminated in March to qualify for the program. Workers would have lost the opportunity to qualify for the subsidy under The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA), as amended by the Department of Defense Appropriations Act of 2010, as of February 28, 2010. Now, workers who are involuntary terminated between September 1, 2008 and March 31, 2010 are eligible for up to 15 months of COBRA subsidies.
Click here for the text of the bill.
March 02, 2010 10:49 am
We reported last week that an unemployment tax is scheduled to be levied on NJ businesses as a result of the underfunding of the state’s unemployment insurance fund. To relieve New Jersey businesses from the burden created by this situation, Governor Christie unveiled a plan to substantially reduce the tax burden on businesses, but would make other changes to the state’s unemployment benefits program as well.
The plan introduces several key components:
The rate increase would be capped at 17%, or $130 per employee.
- New Jersey currently has one of the highest benefit levels in the country, at $600 per week. The Governor’s plan calls for a reduction in that amount to $550, which would save the state $295MM.
- New Jersey would adopt a “hold-back week” similar to other states, delaying the receipt of benefits until the 8th day after the first day of unemployment. If the claimant qualifies for the full 26 weeks, then (s)he would receive benefits for that period. This change would save $67MM.
- New Jersey would toughen the eligibility standard for employees discharged for misconduct. The Governor’s plan requires employees who fall into this category to obtain employment for a specified period of time before once again qualifying for unemployment benefits. This change would save the state $189 MM.
- Again following the lead of several other states, New Jersey would adopt the provision that it would only extend benefits if 100% funded with federal money. This would save $1.6 billion over the next two years.
Also, the Governor supports a constitutional amendment preventing any future raiding of the fund to bankroll other state initiatives and/or projects, and continue to rely on federal funding of extended unemployment benefits and avoid devastating payroll tax increases.
The Christie Plan to Protect New Jersey’s Small Businesses can be found at http://www.njbusinessmatters.com/files/Gov_Christie_UI_Fund_Solutions.pdf.
February 24, 2010 7:59 pm
According to a recent report issued by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, union membership in the private sector declined by .4%, from 7.6% to 7.2%, representing 834,000 jobs. The drop could be attributed to the high unemployment levels the country is experiencing as a result of the economic downturn. Unions, however, are using the information in the report as a call to action, citing the need to pass the Employee Free choice Act (EFCA) and increase their efforts to increase union membership. The EFCA, which is currently dormant in Congress, would make it easier for unions to organize by taking away the secret ballot election. Employers should remain vigilant, however, in assessing their own workplace strengths and weaknesses and take necessary action to promote a safe and healthy work environment for their employees.
For more detailed information on the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics report, see http://www.bls.gov/news.release/pdf/union2.pdf
February 24, 2010 7:56 pm
According to a government report, the number of people filing unemployment claims for the first time rose unexpectedly during the second week in February. The increase followed a drop in claims the previous week. Analysts now think the bad weather in the northeast section of the country hampered the ability of first-time claimants to file for unemployment. The continuing bad weather makes it unlikely that accurate data can be gathered for a few weeks yet. All of this indicates that the economic recovery is progressing more slowly than first thought, but the trend in layoffs seemed to have leveled off.
See www.msnbc.msn.com/id/35457799/ns/business-stocks_and_economy/
February 24, 2010 7:51 pm
The EEOC in Iowa was recently fined $4.5 MM in attorney fees to a trucking company, against whom the EEOC filed suit. The EEOC’s suit alleged that the trucking company subjected 270 females to sex discrimination, but it did not make all of the women available for deposition, thereby denying the defendant the opportunity to provide relief for them. Of the 150 women who were made available, the lower court held that the defendant could not be held liable for all but 67 of them. The EEOC then failed to conduct any investigation into the claims of the remaining 67 women, or issue a reasonable cause determination. On appeal, the District Court of the Northern District of Iowa court held that the EEOC’s “sue first and ask questions later” approach was improper. They also allowed the defendant trucking company to file a Motion for attorney fees, which resulted in the $4.5MM award.
February 16, 2010 3:08 pm
Massachusetts updated its identity theft policy requirements, effective March 1, 2010.
The rule applies to all businesses in the Commonwealth, who collect and retain personal information in connection with the provision of goods and services or for the purposes of employment. All policies must be in writing, but the scope and complexity of the policy is dependent on the nature and scope of each business. Employees must be trained on what they need to do to protect confidential information.
The updates to the legislation cover four (4) areas:
- The rule adopts a risk-based approach. Businesses are required to establish a written security program that takes into account the particular business’ size, scope of business, amount of resources, nature and quantity of data collected or stored, and the need for security. This is particularly important for small businesses who typically do not handle or store large amounts of personal and confidential information.
- What had been requirements for inclusion in policies have been removed, and should be used as guidance only.
- The encryption requirement has been changed to be technology neutral and technical feasibility has been applied to all computer security requirements.
- The third party vendor requirements have been changed to be consistent with Federal law.
The statute can be found at http://www.mass.gov/Eoca/docs/idtheft/201CMR1700reg.pdf, and FAQs can be found at http://www.mass.gov/Eoca/docs/idtheft/201CMR17faqs.pdf.
February 12, 2010 3:44 pm
On February 2, 2010, the Department of Labor Secretary Hilda Solis outlined the President’s DOL budget request for 2011. The focus of the budget is a vision of “good jobs for everyone.” The budget totals $117 billion, with $1.7 billion allocated for worker protection programs – a 4% increase from the prior year’s budget. Specifically, $573MM would be allocated to OSHA and $244MM to the Wage and Hour Division.
Employees who are misclassification as independent contractors are deprived of the benefits and protections they are legally entitled to, such as overtime and unemployment benefits. The government also does not get the money they are entitled to, specifically in the Social Security, Medicare and Unemployment Insurance Trust Funds, as well as any other taxable benefits an employee may otherwise receive. To reinforce the Department of Labor’s commitment to solving this problem, the 2011 budget also includes an additional $25MM for a Misclassification Initiative. It includes the addition of 100 additional enforcement personnel and competitive grants to boost state incentives and capacity to address the problem.
The budget also includes $50MM for a State Paid Leave Fund within the Labor Department, which will provide grants to help states who wish to introduce paid leave legislation pay their start-up costs.
The detailed budget can be found at http://www.dol.gov/dol/budget/.
February 04, 2010 9:06 am
Think you can fly under the radar for misclassifying employees? Information can come to light in a variety of interesting and unforeseen ways. An independent contractor at a New Jersey company filed for unemployment after her assignment ended. Her attempt to do so raised a red flag at the New Jersey Department of Labor and Workforce Development, who promptly audited the employer in question. The independent contractor was found to have been misclassified and should have been a W-2 employee. As a result, the Company was severely penalized and fined for nonpayment of employment taxes, and the government continues to scrutinize the employer every year to ensure that they are in compliance with wage and hour laws.
This is a cautionary tale. State government is poised to enhance penalties for violators of wage and hour laws ( See our entry entitled “New Jersey Imposes Harsh Penalties on Repeat Wage and Hour Offenders” entry dated today) so it is very important that you review your workplace practices and policies to make sure you are in compliance.