Hospitals, urgent care clinics, doctors’ offices — these are the places we go when we are sick and want to get better. Doctors, nurses, and other healthcare workers are the people who treat us, help us recover, and even save our lives in medical emergencies.… Continue Reading
Employers who are conducting automatic COVID-19 testing of employees or gathering test results of employees’ families should beware: the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (“EEOC”) has issued new guidance limiting the former and has penalized a healthcare practice recently for doing the latter.… Continue Reading
While this period of crisis due to the pandemic has led competitors to cooperate, the crisis does not serve as an excuse for anticompetitve conduct. The Department of Justice Antitrust Division (the “Antitrust Division”) and the Federal Trade Commission (the “FTC” and with the Antitrust Division, the “Agencies”) have issued a warning to the healthcare … Continue Reading
Healthcare providers have special concerns for their employees during the Coronavirus (COVID-19) global health pandemic. Because COVID-19 spreads primarily as a result of close exposure to an infected person, healthcare employees are at higher risk of infection. While OSHA has a standard to protect employees from the spread of bloodborne pathogens, it currently has no … Continue Reading
Employers may require employees to enter into arbitration agreements that waive such employees’ ability to participate in a class or collective action lawsuit, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled this week. In a long-awaited decision that represents a significant victory for employers, the Court in Epic Systems Corp. v. Lewis held that such agreements do not … Continue Reading
In May, President Obama signed the federal Defend Trade Secrets Act of 2016 into law, the details of which we reported in a recent Akerman Practice Update. The Act allows companies for the first time to bring trade secret theft claims under federal law. One of the many important provisions of the law that employers … Continue Reading
On December 28, 2015, the IRS announced in Notice 2016-4 that the deadlines for complying with the new reporting requirements under the Affordable Care Act (“ACA”) will be temporarily extended for purposes of 2015 coverage. The original and updated deadlines are provided below: Deadline for Providing the Forms 1095-B and 1095-C to Individuals Original Deadline: … Continue Reading
The U.S. Department of Labor (“DOL”) has proposed new rules that would revise an employer’s notification requirements under the Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1985 (“COBRA”) to align them with Affordable Care Act (“ACA”) provisions already in effect. Under COBRA, group health plans must provide a general notice of COBRA rights to each covered … Continue Reading
The recent decision by the California Supreme Court in Fahlen v. Sutter Central Valley Hospitals, No. S205568 , 2014 WL 655995 (Cal. 2014) may significantly weaken the efficacy of hospital peer review proceedings in California and may have implications for hospitals in other states. The court held that a physician is not required to exhaust … Continue Reading
Many employers offer health flexible spending account arrangements (“Health FSAs”) through cafeteria plans to their employees. Historically, Health FSAs have been subject to a “use it or lose it” requirement, meaning that any unused amounts in a Health FSA at the conclusion of a plan year or at the conclusion of a grace period (if … Continue Reading
An employee sends an email to her manager requesting FMLA leave to care for her father “while he deals with issues surrounding his terminally ill brother.” The supervisor writes back, “Approved,” and the employee takes leave. Neither the FMLA nor the employer’s FMLA policy allows leave to care for a terminally ill uncle. Based on … Continue Reading
Home health care workers and companions employed by agencies will no longer be exempt under federal overtime laws beginning in January 2015. As a result of the Department of Labor’s adoption on September 17, 2013 of a Final Rule revising its regulations to eliminate the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) exemption for agency-employed direct care … Continue Reading
On July 16, 2013, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) announced that it is launching a campaign that aims to protect healthcare workers from musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs) related to patient handling. While this campaign expressly targets the District of Columbia and three nearby states, it is part of a broader campaign by OSHA, unions, … Continue Reading
