The U.S. Departments of Labor, Health and Human Services, and the Treasury have jointly issued new rules providing parity for consumers enrolled in group health plans who need treatment for mental health or substance use disorders.
OSHA is proposing to revise its Occupational Injury and Illness Recording and Reporting (recordkeeping) regulation by restoring a column on the OSHA Form 300 to better identify work-related musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs).
The Department of Labor has created model notices to help plans and individuals comply with the COBRA subsidy extension requirements. Each model notice is designed for a particular group of qualified beneficiaries and contains information to help satisfy ARRA's notice provisions, including those added by the 2010 DOD Act.
The EEOC reports that it collected $376 million for victims of discrimination in fiscal year (FY) 2009. The most frequently filed charges were charges alleging discrimination based on race (36%), retaliation (36%), and sex-based discrimination (30%).
Susan Fahey Desmond, Watkins Ludlam Winter & Stennis, P.A.
Under recently issued Federal Trade Commission (FTC) guidelines, an employer may be held liable for an employee's false or misleading advertising stemming from an employee's online postings about the employer's products or services. And it might surprise you what false or misleading means!
David A. Campbell, Vorys, Sater, Seymour and Pease LLP
Although proper training can help prevent harassing conduct from taking place in the workplace, no workplace is perfect. When misconduct takes place and the employer becomes aware of the misconduct, prompt and effective action in response to the misconduct can shield the employer from liability.
In December 2009, the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals decided two religion-based employment cases. The first case addressed the establishment of religion by a public sector workplace, while the second addressed purported discrimination by an employer based on the religious beliefs of two employees.
Lawrence Peikes and Bryan Watson, Wiggin and Dana LLP
A court has held that a rarely required job function may be deemed essential if the potential consequences of employing an individual who is unable to perform the function are sufficiently severe. The ruling clarifies the circumstances under which job requirements may be deemed essential.
Susan Fahey Desmond, Watkins Ludlam Winter & Stennis, P.A.
Many employers have affirmative action programs. If the law requires an employer to have and follow an affirmative action program, can it be evidence of discrimination? The Eighth Circuit recently found that a plaintiff can use an employer's affirmative action program as evidence that the employer failed to promote her due to her race.
The revised FMLA regulations consolidate all the employer notice requirements into a "one-stop" section of the regulations. Employers will be required to provide employees with a general notice about the FMLA, an eligibility notice, a rights and responsibilities notice, and a designation notice.
