On March 9, 2015, the United States Supreme Court issued a significant decision impacting employers who are concerned with whether or not their workers can be classified as exempt employees under the Fair Labor Standards Act. The decision in Perez v. Mortgage Bankers Assn. confirmed that the DOL had the ability to interpret its rules to determine that mortgage lenders were non-exempt employees. As such, mortgage lenders need to be paid overtime for every hour worked over forty per week. However, the impact of the decision extends far beyond the mortgage banking industry. Perez dealt with the much broader issue …
Employee Background Checks: The Importance of Doing Them Right
Many of us know the name Edward Snowden. He is the Computer specialist accused of espionage and theft of government property. He allegedly revealed large-scale domestic spying efforts conducted by the United States and British governments. As a former contractor with access to highly sensitive information, his actions caused international scandal, a manhunt, and general animosity toward the United States and its secret, sanctioned invasion of the rights of its citizens. This past June, the government Office of Personnel Management noted that Mr. Snowden’s pre-employment background check may have been done incorrectly. This revelation – and the security breach resulting …
Another Billion Dollar Rebate!
State fund employers in Ohio will be pleased to know that the Bureau of Workers’ Compensation is again preparing a $1 billion rebate of premiums to them. Based upon payments made in 2012, state fund employers will qualify for another rebate of premiums. It is important to note, though, that you must be up to date in premium payments in order to qualify for the rebate. The BWC Board of Directors is expected to approve this proposal during the week of September 22 with rebate checks being issued in October. If you have questions, please contact David Korte at 937-223-8177 …
Failure to Provide COBRA Notice Results in Penalties Even When Employer Pays the Bills
Regina Honey was pregnant with her second child and experiencing pre-term labor. Her doctor ordered bed rest for about two weeks. When Ms. Honey was ready to return to work at Dignity Health, she was told her employment was terminated. About two months later she was reinstated. However, the pre-term labor returned and her doctor ordered bed rest for the remainder of the pregnancy. Ms. Honey remained on bed rest until her son was born in July 2010. When the doctor approved her return to work in September 2010, she was never scheduled to return. After several attempts to reach …
Recent Ruling May Allow for Unionization Among NCAA Athletes
The board of directors of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) has granted the largest college athletic programs in the country with partial autonomy. The move, approved by the board in a 16-2 vote, could allow members of the NCAA’s five wealthiest conferences to provide benefits to student-athletes beyond scholarships and increased health care coverage. This measure comes in the midst of controversy regarding the NCAA and whether or not athletes should be entitled to compensation for the millions of dollars in revenue they help generate for their schools. Earlier this year, football players at Northwestern University in Illinois attempted …
NLRB Decisions Invalidated by Supreme Court
In Noel Canning v. NLRB, the Supreme Court issued a labor law decision most surprising because of its unanimity. The Supreme Court held on June 26, 2014, that President Obama’s controversial January 2012 appointments of three members to the National Labor Relations Board (Sharon Block, Terence F. Flynn, and Richard Griffin) were invalid exercises of his office under the Constitution. The NLRB in that case had ruled against an employer in an unfair labor practice charge. The employer appealed, asserting that because three of the nation’s five Board members had been placed on the Board by the President as “recess …
Good News For State-Fund Employers – Prospective Billing Is On The Way!
You have likely received word from the Ohio Bureau of Workers’ Compensation of a major change coming in the manner in which it establishes workers’ compensation premiums. In July of 2015, the retrospective billing system for state-fund employers will be a thing of the past, as the Bureau moves to a prospective system. Most importantly, though, be advised that as a result of that transition, and to avoid a situation where employers are paying premiums twice during the overlap, the Bureau of Workers’ Compensation is actually granting an eight month premium credit for all private state-fund employers in July of …
Supreme Court Deals Another Blow to Unions
The Supreme Court is issuing labor law decisions at a fast and furious pace this week. Today’s decision, Harris v. Quinn, struck down an Illinois law that had previously required non-union Medicaid homecare providers to pay fees equivalent to union dues to the Service Employees International Union (SEIU), a public employee union. The rationale had been that such employees should be required to pay fees to help cover the union’s costs of collective bargaining. Although it invalided the Illinois regulation, the Supreme Court did not go so far as to overturn wholesale a long-standing precedent allowing other unions to impose …
Be Prepared for a Workers’ Compensation Audit
The Ohio Bureau of Workers’ Compensation routinely conducts audits on state fund employers to confirm that payroll records submitted to the Bureau are accurate and that appropriate workers’ compensation coverage is being provided for the types of employees in a particular business. Following the audit, the Bureau of Workers’ Compensation could determine that there is a discrepancy between a company’s estimated premium and the actual/appropriate premium based upon current employee records. Under such circumstances, the company may be obligated to pay up to two years in past due premiums. As the Bureau of Workers’ Compensation website indicates (www.Ohio.BWC.com), Bureau auditors …
8th District Court of Appeals Agrees with Common Pleas Court that BWC Group Rating is Unconstitutional
We had previously reported, back in late 2012, that the Cuyahoga County Court of Common Pleas determined that the Bureau of Workers’ Compensation’s group rating programs were illegal. That decision was appealed to the 8th District Court of Appeals, which issued its decision/analysis of the situation on May 15, 2014. The 8th District has agreed with the Common Pleas Court that the group rating programs are unconstitutional and, as a result, state-fund employers in Ohio may be entitled to hundreds of millions of dollars in premium rebates. The gist of the 8th District’s very lengthy opinion is that the group …