Miscellaneous

Father’s Day has come and gone for another year. But in reality every day is Father’s Day (and Mother’s Day) since every day working men become fathers for the first time or more. For Father’s Day 2013, the Boston College Center for Work & Family has released its summary report, The New Dad: A Work (and Life) in Progress. This is the fourth in a series of annual reports put out by the Center that focuses on the changing role of fathers today. Recent research in this generally under-researched field suggests that men experience as much conflict over work-family issues as women do, and sometimes even more. Therefore, the Center characterizes its latest report as a call to action to address the needs of working fathers.

This is the time of year for attending graduation parties and hearing, “I have an internship at (name of organization).” You generally give it a positive nod to affirm that that’s what you have to do to get your first great job out of school. Both you and the intern—and future employers—understand that it demonstrates motivation, that it is about paying one’s dues and getting experience.

There are five current scandals going on in Washington, all having some level of impact on business. Four of them can potentially have major impact. The fifth—the misinformation put out by the White House about the terrorist attack in Benghazi last September—would probably affect business only later, and only by affecting the presidential candidacy of Hillary Clinton if she chooses to run.

 

FMLA leaves on the rise, especially in manufacturing: Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) absences are on the rise, and some sectors — call centers, hotels, government entities, manufacturers and healthcare organizations—far surpass others in terms of resulting absenteeism rates, according to a new report by FMLASource®, Inc, a ComPsych® company. From 2008 to 2012, FMLASource reports the following trends: Average length of continuous leave for health care employees jumped 27% to 28 days. Total FMLA time off for manufacturing companies increased by 62% to 26.9 days. Total FMLA time off for call center companies increased by 30% to 27.2 days. According to the report, hospitality providers had the most overall FMLA absences, with 49% of employees with an open FMLA leave at any given time. Healthcare employers had the second highest rate of FMLA absences, with 39% of their workforce having an open FMLA leave at any given time. By contrast, just 7% of professional services employees have an open FMLA leave at any given time. Hospitality providers also had the highest rate of intermittent leave at 58%, with average leave per employee of 17 days. And manufacturing employers had the highest rate of continuous FMLA leave at 76%, with average leave per employee equaling 31.4 days.  Source: CCH,ComPsych 6/4/13

Per NLRB, company employee properly fired for Facebook post: An employee of Skinsmart Dermatology, a medical office with approximately nineteen employees, participated in a private Facebook "group message” initiated by a former employee who wanted to organize a social event. Of the ten people invited to participate in the message, seven were current employees and three were former employees. Only four of the current employees took part in the conversation. The first hour of the conversation focused on planning the social event. Then, in response to a joke by one of the former employees, the employee in question responded that the employer could fire the employee and “Make my day . . . .”  The next morning, one of the current employees who was in on the exchange but did not comment during it showed the exchange to a manager of Skinsmart. After reading the exchange Skinsmart terminated the employee who made the comment, stating that it was "obvious" that the employee was no longer interested in working there. The NLRB upheld the termination, basically ruling that the conversation was not protected concerted activity because the participants were not talking about terms and conditions of employment. Source: NLRB 5/16/13

EEOC brings 2^nd GINA case: The EEOC alleges that The Founders Pavilion, Inc., a Corning, N.Y., nursing and rehabilitation center, violated federal law by asking for genetic information during the hiring process.  The EEOC also alleged that Founders violated the Americans with Disabilities Act and Title VII of the Civil Rights Act.    According to the EEOC's suit, Founders conducted post-offer, pre-employment medical exams of applicants, which were repeated annually if the person was hired. As part of this exam, Founders requested family medical history, a form of prohibited genetic information.  The EEOC also charged that Founders fired one employee after it refused to accommodate her during her probationary period, in violation of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). Further, the lawsuit charged that Founders fired two women because of perceived disabilities under the ADA, and either refused to hire or fired three women because they were pregnant.  Source: EEOC 5/16/13

On May 8, 2013, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid (www.cms.gov) published the prices charged by over 3,000 hospitals for the 100 most common procedures.  The data provided include charges of specific hospitals that receive Medicare Inpatient Prospective Payment System (IPPS) payments paid under Medicare. Hospitals determine what they will charge for items and services provided to patients and these charges are the amount the hospital bills for an item or service.

NLRB nominees facing mixed reception in Senate: The fate of the nominees—three Democrats and two Republicans—is tied in part to a January decision by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit, which ruled in Noel Canning v. NLRB that the recess appointments of two board members were unconstitutional. That decision is on appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court. If it is upheld, it is likely that all board decisions since the appointments were made (in January 2012) would be vacated for lack of a quorum. Also on May 16, 2013, a divided panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit fell in line with the D.C. Circuit, ruling that an NLRB recess appointment was invalid because it was made when the Senate was not in recess. The committee will vote on the nominees on May 29^th.  Source: Law.com 5/20/13

He will . . . he won’t . . . now he will—employee must reimburse employer after winning a judgment in car accident: US Airways paid $66,866 in medical expenses for injuries suffered by plan participant McCutchen, who was involved in a car accident caused by a third party. US Airways’ plan entitled the company to reimbursement if the employee recovered money from a third party.

NLRB slapped down again by D.C. Circuit: The U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit on Monday invalidated the NLRB’s “poster rule,” which would require employers to hang posters informing employees of their right to organize and strike.  This case started with NLRB’s requirement for this poster in 2011.