On January 29, 2009, President Barack Obama signed into law the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act. The Act amends four federal laws by redefining the events that trigger the charge-filing and limitations periods for cases alleging discrimination in compensation. The most important consequence of the Act is that the time limit for initiating a pay discrimination claim will regenerate with each allegedly discriminatory paycheck the employee receives.

Continue Reading Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act Revives Pay Discrimination Claims

1. If you will be contacting any person associated with a state agency or a state board on behalf of your company or any other person, you may be an Executive Branch Lobbyist. Contacting any staff members to advocate anything related to the agency is lobbying. Certain activities by healthcare professionals are not considered lobbying. Additionally, (i) contributions to the cost of certain social functions in connection with meetings of national or regional organizations of executive branch officials and (ii) the cost of meals and refreshment consumed by an executive branch official which is incidental to a speech or panel discussion involving the official are exempt from the Executive Branch Lobbying law.
Continue Reading Ten Things to Know about Louisiana Executive Branch Lobbying

On December 23, 2008, President Bush signed the Worker, Retiree, and Employer Recovery Act of 2008 (the Act) into law.  Section 201 of the Act waives any required minimum distributions (RMDs) for 2009 from retirement plans that hold each participant’s benefit in an individual account, such as § 401(k) plans and § 403(b) plans, and certain § 457(b) plans.  The Act also waives any RMD for 2009 from an Individual Retirement Arrangement (IRA).

Continue Reading New Law Suspends Required Minimum Distributions for 2009

One likely result of the recent Presidential and Congressional elections is that the executive and legislative branches will be open to pushing the legislative agendas of organized labor.  There is little doubt that the proposed Employee Free Choice Act, H.R. 800, 110th Cong. (2007)(“EFCA”) is at the top of this legislative agenda.  The EFCA is something to which employers should pay serious attention.  If enacted, the EFCA would make it easier for employees to form, join, or assist labor organizations and would provide for mandatory injunctions for unfair labor practices during organizing efforts and for other purposes.  Moreover, if enacted, certain unions are already estimating that they will be able to organize millions of new workers.

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On December 19, 2008, the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals issued a startling ruling vacating the Startup, Shutdown, Malfunction (“SSM”) rules contained within the NESHAP General Provisions, 40 C.F.R. Part 63, Subpart A. Sierra Club v. Environmental Protection Agency (Docket Nos. 02-1135, 03-1219, 06-1215, 07-1201). The Sierra Club asked the court to strike down the SSM exemption – an exemption that has been in place since the EPA adopted the General Provisions to 40 C.F.R. Part 63 in 1994 pursuant to Section 112 of the federal Clean Air Act (CAA). Until this decision, sources were exempted from MACT technology-based emission limits if all elements of the SSM exemption were satisfied. Sources were nevertheless required by the general duty clause to minimize emissions to the greatest extent possible. In 2002, 2003 and 2006, the EPA promulgated rulemakings to revise these SSM requirements.

Continue Reading D.C. Circuit’s Decision Eliminates the Startup, Shutdown, or Malfunction Exemption

The Office of Inspector General ("OIG") issued Advisory Opinion No. 08-22 on December 8, 2008 regarding a proposed arrangement by a non-profit organization to hire two physicians on a part-time basis to perform endoscopies. The part-time physicians would perform the endoscopies at the offices of the non-profit organization, which was formed to employ physicians.

Each of the physicians also have a separate medical practice, at another location, through which each physician will continue to provide and bill for professional medical services furnished to patients outside of the proposed part-time employment relationship. The non-profit organization certified that the physician part-time employees will be its bona fide 3employees within the meaning of 26 U.S.C. § 3121(d)(2) and that it would pay the physicians a salary based on the fair market value of the professional services that would be personally provided by each physician while employed by the organization.

Continue Reading OIG Issues Advisory Opinion on Part-Time Physician Employment Agreements

Offers and sales of “securities” must be registered unless there is an applicable exemption from the federal and state securities laws. The most commonly known exemption is the private placement exemption set forth in Regulation D promulgated by the Securities and Exchange Commission under the Securities Act of 1933 (and corresponding private placement exemptions under applicable state “blue sky” laws).

Regulation D was primarily designed to facilitate capital raising transactions, as opposed to employee stock option or stock purchase plans. Many people are unaware that when an employer (or controlling Shareholder) sells stock to an employee (even at a discount, or even if to an executive), such a sale is subject to the securities laws and applicable federal and state exemptions from registration must be found.
Continue Reading New Louisiana Regulation Creates Safe Harbor For Certain Equity-Based Compensatory Plans of Privately-Held Companies

The U.S. Department of Labor has released the new Family and Medical Leave Act regulations. The new regulations will become effective January 16, 2009. The DOL issued its proposed new regulations in February 2008.

Continue Reading Department of Labor Issues New Family and Medical Leave Act Regulations

On October 1, 2008, the Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Inspector General (OIG) released its 2009 Work Plan. The OIG’s Work Plan describes the initiatives and priorities of the OIG for the 2009 fiscal year. The OIG will address these initiatives through audits, investigations, inspections, and health care industry guidance documents, as well as enforcement action under federal, civil and criminal statutes. The following are some of the important 2009 OIG initiatives for hospitals, physicians, and other health care providers:

Continue Reading OIG Releases Work Plan for 2009

Following the 2008 Regular Session, Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal signed House Bill No. 558 (“HB 558”) into law. Prior to HB 558(Act No. 726), it was not infrequent that publicly bid contracts were not awarded because all bids exceeded the budgeted funds. Following the change in the law, La. R.S. 38:2212 now requires the designer to provide a cost estimate to the bidding entity prior to advertisement of the project, and states that in the event the designer’s estimate for the project exceeds the funds budgeted by the public entity, the project shall not be advertised for bid.

Continue Reading New Louisiana Laws Related to Bidding on Public Works Contracts