Client Alerts
Client Alerts
1247 items, 20 items per page
- The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), in collaboration with the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH), has issued a "Hazard Alert" for the oil and gas industry regarding worker exposure to crystalline silica. The alert merits the attention of all who are involved with hydraulic fracturing operations.
- The postponement of the pay or play penalties and related reporting from 2014 to 2015 gives employers a welcome opportunity to reassess their compliance strategies and plan for a more measured implementation of new systems. However, the pay or play penalties are related to the availability of federal premium assistance for the purchase of health insurance on an exchange. The absence of pay or play penalties and related reporting in 2014 may increase the number of employees buying health insurance on an exchange with federal premium assistance in 2014.
- Our July issue of the Vorys Shale Report provides an overview of how energy companies are facing specific, targeted scrutiny from the federal government on wage-and-hour issues.
- The White House and Treasury announced on July 2nd that they are delaying enforcement of the ACA’s employer coverage mandate (which requires employers with 50+ full-time equivalent employees to provide affordable, adequate health coverage to substantially all of the employer’s full-time employees and their children) until 2015 to enable a more orderly roll-out of the reporting and disclosure requirements that will form the basis for the imposition of the employer penalties.
- The United States Supreme Court recently issued its long-awaited decision in United States v. Windsor, No. 12-307, ruling that the section of the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) that required federal laws to ignore same-sex marriages that are legally entered into under an applicable state law is unconstitutional.
- On June 26, 2013, the Supreme Court of the United States held in United States v. Windsor that Section 3 of the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) violated the equal protection clause of the Fifth Amendment of the Constitution.
- On Sunday June 30, 2013, Governor Kasich signed Ohio’s biennial budget bill, which includes numerous provisions impacting Ohio taxpayers. Though the tax reforms in the final bill are not as sweeping as originally proposed, they will still impact virtually every state tax in some fashion.
- On June 30, 2013, Governor Kasich signed Am. Sub House Bill 59 (H.B. 59), which is the operating budget bill for state fiscal year 2014. H.B. 59 includes language authorizing the establishment of a "Lake Facilities Authority" to rehabilitate, improve or promote an "impacted watershed."
- The United States Supreme Court recently handed down an important decision regarding the proof required for plaintiffs asserting retaliation claims under Title VII. In University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center v. Nassar, the Court held that Title VII retaliation plaintiffs must prove that their protected activity was a "but-for" cause of the adverse employment action suffered by the employee, rather than simply a "motivating factor."
- On June 30, 2013, Governor Kasich signed Am. Sub House Bill 59 (H.B. 59), which is the operating budget bill for state fiscal year 2014. H.B. 59 expands upon the scope of the sales and use tax exemption for purchases of certain tangible personal property that will be used at an eligible computer data center (the Data Center Exemption).
- On Sunday evening, Governor John Kasich signed House Bill 59, the state's two-year, $62 billion budget into law, just in time for the beginning of the new state fiscal year on July 1, 2013.
- On June 30, 2013, Governor Kasich signed Am. Sub House Bill 59 (H.B. 59), which is the operating budget bill for state fiscal year 2014. H.B. 59 includes several economic development incentives-related provisions, the most significant of which are described in this alert.
- Last night on a 4-2 party line vote the Conference Committee on House Bill 59, led by the chairmen of the House and Senate Finance Committees, Rep. Ron Amstutz (R-Wooster) and Sen. Scott Oelslager (R-Canton), reported a compromise version of the state’s biennial budget bill that will now head to the House and Senate floor for a final vote to accept the changes.
- The U.S. Supreme Court has limited who is deemed a "supervisor" for purposes of Title VII hostile work environment claims, holding that the individual must have been empowered to take tangible employment action against the party claiming harassment.
- The United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit recently clarified the operation of the Ohio Uniform Fiduciaries Act (UFA) when it affirmed the dismissal of a complaint alleging multiple claims against a banking client. The Complaint arose out of the misappropriation of funds by the authorized fiduciary of trust and estate accounts held at the bank.
- New final regulations for wellness programs apply to plan years beginning on and after January 1, 2014. If you have a wellness program and a health plan operating on a calendar year, you will want to consider the new requirements in preparing for 2014 open enrollment.
- Yesterday afternoon the Senate Finance Committee unveiled a substitute version of House Bill 59, the state biennial budget bill. The substitute legislation incorporates many changes, significant among which is the replacement of an across-the-board 7% income tax cut proposed in the House-passed version of the bill with a tax cut package specifically targeted at helping small businesses in Ohio.
- Employers must distribute a new Notice of Coverage Options to all employees (full-time and part-time, regardless of eligibility for benefits). The initial distribution of the Notice must be before October 1, 2013. Thereafter, the Notice must be given to each new employee within 14 days after work begins.
- “Use” of a trademark or service mark under U.S. trademark law is often misunderstood. Even the best-intended trademark owners encounter unexpected, sometimes fatal, barriers in their attempts to register their marks and maintain their registrations.
- On May 1, 2013, the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency published notice of proposed revisions to its Best Available Technology (BAT) program.