Insights

July

• 7/15/2015
  Labor and Employment Alert: DOL Declares That Most Workers are Employees, Not Independent Contractors
  Today, the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) issued an Administrator’s Interpretation discussing the misclassification of employees as independent contractors. In this guidance, the DOL takes the position that “most workers are employees under the FLSA’s broad definitions.”
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• 7/14/2015
  State and Local Tax Alert: Ohio Budget Bill Tax Provisions - Business Community Dodges A Bullet But More Battles to Come In 2016
  On June 30th Governor Kasich signed Ohio’s 2016-2017 biennial budget. Amended Substitute House Bill 64 (HB 64) contains a few noteworthy tax reforms. That said, HB 64 is more noteworthy for the tax reforms the General Assembly considered but ultimately discarded -- a commercial activity tax (CAT) rate increase, severance tax reform, sales tax rate increase, and sales tax base expansion.
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• 7/13/2015
  State and Local Tax Alert: Ohio Budget Bill Includes Changes to the Job Creation and Job Retention Tax Credits
  On June 30, 2015, Governor Kasich signed into law Amended Substitute House Bill 64 (HB 64), which contains several tax law changes. Included in HB 64 are numerous modifications to both the Ohio Job Creation Tax Credit (JCTC) and the Ohio Job Retention Tax Credit (JRTC). These changes are effective September 29, 2015, the 91st day after the bill was signed. The most significant changes are described in this Alert.
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• 7/13/2015
  Court: Defamation Plaintiff Must Provide Evidence to Unmask Unknown Avvo.com Poster
  A Washington appellate court offered defamation plaintiffs a friendly reminder last week: if you want to unmask the identity of an unknown internet poster, you better present evidence to back up your defamation claims.
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• 7/6/2015
  Securities Alert: SEC Proposes Executive Compensation Clawback Rules
  On July 1, 2015, the SEC issued proposed rules that would require listed issuers to: • adopt and comply with a policy requiring the recovery of excess incentive-based compensation from the issuer’s executive officers in the event of material accounting restatements; and • disclose the listed issuer’s clawback policy and certain information relating to the application of such clawback policy.
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• 7/2/2015
  • Jackie Ford
  Same-Sex Marriage Decision a Win for Employers?
  Jackie Ford, a partner in the Vorys Houston office and a member of the labor and employment group, authored an article titled “Same-Sex Marriage Decision a Win for Employers?” for Texas Lawyer.
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• 7/1/2015
  Client Alert: Cybersecurity - No More Excuses
  Unless you’ve been under a rock for the past year, you’re aware that perhaps top on the list of “risk management” items is the need to ascertain the viability and efficacy of your data security programs. Banking industry and agency literature has been replete with warnings and highlights. On June 30, 2015 the federal agencies, through the FFIEC, published their promised Cybersecurity Assessment Tool (CAT) to assist institutions, including those too small to have specific cybersecurity assessment resources, to evaluate cybersecurity risks and preparedness.
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June

• 6/30/2015
  Labor and Employment Alert: Department of Labor Proposes to Increase the Salary Threshold to Reduce the Number of Workers Qualifying for Overtime Exemptions
  Today, the U.S. Department of Labor issued a proposed rule that would significantly expand the overtime protections in the Fair Labor Standards Act. The rule would increase the salary an employee must receive before being considered overtime-exempt to $970 per week – $50,440 per year (or, $122,148 for highly compensated employees) in 2016.
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• 6/23/2015
  Client Alert: FTC Revises Endorsement FAQs, Provides Additional Answers to Endorsement Disclosure Questions
  The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has recently released its updated “What People are Asking” FAQs regarding its Endorsement Guides. The FTC’s Endorsement Guides help define what the FTC would consider to be a deceptive practice when using endorsements in advertising.
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• 6/23/2015
  Ohio Statehouse Update: House-Senate Conference Committee Working to Finalize Biennial Budget Bill This Week
  As the deadline for passage of Ohio’s budget bill looms, a House-Senate Conference Committee worked over the weekend and is expected to meet to report a compromise version of House Bill 64, the state’s two-year main operating budget bill, by mid-week.
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• 6/19/2015
  Labor and Employment Alert: Even ‘Lawful’ Employees Can Still Be Fired for Using Medical Marijuana
  On June 15, 2015, the Colorado Supreme Court unanimously held that employers may still terminate employees who use medical marijuana – even though medical marijuana use is specifically authorized by the Colorado Constitution and Colorado law protects employees’ lawful off-duty conduct.
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• 6/18/2015
  Health Care Alert: New Proposed CMS Rules Relative to Medicaid Managed Care May Increase Access to Medicaid Behavioral Health Services
  Recently, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) published proposed rules relative to Medicaid Managed Care Organizations (MCOs) that may increase access to Medicaid behavioral health services through Medicaid managed care programs.
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• 6/18/2015
  Oil and Gas Alert: The Supreme Court of Ohio Publishes its First Decision Analyzing the Ohio Dormant Mineral Act
  On June 18, 2015, the Supreme Court of Ohio issued its first decision analyzing one aspect of the much contested Ohio Dormant Mineral Act.
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• 6/15/2015
  State and Local Tax Alert: Ohio Department of Taxation to Begin Use Tax Audits
  In May, the Ohio Department of Taxation mailed letters to Ohio direct pay permit holders indicating the Department’s intent to conduct audits for Ohio sales and use tax compliance on purchases. The Department’s letters are friendly reminders that vigilant compliance remains ever important.
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• 6/15/2015
  Labor and Employment Alert: The Law of Unintended Consequences: Legislation Protecting Off-Duty Conduct Introduced in Ohio Senate
  Legislation was recently introduced in the Ohio Senate by Senator Joe Uecker to protect employees who engage in certain off-duty conduct from adverse job actions. At least 29 states and the District of Columbia currently have laws that protect employees to some extent from adverse action based on their off-duty activities.
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• June 2015
  • Jackie Ford
  • Elizabeth T. Smith
  Crisis Management Takes a Team
  Jackie Ford and Elizabeth T. Smith, attorneys in the Vorys Columbus and Houston offices and members of the litigation and labor and employment groups, co-authored an article titled “Crisis Management Takes a Team.” It was featured in the June 2015 edition of the AICUO Affiliate Member Newsletter.
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• 6/10/2015
  Labor and Employment Alert: Do Payroll Debit Cards Violate Pennsylvania Law? Maybe, Maybe Not
  More employers are using or considering payroll debit cards instead of paper checks or direct deposit to pay their employees. For employers, these cards may be less expensive than physical checks; for employees, these cards allow them to withdraw funds and make payments much like traditional debit cards.
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• 6/5/2015
  • Gregory D. Russell
  • Peter A. Lusenhop
  Ohio Weighs Post-Production Costs, Royalty Calculations
  Greg Russell, Pete Lusenhop and Steven Chang, attorneys in the Vorys Columbus office, co-authored an article for the June 2015 edition of the Oil and Gas Journal titled “Ohio Weighs Post-Production Costs, Royalty Calculations.”
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• 6/5/2015
  • Heather A. Kabele
  Treasury Targets Electronics Exporters, Carriers in Miami
  Heather Kabele, a partner in the Vorys Houston office and a member of the litigation group, authored an article for the Journal of Commerce titled “Treasury Targets Electronics Exporters, Carriers in Miami.”
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• 6/4/2015
  Labor and Employment Alert: Sixth Circuit Holds That Plaintiff’s Own Testimony is Good Enough to Defeat Summary Judgment Under the FLSA
  The Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) requires employers to keep records of nonexempt employees’ hours worked each day, total hours worked each workweek, regular hourly rate, and straight and overtime wages. There is no required form for these records, but the records must include accurate information about the hours worked and the wages earned. A recent case from the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals reinforces the importance of good record keeping when it comes to tracking employees’ work time. In Moran v. Al Basit, the Sixth Circuit answered “one simple question: Where Plaintiff has presented no other evidence, is Plaintiff's testimony sufficient to defeat Defendant's motion for summary judgment? We hold that it is.”
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