Total Articles: 14
Two More FLSA Collective Actions Against Hospitals Decertified
Two more cases have been added to the growing list of FLSA collective actions against large healthcare systems that have been either decertified or denied certification, granting the holiday wishes of two major healthcare systems in Pennsylvania. In Kuznyetsov v. West Penn Allegheny Health System, Inc., Judge Ambrose of the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania decertified a class of 824 hospital employees who worked in 1,174 different departments at 142 different locations with 312 different supervisors.
Senate Clears Defense Bill Extending National Guard Reemployment Rights, Clarifies that Certain TRICARE Health Care Entities Are Not Subject to OFCCP Requirements
On December 1, 2011 the Senate passed 93-7 the National Defense Authorization bill that extends reemployment rights to members of the National Guard mobilized for domestic emergencies, and stipulates that certain health care providers under the TRICARE network are not to be considered subcontractors subject to Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP) requirements.
A Look Ahead: Four Trends Healthcare Employers Should Continue to Watch
With the year drawing to a close, this is a good time to examine four significant trends in employment law and consider how to safeguard your healthcare organization from threats associated with them. While this list is not exhaustive, it represents an excellent starting point for ensuring a solid foundation from which to manage risks during the coming year.
A New "Top 10"
If attracting, developing and retaining a high-performance workforce is not challenging enough, recent developments have opened the door to emerging new legal hazards for healthcare employers. Whether arising from legislative action, a court ruling or administrative decision, these issues merit serious attention.
Health Department Narrows Regulation on Federal Health Care Worker Conscience Laws
The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has narrowed its 2008 “Bush era” final rule on health care worker conscience laws in a way some believe may restrict the right of health care workers to refuse to provide services in cases they find objectionable for religious or moral reasons without fear of discrimination.
Health Care Providers Should Get Prepared: ALJ Finds Participation in TRICARE Subjects Florida Hospital to OFCCP Jurisdiction
The Department of Labors Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP) has won another major battle in its war to establish jurisdiction over hospitals and other health care providers. On October 18, an administrative law judge (ALJ) decided, without a hearing, that the Florida Hospital of Orlando (FHO) is subject to federal affirmative action laws by virtue of its agreement to provide health care services to eligible TRICARE beneficiaries. OFCCP v. Fla. Hosp. of Orlando, DOL OALJ No. 2009-OFC-00002 (October, 18, 2010).
Have You Taken Your Hospital's Pulse Today?
While healthcare executives have been bracing themselves for the impact of 2010s healthcare reform, another threat to the well-being of your healthcare system has gone largely ignored. Wage and hour actions targeting the health care industry have exploded recently, exposing hospitals to expensive and time consuming litigation. This trend is expected to continue into the immediate future. A recent $8.5 million settlement involving a Massachusetts hospital illustrates the vulnerability hospitals face. In that case, attorneys sued claiming that the hospital failed to appropriately pay hourly workers for time worked before and after their scheduled work shifts and during interrupted or missed meal breaks. Workers also claimed that they were not properly compensated for training time. The same law firm extracted a $9 million wage and hour settlement from a New York hospital.
Work visas for health care workers (pdf).
The recent health care
reform debate has raised
awareness of our shortage
of physicians, nurses, and
other health care professionals
in the United States. The Association
of American Medical
Colleges recently reported that,
based on current graduation
and training rates, the United
States could face a shortage of
as many as 150,000 doctors in
the next 15 years. Health care
administrators and recruiters
will find that foreign workers
will likely be part of the pool
of candidates to fill open positions.
The following case study
analyzes what employers
should know before hiring a
foreign worker who needs visa
sponsorship, what issues to
inquire about, and what limitations
may exist.
Merger and Cooperation: The Future for Health Care Unions?
While many U.S. unions appear to be waiting on the outcome of the Employee Free Choice Act debate to ramp up their organizing activities that has certainly not been the case for those unions targeting health care workers. Rather, those unions have for some time been engaged in often intense levels of national organizing, albeit typically in a non-coordinated (and, at times competitive) fashion. A few recent developments suggest more coordination and cooperation by the major unions involved.
Meal Time May Prove Stomach-Churning For Hospitals.
For many of us, the perils of a lunch break include braving the weekend's leftovers, testing the over-used and under-cleaned breakroom microwave, or searching the community refrigerator for your poorly-labeled brown-bag lunch. But as recent lawsuits filed against several Pennsylvania hospitals demonstrate, meal breaks can prove far more stomach-churning than three-day old leftovers.
The HCQIA Immunizes Participants From Money Damages In An Objectively Conducted Peer Review Action (5th Cir.).
In 2006, a federal district court allowed to stand a verdict for $22.5 million in favor of a cardiologist who sued a hospital and a department chairman after a five-month suspension of his cardiac catheterization lab (cath lab) and echocardiography privileges. See Poliner: A Texas-Sized Credentialing Verdict for Physicians, at (http://www.medlawblog.com/archives/-credentialing-poliner-a-texassized-credentialing-verdict-for-physicians.html). In a highly-anticipated decision, the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has overruled that verdict, holding that the hospital and individuals involved in the peer review process are protected from money damages by the Health Care Quality Improvement Act (HCQIA).
Joint Commission Alert Targets Intimidating/Disruptive Behavior: Aims to Stamp Out the "Equal Opportunity Harasser".
Recognizing that intimidating and disruptive behavior can compromise the delivery of quality healthcare, the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations (JCAHO) on July 9, 2008, issued a Sentinel Event Alert focusing upon its new requirements to address such behavior. The Sentinel Event Alert suggests what healthcare organizations must do to address all kinds of harassing and disruptive behavior, not just conduct made illegal under workplace discrimination and harassment laws.
Healthcare Update: hShort-Shift Differential Shortchanges Employees, Court Rules.
Many healthcare employers adopt shift differentials to encourage staffing on unpopular shifts. For example, employers may reward employees who work unpopular shifts or perform unpopular tasks with extra pay in order to maintain adequate staffing levels and provide round-the-clock patient care. Employers are encouraged to devise creative, lawful solutions to staff all shifts and ensure all tasks attendant to patient care are performed.
Reminder - Health Care Employers Must Provide Employees with Information on Filing Whistleblower Claims.
This is a reminder that health care employers who receive $5 million or more in revenue from Medicaid (or other state plans for medical assistance) were required, as of January 1, 2007, to provide employees (including management), contractors, and agents with detailed information about false claims, false statements and whistleblower protections under applicable federal and state fraud laws. This requirement was imposed by the Deficit Reduction Act of 2005 (DRA).
