Email, Technology & Social Networking: Policy Considerations
Email & Web Rule #1: Litigation and Regulations,
Productivity and Security Create the Need for Strategic Email and Web Management
> Email & Web Rule #2: Apply Policy, Training and Technology
to Help Manage Email and Web Risks
> Email & Web Rule #3: The Easiest Way to Control Email
Risk Is to Control Written Content
> Email & Web Rule #4: Combine Policy with URL Blocks
to Protect Resources, Preserve Productivity and Prevent
Lawsuits
> Email & Web Rule #5: Personal Use Heightens
Organizational Risk
> Email & Web Rule #6: Exercise Your Legal Right to
Monitor — and Discipline — Employees
> Email & Web Rule #7: Employees Have Absolutely No
Reasonable Expectation of Privacy
Email & Web Rule #8: Lock Out Malicious Intruders to
Keep Your Secrets Safe and System Secure
> Email & Web Rule #9: Conduct an Annual — Legal –
Review of Email and Web Policies
More than 70 percent of congressional offices violate OSHA safety standards
By Jordy Yager - 02/24/10 06:00 AM ET
But this year’s inspection data from the Office of Compliance inspections is an improvement over last year’s.
More than 70 percent of congressional offices have violated worker safety standards over the past year.
While the majority of all lawmaker offices on Capitol Hill have at least one health or safety hazard violation, this year’s inspection data from the Office of Compliance inspections is an improvement over last year’s. http://thehill.com/homenews/house/83311-over-70-percent-of-offices-violate-osha-standards?utm_source=Newsletter&utm_medium=Email&utm_campaign=Morning%2BBell
In December, the Senate confirmed David Michaels, a research professor at George Washington University, to head the agency. Michaels, who is a believer in metrics measurement and the creation of an enforceable ergonomics standard, is expected to strongly push for the prevention of musculoskeletal disorders in all workplaces. With a 10 percent increase in OSHA's budget for the coming year, including the addition of 210 personnel, inspecting injury logs and penalizing health and safety violators will be easier for the administration to accomplish.
In addition to Michaels' confirmation, OSHA officials released the agency's upcoming regulatory agenda. Jordan Barab, acting assistant secretary for OSHA, said the agency will issue a proposed rule in January to revise its regulation on recordkeeping to restore a column on the OSHA 300 Injury and Illness Log that would require employers to separately list work-related MSDs from other conditions. The MSD column was removed from the log in 2003.
http://www.riskandinsurance.com/story.jsp?storyId=325340948
Security officer's disciplinary file supports denial of benefits
In Ohio, failure to submit the formal employee handbook to the court is not automatically fatal to an employer's voluntary abandonment claim.
Case name: State ex rel. Galligan v. Industrial Commission of Ohio; Tenable Protective Services, Inc., No. 2009-0141 (Ohio 01/06/10).
Ruling: The Ohio Supreme Court reversed the Court of Appeals, holding the employee's termination for violating the employer's rules was a voluntary abandonment of her job for purposes of denying temporary total disability benefits.
Related Coverage
· California: WC premiums fall in 2008, but cost per claim increases (01/22/09)
· Failure to address football player's wage loss warrants remand (05/21/09)
· School custodian's early departure for vacation undermines injury claim (01/19/09)
· State more aggressive in attempts to deny comp claims, consultant says (11/04/08)
· Report shows decline in average comp rates, claims first half of '08 (11/04/08)
What it means: In Ohio, to be considered voluntary abandonment, a termination must arise from an employee's violation of a written work rule or policy that: 1) clearly defined the prohibited conduct; 2) had been previously identified by the employer as a dischargeable offense; and 3) was known or should have been known to the employee. The failure to submit the formal employee handbook to the court is not automatically fatal to an employer's voluntary abandonment claim.
Summary: A security officer filed a claim for benefits after she was terminated for misconduct. The employer denied the claim, arguing that the officer had voluntarily abandoned her job based on her discharge. The Ohio Supreme Court rejected the officer's position that the employer's failure to submit the company handbook prevented meaningful review of the written work rules that clearly defined the prohibited conduct. In lieu of the company handbook, the employer submitted the officer's disciplinary file. The court determined the officer's file satisfied the requirements that the prohibited conduct was previously identified, clearly defined, and known to the employee prior to her termination. The court held that a per se rule automatically precluding voluntary abandonment as a defense when the employee handbook was not submitted would deprive the Ohio Industrial Commission of the ability to consider other relevant credible evidence. It upheld the denial of temporary total disability benefits based on voluntary abandonment.
The court noted the employee had been disciplined with multiple official written warnings but continued to engage in the same conduct for which she was terminated -- sleeping at her post. She had accumulated two dozen oral and written citations for violating work rules, including inappropriate sexual remarks, breach of confidentiality protocol, timesheet irregularities, failure to remain at her post, and multiple incident
Worker’s Compensation – Retaliation Case
Possibility of failure does not remove retaliation claim from court's jurisdiction
In Texas, a case "arises" under workers' compensation law from the instant it becomes clear that the worker will have to invoke, explain and apply workers' compensation law. An anti-retaliation suit arises under state workers' compensation law and must be brought in state court.
Case name: Meeks v. Swift Transportation Inc., et al., No. EP-09-CV-298-KC (W.D. Tex. 12/11/09).
Ruling: The U.S. District Court, Western District of Texas remanded a worker's retaliation claim to state court, finding it arose under the state workers' compensation law.
What it means: In Texas, a case "arises" under workers' compensation law from the instant it becomes clear that the worker will have to invoke, explain and apply workers' compensation law. An anti-retaliation suit arises under state workers' compensation law and must be brought in state court.
Related Coverage
· Special employment relationship grounds flight attendant's personal injury suit (01/26/09)
· Failure to prove employer knowledge of injury dooms clerk's claim (07/16/09)
· Evidence on inability to perform range of jobs missing in mechanic's case (08/21/09)
· Well owner can't show oil worker was a borrowed servant for WC exclusivity (09/28/09)
· History of depression hinders teacher's mental injury claim (03/05/09)
http://www.riskandinsurance.com/story.jsp?storyId=327407953
Why it matters: For employers and counsel the ruling indicates that actions related to workers’ compensation belong in state rather than federal courts; federal courts lack the jurisdiction to intervene in such cases.
FINRA
Blogs and Social Media Guidance http://www.finra.org/web/groups/industry/@ip/@reg/@notice/documents/notices/p120779.pdf
Social media has become a major tool in both social and business communication, with firms establishing social media sites, and employees developing professional and social networks. In regulated industries this poses an additional risk of unintentional disclosure of confidential information. Just as many firms have developed Authorized Use Policies (AUP) for computer users, regulated firms are now required to develop, implement and monitor social media. These policies should apply not only to lap tops and desk tops but also to “Smart Phones”, Blackberries and other electronic media provided by the company.