E.U./U.S. Labor & Employment Law and Workplace Fraud Issues

1. E.U./U.S. Labor & Employment Law and Workplace Fraud Issues An Overview of U.S. Law Shane Crase, Esq. Dinsmore & Shohl LLP 1900 Chemed Center 255 East Fifth Street Cincinnati, Ohio 45202 (513) 977-8495 – Direct shane.crase@dinslaw.com

2. Issues • Discrimination • Workplace Privacy • Terminations

3. Discrimination • Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 • Americans With Disabilities Act • Age Discrimination in Employment Act • Equal Pay Act

4. Title VII • Prohibits discrimination in employment because of an employee’s (or applicant’s) race, color, religion, sex or national origin. • Enforced by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.

5. Americans With Disabilities Act • Prohibits discrimination against otherwise qualified persons because of their impairments or disabilities. • Requires reasonable accommodations that enable a disabled employee to perform the central or core functions of a job, unless the accommodations would result in an undue hardship to the employer. • Enforced by the EEOC.

6. Age Discrimination in Employment Act • Prohibits discrimination against employees who are over the age of 40. • Enforced by the EEOC.

7. Equal Pay Act • Prohibits gender discrimination in the payment of wages. • To establish a prima facie violation, must show that different wages were paid to employees of opposite sex; that the employees perform equal work on jobs requiring equal skill, effort and responsibility; and the jobs are performed under similar working conditions. • Enforced by the EEOC.

8. Workplace Privacy • Employee Monitoring • Employee Medical Information • Background Checks

9. Employee Monitoring • Telephone Monitoring: Generally, an employer may monitor its employees’ telephone calls. However, state law may require that employees be informed that the conversation is being monitored or recorded. • Computer Monitoring: Because the employer owns the computer network and terminals, it may utilize the system to monitor employees.

10. Employee Monitoring (cont’d) • E-mail: Because the employer owns the e-mail system, it may review its contents. • Consistent application of company policy.

11. Employee Medical Information • ADA and FMLA require that information obtained by an employer regarding the medical condition or history of an applicant or employee be collected and maintained on separate forms, kept in separate files, and treated confidentially.

12. Employee Medical Information (cont’d) • Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) generally protects individually identifiable health information created or maintained by health plans and health care providers. • In general, covered health plans and providers cannot use or disclose individually identifiable health information without a HIPAA-compliant authorization.

13. Background Checks • Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) imposes narrow limitations on circumstances in which an employer may use consumer reports, including background checks. • FCRA regulations require employer to take “reasonable measures” to properly dispose of “consumer information” in order to prevent “unauthorized access to or use of the information in connection with its disposal.”

14. Terminations • Most employees are “at-will.” • Be aware of potential discrimination and/or retaliation issues. • Is the employee a member of a protected class? Recently engaged in protected activity? • How has the employer handled similar incidents?

15. Terminations (cont’d) • Is the employee subject to mandatory progressive discipline? • Has the employer identified and communicated a reason for the termination?

16. QUESTIONS? Shane Crase, Esq. Dinsmore & Shohl LLP 1900 Chemed Center 255 East Fifth Street Cincinnati, Ohio 45202 (513) 977-8495 – Direct shane.crase@dinslaw.com