Although the Federal Arbitration Act is federal legislation, that is. the law of the land, the frequency with which it is part of standard employment contracts means that state courts, rather than federal courts, are more frequently called on to apply the Act to a contract dispute. Thirty years ago, the U.S. Supreme Court said that the Act declares "a national policy favoring arbitration." More recently, it has firmly come down against what it re­garded as a slate supreme court's "ju­dicial hostility" towards arbitration. The case arose out of litigation that ensued when two employees, whose contracts with their employer included … [Read more...]

Number of Employees The federal Equal Employment Op­portunity Commission (EEOC) is re­sponsible lot enforcing the most widely applicable feder.il laws that prohibit dis­crimination in employment. The small­est of businesses are not subject to most of these statutes. Title I of the Ameri­cans with Disabilities Act (ADA) w hich prohibits employment discrimi­nation against qualified individuals withdisabilities, applies only to employers with 15 or more employees. The same is true for Title VII of the Civil Rights Act or 1964 (Title VII). which prohibits job discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex. and national origin. The … [Read more...]

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services has adopted a new rule concerning privacy and security for health information, to take into account changes that have occurred in health care since enactment of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) of 1996. Some of the key features in the 563-page final rule are outlined below. Privacy notices given by covered entities, such as health-care providers and health plans, must now include a statement about a particular to restrict the disclosure of his or her health information when paying out of pocket for the service. "Downstream" business associates of covered … [Read more...]