MISTAKES THAT HAVE COST OTHER COMPANIES $ $ $ $ $

A jury in Alameda County ruled FedEx must pay $60 million to two former FedEx drivers who were harassed by a manager. The manager was ordered to pay an additional $1 million in damages, under a California law that imposes personal liability on employees who harass coworkers.

A jury in Los Angeles returned a $20 million verdict in favor of an 81-year-old doctor who claimed he was forced to retire.

Ann Taylor Stores recently agreed to pay $6.5 million to settle claims the company improperly classified store managers in California as exempt from overtime and violated meal and rest period rules.

$45,000 Fine for Asking Improper Questions in Applicant Interviews
$875,000 awarded for an employee who had been passed over for a promotion while                   living as a pre-operative male-to-female transsexual
$787,000 Fine for Failure to Properly Accommodate Disabled Individuals
$250,000 Maximum Fine Per Business for failure to file W-2 or 1099 form
$7.1 Million Fine for Lack of Written Performance Appraisals
$105 Million Fine for Arbitrary Hiring and Promotion Practices
$100 in Fines per Day (per person) for Lack of COBRA Rights Notification
Race Discrimination Lawsuits: major beverage company $192 million; oil firm $5.5 million; food services firm over $80 million; major auto maker $8.55 million; and the list goes on...

KEEPING YOU AND YOUR COMPANY IN COMPLIANCE
AND OUT OF THE COURT ROOM:

As new laws and regulations multiply, employers' risk of losing hundreds of thousands of dollars in employment lawsuits, fines and penalties for noncompliance continues to increase.

LSH Consulting assists employers with implementing systems and taking measures to avoid litigation and other costly mistakes.

1. MANDATORY SEXUAL HARASSMENT TRAINING FOR ALL EMPLOYEES WITH SUPERVISORY AUTHORITY - AB1825 affects employers with a culmination of 50 employees nation wide. Employers had until 1/1/06 to put all supervisory staff through sexual harassment training. Training must be updated every two years and provided to new managers within 6 months of their date of hire or promotion.
2. EMPLOYEE COMPENSATION – SB101, effective January 1, 2006, made the hourly rate paid to exempt computer professionals $47.81 per hour (up from $45.84 in 2005). The 2006 rate for hourly paid exempt doctors is $61.65 per hour (up from $59.11 in 2005).
3. MANDATORY OSHA REQUIREMENTS - IIPP (Injury and Illness Prevention Plan) is required of all companies with one or more employees.
4. HIPAA COMPLIANCE – The penalty for general noncompliance with the HIPAA security, privacy, and electronic Data Interchange (EDI) regulations is $100 per violation, up to $25,000 per person for all identical violations in a calendar year. Plus, one of the penalties for noncompliance with the privacy regulations is a $50,000 fine and imprisonment for one year if you knowingly obtain or disclose individually identifiable health information.
5. LEGAL COMPLIANCE FOR YOUR COMPANY SIZE - Even a company with one employee has legal compliance requirements. Do you know which laws and regulations apply to your company?