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Arizona Mandatory Paid Sick Leave Update: Can We Use Our Old PTO System?

"As Arizona employers prepare for the imminent July 1 effective date of Arizona's first mandatory paid sick time law (The Fair Wages and Healthy Families Act), one of the questions that we get most frequently is, 'If we have a Paid Time Off, do we need to have a separate policy for paid sick time?' The answer is: Possibly not, but you still might want to."

New Paid Parental, Family, and Medical Leave Act Approved by D.C. Council

"The Universal Paid Leave Act of 2016 is a bill that will allow individuals who work in Washington D.C. to take eight weeks of qualifying parental leave, six weeks of qualifying family leave, and two weeks of qualifying medical leave, and it establishes a 0.62% payroll tax on all D.C. employers in order to provide those benefits. Additionally, self-employed workers can opt-in to the program by paying the tax.... Employees who qualify for the various types of leave will receive up to 90% of their salary up to 1.5 times the minimum wage, and then 50% of their wage above that amount, with a maximum benefit of $1,000 per week."

New Leave Laws in Illinois

"Illinois employers should be aware of four new leave laws that may require revisions to leave policies and procedures: Illinois Employee Sick Leave Act: Effective January 1, 2017 ... Illinois Child Bereavement Leave Act: Effective July 29, 2016 ... Chicago Paid Sick Leave Ordinance: Effective July 1, 2017 ... Cook County Earned Sick Leave Ordinance: Effective July 1, 2017."

How to Avoid Being the Next OCR Target for a HIPAA Civil Monetary Penalty

"The most frequent violations of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act and the Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health Act regulations are not hacking! They are: [1] Lost/stolen laptops, mobile devices, paper medical records, thumb drives; [2] No security risk assessment or assessment not enterprise-wide; [3] No or outdated Business Associate Agreement; [4] Improper disclosure of PHI."

Chicago Passes New Sick Leave Law

"The ordinance, which takes effect July 1, 2017, applies to employers of all sizes and provides that eligible employees earn one hour of sick time for every 40 hours worked.... Employers that maintain a business facility in the City of Chicago must post a notice that advises eligible employees of their right to paid sick leave under the new ordinance, in a conspicuous place, at each facility where eligible employees work.... The City Commissioner is expected to provide the appropriate posting and notification materials prior to the effective date[.]"

Vermont Will Require Paid Sick Leave for Employees

"The law goes into effect as of January 2017 for employers with more than five employees. Employers with five or fewer employees will have until January 2018 to comply. Initially, the law will require that employers guarantee certain full time employees at least three paid sick days each year. As of January 2019, however, all employers affected by the law must guarantee at least five sick days for certain full time employees."

How to Prepare for the Next Round of HIPAA Audits

"OCR views the audits as an opportunity to discover risks and vulnerabilities faced by entities in different sectors and geographic regions of the industry and to get out in front of potential problems before they result in breaches. However, OCR has warned that if a serious compliance issue is uncovered during the audit, a compliance review may be initiated."