By Porter Wright on Recently, Governor Mike DeWine signed House Bill 81 which contains several changes to workers’ compensation laws. Most significantly, the bill contains a provision that will codify the common law voluntary abandonment doctrine. This provision should ensure that injured workers do not receive certain disability benefits if their loss of income is not related to the … Continue Reading
By Arslan Sheikh on Restrictions placed upon indoor recreational locations On Monday, March 16, 2020, Ohio Governor Michael DeWine announced on Twitter that he will be issuing an order to close gyms, fitness centers, recreation centers, bowling alleys, indoor water parks, movie theaters and trampoline parks until further notice. This order took effect at the close of business on … Continue Reading
By Arslan Sheikh on Ohio Governor Michael DeWine and Lt. Governor Jon Husted recently announced that the state has expanded unemployment compensation benefits to workers and businesses impacted by COVID-19. By way of background, Ohio’s unemployment insurance system provides 50 percent of a qualifying worker’s former average weekly pay, subject to caps based on the number of dependents in … Continue Reading
By Rebecca Kopp Levine on As we reported in June, the Ohio legislature attempted to make substantial changes to workers’ compensation laws as part of the overall budget. However, after the House and Senate could not reach an agreement on many parts of the budget, Gov. DeWine permitted the legislature additional time to reach a compromise. The actual budget submitted … Continue Reading
By Rebecca Kopp Levine on The Ohio House of Representatives passed a two year $645 million workers’ compensation budget on June 5, 2019. As part of the budget bill, a provision was added that requires anyone who files an application for a workers’ compensation claim through the Ohio Bureau of Workers’ Compensation, to identify themselves as either a U.S. citizen, … Continue Reading
By Porter Wright on In March 2019, the City of Cincinnati became the latest in a small but growing list of states and municipalities prohibiting employers from asking prospective employees about their prior compensation. Citing concerns about the perpetuation of pay discrimination against women in the workforce, the legislation bars Cincinnati employers with 15 or more employees from asking … Continue Reading
By Rebecca Kopp Levine on Recently, Gov. Kasich signed into law the workers’ compensation budget. In addition to funding the Ohio Bureau of Workers’ Compensation (BWC), the bill enacted a number of substantive changes to the law. These changes are effective Sept. 29, 2017. Below are some of the significant amendments impacting Ohio employers: Decreases statute of limitations: For claims with … Continue Reading
By Porter Wright on As we outlined more fully in our earlier post, Ohio’s new medical marijuana law takes effect next month. Employers should be reminded that business groups lobbied for an exception allowing employers with drug-free workplace policies to take adverse action against applicants and employees for medical marijuana use.… Continue Reading
By Porter Wright on A special thanks to one of our summer clerks, Abigail Chin, for her assistance with this article. In the wake of Ohio’s new medical marijuana law, you may be thinking, what does it mean for your drug-free workplace policy? Ohio’s new medical marijuana law, H.B. 523, provides targeted exceptions for employers. Ohio’s law goes into … Continue Reading
By Porter Wright on A divided Ohio Supreme Court held that Ohio’s minimum wage law exempts employees engaged in an executive, administrative or professional capacity, or as outside salespersons, summer camp employees, fishing employees, small publication employees and family farm employees. In Haight v. Minchak, No. 2016-Ohio-1053, two sales representatives challenged the constitutionality of Ohio’s minimum wage statute (R.C. … Continue Reading
By Rebecca Kopp Levine on As we have previously discussed, the Bureau of Workers' Compensation (BWC) has traditionally taken an aggressive position in finding that a business purchasing all or part of another business is responsible for the predecessor entity's workers' compensation risk, frequently resulting in an increase in premiums and penalties for the purchasing entity.… Continue Reading
By Rebecca Kopp Levine on The Ohio Bureau of Workers' Compensation has implemented a new policy for employers who fail to pay premiums timely.… Continue Reading
By Porter Wright on The Ohio Department of Commerce recently released new prevailing wage guidelines. These guidelines, which became effective on October 15, 2008 and are available at http://com.ohio.gov/laws/, focus on construction projects supported by both public and private funds. Essentially, whenever a public entity contributes funding or other direct support (such as public land) to a project, even an … Continue Reading
By Brian Hall on On August 8, 2008, the Los Angeles Times reported that a California bill that would have required employers to provide paid sick leave to their employees has been killed in the California legislature.… Continue Reading
By Brian Hall on With each passing day, it appears more likely that Ohioans will be going to the polls on November 4, 2008 to vote on whether employers that employ at least 25 workers in Ohio will be required by law to provide workers with up to seven days of paid sick leave annually. Passage of this measure … Continue Reading
By Franck Wobst on The Columbus Dispatch reported this afternoon that the Strickland administration is sending letters to about 500 business leaders in a final attempt to reach a compromise that would keep the Ohio Healthy Families Act off the Nov. 4 ballot. In the letter, Gov. Ted Strickland and Lt. Gov. Lee Fisher urge the business community to … Continue Reading
By Brian Hall on On June 27, 2008, the Ohio Bureau of Workers’ Compensation (BWC) Board of Directors unanimously approved the first phase of a long-term plan that will transition to a new split experience rating method for calculating premium rates that is designed to cushion the premium blow that state-funded employers frequently receive as the result of a … Continue Reading
By Porter Wright on On March 18, 2008, the Court of Appeals for the Seventh Appellate District struck down the portion of Ohio’s Tort Reform Act that created a heightened standard for employees bringing intentional tort claims against their employers. Specifically, Kaminski v. Metal & Wire Prods. Co., Case No. 07-CO-15 (7th Dist. March 18, 2008), was the first appellate … Continue Reading
By Porter Wright on Washington, D.C. City Council recently passed the Accrued Sick and Safe Leave Act, which requires all city businesses to provide paid sick leave for their employees. The Act does not become effective until the Mayor approves it and until a 30-day Congressional review period passes without Congress acting on the bill. If the Act becomes law, D.C. … Continue Reading
By Porter Wright on In a unanimous decision debunking the common misunderstanding that former employees can use information they retain through memory (as opposed to information contained in materials pilfered from former employers) without violating trade secret law, the Ohio Supreme Court ruled that a company’s confidential customer list is a protected trade secret even if a former employee … Continue Reading
By Porter Wright on On December 20, 2007, Governor Strickland signed into law the "Ohio Veterans Package" (Sub. H.B. 372), which is intended to support members and veterans of the armed services. Perhaps the most significant change made by the statute - particularly for Ohio employers - is the addition of "military status" to the list of protected classes under R.C. 4112.02.… Continue Reading