New Rule: Government Contractors Must Post Information On Employee NLRA Rights

December 24, 2009

Signaling a shift in how the Obama Administration intends to address labor issues, earlier this month the Civilian Agency Acquisition Council and the Defense Acquisition Regulations Council have issued a new rule pursuant to Executive Order 13496 that directly rescinded Executive Order 13201 by former-President Bush.  Under the previous Order, government contractors were required to post a notice reminding workers of their rights regarding union dues and fees, and that workers could not be compelled to join a union or maintain union membership to keep their jobs.  The new Order requires that contractors post a notice that informs workers of their rights under the National Labor Relations Act, which ”encourages collective bargaining, allowing workers to freely associate, self-organize, and designate representatives of their own choosing for the purpose of negotiating the terms and conditions of their employment or other mutual aid or protection.”

Information about the new rule is here.  Some exceptions to the notice posting requirement include collective bargaining agreements, federal contracts below the simplified acquisition threshold of $100,000, and contracts issued by agencies or departments that the Secretary of Labor chooses to exempt.  The new poster from the Department of Labor is expected to be available in mid-2010.

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Posted by merrittgreen

Obama Administration Seeks To Funnel Stimulus Funds To Small Businesses

December 11, 2009

An article in today’s Washington Post describes a plan by the White House to create a new entity out of the Troubled Assets Relief Program “that would give banks access to federal funds without restrictions, including limits on executive pay, as long as the money was used to support loans to small businesses,” or would modify TARP itself to encourage more lending to small businesses.  Given that small businesses provide the majority of jobs in America, efforts to encourage banks to lend more money to those businesses is becoming a top priority as the unemployment rate tops ten percent.

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Posted by merrittgreen

Even Yoga Teachers May Require Licenses In Virginia

December 9, 2009

The most recent edition of Virginia Lawyers Weekly has an article about a lawsuit filed by three yoga instructors seeking to prevent Virginia from being able to force those who teach yoga to have to be licensed in order to teach.  The State Council of Higher Education for Virginia’s position is that all vocational instruction is required by law to be regulated, so accordingly the Council had plans, starting 2010, to require all yoga instructors to pay a $2,500 application fee for a license, plus $500 each year to renew the license, and require adherence to standards issued by the Arlington-based Yoga Alliance.  The yoga instructors, members of a vocation not generally known for its profitability, argue that Virginia should not be serving as the gatekeeper to yoga, much less bilking money out of the programs.

Many small business owners are unaware that Virginia requires licensing for a wide variety of vocations.  Businesses should check out the Virginia Department of Professional and Occupational Regulation to get current on the requirements.  In particular, many contractors who began their business as nothing more than a truck, their tools, and their hands, are typically surprised to learn that they need a Class A, B, or C contractor’s license to so much as fix a windowsill in Virginia.  Failure to do so can result in criminal penalties as well as headaches on the civil side if your customer refuses to pay you.  Contact James N. Markels to learn more.

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Posted by merrittgreen

SBA Proposes Changes To The 8(a) Program

November 5, 2009

The Small Business Administration recently proposed “major revisions” to its 8(a) program, according to this article in the Government Executive.  The new regulations mandate that 8(a) owners reside in the United States, ease restrictions on family members of 8(a) participants from entering the program, and determine how many contracts a joint venture can win in a two-year period, among other changes. 

The proposed regulations can be reviewed here.  The comment period expires on December 28, 2009, after which the SBA will decide whether to implement the regulations.  You can file your comment with the SBA here.

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Posted by merrittgreen

FTC’s “Red Flags” Regulation Does Not Apply To Lawyers

October 30, 2009

A federal district court judge has ruled that the Federal Trade Commission’s new “red flags” identity fraud regulation — which goes into effect on November 1 and affects a wide swath of businesses — is not enforceable against lawyers and law firms.  The U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia granted judgment to the American Bar Association in its lawsuit against the FTC, and rejected the agency’s argument that lawyers who accepted deferred payments from clients were “creditors” under the law, and thus would be required to institute identity fraud procedures.

Hat tip to LawyersUSA and the VLW Blog.  Our previous coverage of the new “red flags” regulation is available here.

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Posted by merrittgreen

Updates On Newly Effective Federal Regulations That Affect Businesses

September 1, 2009

Readers of this blog will know, from our previous posting, that the Federal Trade Commission’s ban on pre-recorded calls went into effect today.

Also, government contractors have only one more week until they must comply with the new E-Verify requirements. 

As always, GCPC’s experienced lawyers can help your business with compliance issues that may arise.

Leave a Comment » | Administrative Law, Communications Law, Government Contracts | Permalink
Posted by merrittgreen

Red Flags Rule To Go Into Effect November 1

August 3, 2009

The Federal Trade Commission announced that the Red Flags Rule, mandated under the Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions Act of 2003, will go into effect on November 1, 2009, in order to allow for more time for the FTC to educate businesses covered under the Rule on compliance. 

The purpose of the Rule is to combat identity theft by having businesses install programs that will identify “red flags” of such theft.  The Rule applies to “financial institutions” and “creditors,” the latter designation covering any businesses that regularly defer payment for goods or services or provide goods or services and bill customers later.  “Creditor” also covers businesses that regularly grant loans, arrange for loans or extensions of credit, or make credit decisions, like automobile dealers or retailers that offer financing or help consumers get financing from others by, for instance, processing credit applications.  For those covered businesses, the Rule only applies to two kinds of “covered accounts”: a consumer account used primarily for personal, family, or household purposes that permits multiple payments or transactions (like an auto loan or cell phone account); and an account where there is a reasonably foreseeable risk of identity theft, like small business accounts.

Business owners should find out whether their business is covered under the Rule and maintains accounts covered by the Rule, so that they can have a Red Flags program in place when the Rule goes into effect.  Read more about the Rule here.

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Posted by merrittgreen

FTC’s Prerecorded Call Ban To Existing Customers Begins September 1

July 28, 2009

Under a new regulation from the Federal Trade Commission’s (FTC), effective September 1, 2009, businesses may not place prerecorded marketing calls to their existing customers in other states (which would include Maryland and the District of Columbia) unless they have previously obtained the consumer’s signed, written agreement to receive such calls.  The regulation will apply regardless of whether the call is answered by a person, an answering machine, or voice mail.  Violators are subject to civil penalties of as much as $16,000 per violation.  Each prerecorded call made without specific consumer permission constitutes a separate violation.

Sellers can obtain their customer’s permission for prerecorded sales calls in any manner permitted by the Electronic Signatures in Global and National Commerce Act (E-SIGN Act).  Prerecorded calls that are subject to the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) are exempt from this ban.  Also exempt from the written agreement requirement are all charitable solicitation calls placed by for-profit telemarketers (telefunders) that deliver prerecorded messages on behalf of nonprofits to members of, or previous donors to, the nonprofit.  But the telefunder must still have a system that includes a prompt keypress or voice-activated opt-out mechanism.  Prerecorded calls to prospective donors to, or non-members of, a nonprofit organization are not permitted today.

Prerecorded marketing calls to non-customers are already prohibited by both the FTC and/or the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) whether they are interstate, intrastate (including local), or international calls.  Both regulatory agencies require the seller to prove the existence of a prior business relationship, which is also subject to time limits.

Telemarketing is regulated by the FTC, the FCC and by most states.  Some of the applicable regulations can be inconsistent.  For example, the FCC’s rules do NOT require express, prior permission from existing customers to make prerecorded calls.  Also, there is case law upholding the application of stricter state regulations to interstate calls even though both the FTC and FCC have indicated they would preempt state regulations that interfere with interstate commerce.  Businesses new to telemarketing should strongly consider obtaining compliance advice prior to engaging in the practice.

For more information, contact General Counsel’s communications and e-marketing attorney, Robert H. Jackson.

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Posted by merrittgreen

Track New Regulations Easily Through OpenRegs.com

July 16, 2009

The federal government churns out regulations at a blistering pace.  To help people navigate through and find what has been proposed and what has been published, there is the new free site, OpenRegs.com.  This site is a non-public and easier-to-use alternative to Regulations.gov, which is managed by the federal government.

From the site: “Every year federal agencies issue thousands of regulations that cost society billions of dollars.  These rules don’t just matter to big business, they have an impact on everyone’s daily life.  From the contents of your toothpaste and shampoo, to the price of your coffee and orange juice, to the design of your car, it’s all affected by federal regulations.  Now OpenRegs.com lets you easily find and comment on proposed rules that will have an impact on you.  OpenRegs.com has features not available anywhere else.  These include the ability to browse by, and subscribe to, individual agencies and topics codes.  Also available are discussion forums for each agency and each regulation, user-submitted related links, and much more.”

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Posted by merrittgreen

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