The increased use of portable electronic devices in the workplace and the popularity of social media pose unique challenges for health care employers, particularly when the requirements of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (“HIPAA”) conflict with the NLRB’s position on policies that could infringe upon an employee’s right to engage in
Federal Court Upholds Discharge of Employee on Medical Leave Who Shared Vacation Photos on Facebook
Everyone has “friends” who overshare their daily activities on Facebook. Rodney Jones’ oversharing cost him his job. Jones worked as an activity director for Accentia Health, a long–term care nursing facility. Accentia Health granted Jones 12 weeks of FMLA and an additional 30 days of non-FMLA leave in connection
Worse Than Feared … NLRB Reports First Month of Ambush Election Rules Yields More Petitions, Dramatically Quicker Elections
My colleague, Adam C. Abrahms, published a Management Memo blog post that will be of interest to many of our readers: “Worse Than Feared … NLRB Reports First Month of Ambush Election Rules Yields More Petitions, Dramatically Quicker Elections.”
Following is an excerpt:
A couple weeks ago we provided anecdotal reports from several NLRB
Will Promoted Video Pave the Way for Drug and Medical Device Promotion on Twitter?
When FDA published its draft guidance Internet/Social Media Platforms with Character Space Limitations— Presenting Risk and Benefit Information for Prescription Drugs and Medical Devices in June 2014, I, like many others with an interest in pharmaceutical and medical device promotion, believed that the issue of social media promotion of drugs and medical devices was largely
Industry Interest by the Numbers: Comment Volume Suggests FDA Needs More Feedback from Companies on Social Media Guidance
As reported previously in this blog and in an EBG Client Alert, FDA has recently reopened the comment periods for three draft guidance documents released this year: two on social media promotion (open until October 29) and one on informed consent information sheets (open until October 27). FDA does not often reopen the door
Social Media Promotion in Pharma and MedTech: Reopened Comment Period Means Manufacturers Have Another Chance to Ask FDA for Additional Clarification
Earlier this year, FDA released draft guidance the pharmaceutical and medical device industries had been awaiting for five years. But instead of revolutionizing the Agency’s thinking on drug and device promotion, FDA’s social media guidance essentially continued the familiar credo on advertisements—accurate and not misleading, fair balance, substantiation—and ignored some of the central
Trade Secret, Proprietary Information, & Regulatory Requirements Concerns Contribute To Veto of New Jersey Social Media Bill
By: James P. Flynn
The New Jersey Legislature was overwhelmingly in favor of a measure that would have barred employers from obtaining social media IDs and other social media related information from employees and applicants. Click here for A2878 as passed. But Governor Chris Christie vetoed A-2878 because it would frustrate a business’s ability “to
NLRB Administrative Law Judge Finds Medical Center’s Technology Usage Policies Violated Employees Rights Under the National Labor Relations Act
by: Steven M. Swirsky and D. Martin Stanberry
An NLRB Administrative Law Judge (“ALJ”) has found that two computer usage policies of University of Pittsburgh Medical Center (“UPMC”) violated the National Labor Relations Act (“Act”) because they had an unreasonable tendency to chill employee activities, including union organizing and employee discussions about terms and conditions
April 2013 Take 5 Newsletter: Five Recent Actions Employers Should Consider
The April 2013 issue of Take 5 was written by David W. Garland, Chair of Epstein Becker Green’s Labor and Employment Steering Committee and a Member of the Firm in the New York and Newark offices.
In it, he summarizes five recent labor and employment actions that employers should consider:
- EEOC Releases Letter
NLRB Continues Pro-Union Agenda
It is no secret that the National Labor Relations Board (the “Board”) is engaged in a purposeful and partisan attempt to issue rules and decisions that benefit unions, often to the detriment of employers, including attempts by the Board to assert itself into non-union workplaces. The decisions that the Board has issued over