Dept. of Labor & Industry Issues New Guidelines on Worker Misclassification

The focus on employee classification has intensified in recent years as the "sharing economy" has grown. In June, the Virginia Department of Labor & Industry changed its Virginia Occupational Safety and Health (VOSH) policy dealing with the same. Click here to view the new policy, which became effective July 1, 2015. To view the annoucement regarding the new policy, click here.

SCC Adopts Regulations Governing Crowdfunding in Virginia 

The State Corporation Commission (SCC) has adopted regulations concerning Virginia's new crowdfunding exemption law which was adopted in the 2015 General Assembly. Virginia businesses can start making crowdfunding offers as early as July 31st. 

DOL Proposes That Federal Contractors and Subcontractors Self-Report Violations of 14 Federal Laws and Executive Orders

The Department of Labor recently issued guidelines linked to President Obama's "Fair Play and Safe Workplaces" Executive Order 13673, which requires federal contractors to report any administrative merits determinations, civil judgements, or arbitral award decisions brought against them in the past three years based on a violation of executive orders, the 14 federal labor laws, or state laws. The proposed guidelines also require federal contractors to require their subcontractors to report their own violations of the identified labor laws.Contracting officers and Labor Compliance Advisors will then be required to examine the violations and determine whether the contractor has an acceptable record of integrity and business ethics for the government to continue a business relationship with the contractor.

Based on the Executive Order and proposed regulations, the federal government could withhold federal contracts, terminate existing contracts, and expose federal contractors to suspensions and debarments based upon labor violations. The regulations create increased incentives for contractors to settle meritless claims rather than defend themselves and run the risk of an adverse judgment. 

Retailers: Mandatory use of EMV cards starts October 2015
 

On October 1, federal regulations concerning Europay MasterCard Visa cards will go into effect. These cards, which are widely used in Europe, replace a credit card's magnetic stripe with a computer microchip which is more difficult to duplicate. The card requires different reading equipment and retailers are expected to be able to accept the cards by October. Each card terminal will cost the retailer $1,000 or more and requires employee training to operate. Besides the new equipment, the cards may shift liability when fraud is committed. If a retailer is not equipped with a chip reader, but accepts a chip card and fraud is committed, the retailer will have to assume responsibility instead of the bank which would normally assume responsibility for cards with a PIN. It is important for all retailers to protect themselves and become ready to accept EMV cards.

In order to be in compliance when the regulation becomes effective October 2015, we encourage you to communicate with your current merchant services provider as soon as possible.They will be able to provide you with the most up-to-date details about how the new systems work, along with upgrade requirements for business's data payment collection information systems.

Universal Basic Skills Would Generate $27 Trillion in Economic Growth

If all students in the United States received at least a basic level of skills in the classrooms, this would pump $27 trillion into the economy over the next 80 years. A recent report written by economists Ludger Woessmann and Eric Hanushek for the Organization of Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) analyzed the relationship between student test scores and economic growth around the world.

If we improve the quality of schooling so that every student receives what the report defines as a "Level 1" education, the impact on the economy could be tremendous. Level 1 is described as demonstrating "elementary skills to read and understand simple texts and master basic mathematical and scientific concepts and procedures."  Unfortunately, 24% of 15 year olds in the U.S. do not complete Level 1 tasks.

According to their report, "Universal Basic Skills: What Countries Stand to Gain," if we can provide all students with these basic skills by 2030, the average gross domestic product (GDP) would be 3.5% higher.

The authors write, "We cannot simply bail ourselves out of an economic crisis, we cannot solely stimulate ourselves out of an economic crisis, and we cannot just print money to ease our way out of an economic crisis. We can only grow ourselves out of bad economic conditions and, in the long run, that depends more than anything on equipping more people with better skills to collaborate, compete and connect in ways that drive our societies forward - and on using those skills productively."

While the researchers acknowledge that there is no silver bullet, they recommend improving teacher quality, having a strong accountability system, provide performance pay for teachers, and allow parents more school options for their children.  These are the same things that the business community has been advocating for over the years.

If we are to grow the economy and help move more people into the middle class, it's going to happen by providing more people with the right skills for the 21st century economy.

To read more, click here. 

Study: Virginia Ranks 21st in Fiscal Health

Virginia ranks 21st in a study measuring state financial health that was researched by Eileen Norcross, a Senior Research Fellow at the Mercator Center of George Mason University. The study measures each state's short and long-term debt, unfunded pensions, health care benefits, and more in order to rank overall financial health. While Virginia ranked well in some categories, such as service-level solvency and state debt, the state ranked more poorly in other categories such as cash solvency and pension liability.