Capital Insider
Date: January 1, 2012
Capital Insider spoke with TELG Principal Adam Carter about recent developments in employment law, including changes to the Fair Labor Standards Act, the Dodd-Frank Act, and the Americans with Disabilities Act.
Quoteworthy:
"A lot of times, the trauma of being terminated or being retaliated against doesn’t give you enough time to go out and hire a lawyer. It was draconian with only 30 days. Now, they give you 90 days to at least hire a lawyer and go out and bring your case."
Adam Augustine Carter
[TRANSCRIPT]
Capital Insider Interviews Attorney Adam Augustine Carter About What Employees Should Know for 2012
(Transcribed and lightly edited by The Employment Law Group)
Morris Jones (anchor): It’s a new year, and for many, that means a fresh start at a new job. Whether you’re starting your first or 20th year at a company, there’s some new laws that have just been enacted for 2012 that you need to know about. As an employee, you should know your rights because you have to look out for yourself.
Joining me tonight is Adam Carter with The Employment Law Group in D.C. So, five new legal changes, what are they?
Adam Carter: Well, we can take them in any order.
Jones: Let’s talk about this first one: the Dodd-Frank regulations. Everybody’s been talking about that, and nobody knows what they are.
Carter: Dodd-Frank is the response to the Bernie Madoff scandal. Sarbanes-Oxley was the legislative response to the Enron scandal, and Dodd-Frank was designed to beef up Sarbanes-Oxley if you will, make those kinds of cases easier to bring.
Jones: And so, how does that affect us?
Carter: Well, for example, a whistleblower who knows about shareholder fraud in the workplace now has an easier time bringing a case under Dodd-Frank than they did under Sarbanes-Oxley.
Jones: It’s amazing because I remember just in the past few months doing reports on employees who had been whistleblowers and the Dover Air Force Base military mortuary, for example. This still goes on. Even companies and the government should know better, but they still go after whistleblowers. So, for those that think this is passé, it’s not. It’s still a problem, isn’t it?
Carter: It is. Well, first of all, no person should have to choose between their job and doing the right thing. And so, there are a whole series of whistleblower laws for a whole host of industries – nuclear, food and drug, you name it – and securities and the financial system is just the latest example.
Jones: That’s a good point. What are the regulations now that affect us in these new jobs?
Carter: Well, there are so many. I don’t want to get into all the details, but at least one detail that is important to know is that you’ve got more time to bring your case. A lot of times, the trauma of being terminated or being retaliated against doesn’t give you enough time to go out and hire a lawyer. It was draconian with only 30 days. Now, they give you 90 days to at least hire a lawyer and go out and bring your case.
Jones: People should know then that if they have a problem at work, any job-related issue, they can’t wait for a year, but they do have a little bit more time to do something. But there are statutes of limitations like there are with everything, except for capital murder, of course.
Carter: That’s right. That’s right.
Jones: What about pay?
Carter: Well, a good new development in pay is that two million home healthcare workers – many of them who work here in the Washington area – work in the home, taking care of elderly people, or sick in the home. These workers are now going to be covered by the Fair Labor Standards Act. They are going to be given minimum wage and overtime protection.
Jones: Now, for employers, are there regulations for contractor versus employee, the different status levels on that?
Carter: There are, and there’s been a development in California, not so much around here, but more strict regulations in California for employers who classify workers as independent contractors rather than as employees.
Jones: Is there anything that people out there should know – again whether you’re starting a job, the first year, or you’ve been there for 20 years – any particular laws that people should really be aware of besides whistleblowing regulations? What else is important for us as the rights of employees?
Carter: New regulations with respect to the Americans with Disabilities Act have just been brought to bear in 2011 and are just working their way through the courts, but these are very important because now the original intent of the Americans with Disabilities Act has been enacted into law. For example, anyone with an impairment is now going to be viewed as when they have the impairment. Now, for example, someone who is hearing impaired: They’re going to be viewed without their hearing aid. If someone’s got bipolar disorder or some other disease, they’re going to be viewed without their medication. The only exception is a guy like me with glasses. That’s an exception.
Jones: Good advice. Thank you so much with The Employment Law Group, and we’ll be right back on Capital Insider.
