As a wellness lawyer, I hear all kinds of complaints from all kinds of different stakeholders in the wellness industry. Lately, I have been hearing from people wronged by health and business coaches. These individuals have been hurt emotionally and financially by unethical coaches. This emotional or financial injury may occur because the coach oversteps […]
Many people may not realize that some states have workplace wellness program laws; it’s not just the province of the federal government. Massachusetts happens to have one of the most comprehensive workplace wellness program laws, and it may just set the bar for other states to follow. Specifically, Massachusetts has a law that applies to […]
Most of the conversation around workplace wellness compliance has focused on federal law compliance, such as with HIPAA, ACA, ADA, and GINA. But some states have also enacted laws that are important to workplace wellness program compliance. This blog post will highlight two state laws and examine whether more such laws are needed. New York […]
On May 9, 2023, the IRS Office of Chief Counsel issued Memorandum #202323006 which clarified whether certain wellness incentive payments are subject to the Federal Insurance Contributions Act (FICA), Federal Unemployment Tax Act (FUTA) and federal income tax withholding (FITW), or collectively known as “employment taxes. The scenario described by the IRS is this: An […]
On April 17, 2020, Todd Maness (“Maness”), a police officer employed by the Village of Pinehurst in North Carolina, sued his employer for terminating his employment. Why was he terminated? According to Maness, the Village fired him because he refused to fill out a health risk assessment which was created by a wellness vendor, SiteMed. […]
On February 24, 2023, Leanne Diment, on behalf of a proposed class of employees of Quad Graphics and Rise Interactive Media & Analytics, sued her employer for violating the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). Specifically, she alleges that her employer forced her to undergo a biometric screen with her physician to avoid having to pay […]
Your massage therapy business needs to have massage liability waivers in place before you do any work on clients. This can help protect you or any massage therapists you employ if your client subsequently suffers an injury due to their massage therapy session. However, it is important to ensure that your massage liability waivers are […]
A recent article in Forbes asked whether it is time to reconsider Employee Assistance Programs (EAPs). The article’s author is the founder of an employee benefits solution and points out that EAPs are significantly underutilized and undervalued by employees. As a result of this lack of appreciation and use for EAPs, the author argues that […]
As a lawyer who practices in both the health care and wellness worlds, I have the advantage of witnessing strategies to try to improve health outcomes in both worlds. One issue that is dominating the health care policy literature is implementing strategies to address Social Determinants of Health (“SDOH”). SDOH includes issues like: family relationships, […]
As predicted by our law firm, the word is getting out that workplace wellness programs are a hot target for employment-based lawsuits. In the past week, legal activity in two separate workplace wellness programs located in Illinois has ramped up. This blog will give a summary of both pending cases. AARP v. Austin Industries The […]