Regulatory Compliance Articles

Legal » Regulatory Compliance | By Eli Kantor @ Saturday, 8th March 2008 @ 1:40 PM

On February 22, 2008, Attorney General Michael B. Mukasey announced higher civil fines against employers who violate federal immigration laws. The new rule will become effective as of March 27, 2008. Under the Immigration and Nationality Act, employers may be fined for knowingly employing unauthorized aliens, for failing to comply with the requirements relating to employment eligibility verification forms, for wrongful discrimination on the basis of nationality or citizenship, and for im... more...

Legal » Regulatory Compliance | By Eli Kantor @ Monday, 21st January 2008 @ 2:13 AM

Attention California Employers: On January 1, 2008, the Minimum Wage rises to $8 per hour from $7.50. So, you will need to make appropriate adjustments to your payroll systems. Further, many employers also are raising their employee's wages that are above the minimum wage in order to retain them. Other big changes effecting California Employers in 2008 are: New I-9 Forms, employment verification forms will be required effective December 26, 2007, for all new hires. Expect an i... more...

Legal » Regulatory Compliance | By Eli Kantor @ Saturday, 29th December 2007 @ 7:20 PM

Attention small business owners. Recently, Immigration has dramatically increased workplace enforcement of Immigration law, after the failure of Congress to pass comprehensive immigration reform. The latest tool that they are using is working together with the Social Security Administration to ferret out unauthorized aliens in the work place. For years the Social Security Administration ("SSA") has been sending employers so called "mismatch letters" when the name and soci... more...

Legal » Regulatory Compliance | By Sandra Noble @ Monday, 3rd December 2007 @ 12:43 AM

Industries using hazardous chemicals ("Dangerous Products" in European parlance) in their processes are especially vulnerable to accidents. These substances include the possibility of unforeseen and even catastrophic release of toxic or inflammable liquids and gases. Catastrophic release is defined as a major uncontrolled emission, fire, or explosion, involving one or more highly hazardous chemicals, that presents serious danger to employees in the workplace. Recognizing these vul... more...

Legal » Regulatory Compliance | By Sandra Noble @ Tuesday, 27th November 2007 @ 3:40 PM

One of the occupational hazards of living in the modern industrial age is noise exposure, both in and away from the workplace. Acoustic noise can be defined as unwanted sound and sounds louder than 80 decibels (dB) are considered potentially dangerous. According to the National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders (NIDCD), more than 30 million Americans are regularly exposed to hazardous sound levels. According to the EPA the number of people exposed to work induced noise dama... more...

Legal » Regulatory Compliance | By Sandra Noble @ Monday, 26th November 2007 @ 12:49 AM

The RoHS Directive 2002/95/EC is often referred to as the Lead-free RoHS, even though it covers five other hazardous materials. The reason for this nick-name may be the ubiquitous nature of lead in electronic equipment and the potential health hazards associated with lead contamination. As per the directive, a product has to be below a threshold limit of 1000 parts per million (ppm) of lead on a homogeneous (any single substance that cannot be separated mechanically) material basis. The ... more...

Legal » Regulatory Compliance | By Joe Bella @ Tuesday, 20th November 2007 @ 3:08 PM

It's hard to see why would want to be chief executive of Horn Nut Inc., retailer of vitamins and health food with problems galore. Since the death last September of founder David B. Shakarian, nutrition search in the company has been consumed by a power struggle between his son-in-law, David Lucas, and his handpicked successor as chief executive, Gary A. Daum. Last November a federal grand jury indicted five employees for allegedly making false nutrition search claims about vening P... more...

Legal » Regulatory Compliance | By Sandra Noble @ Monday, 19th November 2007 @ 12:32 AM

The primary responsibility of the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) is to develop and enforce health and safety standards that protect workers in the workplace. It has mandatory power to audit organizations for compliance of health and safety standards. OSHA conducts workplace inspections to make certain that employers are complying with the standards and providing a safe and healthful workplace. OSHA inspectors, called compliance and safety officers, carry out these in... more...

Legal » Regulatory Compliance | By Sandra Noble @ Monday, 19th November 2007 @ 12:32 AM

The RoHs directive restricts the use of lead (Pb), mercury (Hg), hexavalent chromium (Hex-Cr), poly-brominated biphenyls (PBB) and polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDE) to maximum 1000 parts per million and cadmium to 100 ppm. The restrictions are on a homogeneous material basis, which means that they apply to any single substance that could (theoretically) be separated mechanically. The restricted substances have traditionally found extensive usage in Industrial control switches because... more...

Legal » Regulatory Compliance | By Sandra Noble @ Thursday, 15th November 2007 @ 9:32 PM

The Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) Directive 2002/96/EC of the European Union aims at minimization of the impact of e-waste (discarded or end-of-life electrical or electronic equipment [EEE]), on the environment by increasing re-use and recycling and reducing the amount of WEEE going to landfills. It is closely linked to the Restriction of Hazardous Substances (RoHS) Directive 2002/95/EC which seeks to limit the presence of six hazardous materials in electrical and electronic e... more...

Legal » Regulatory Compliance | By Sandra Noble @ Monday, 12th November 2007 @ 3:33 PM

Directive 2002/95/EC, effective July 1, 2006, is not an EU law. Individual member states are to have their own regulations in line with the directive. The resultant variations from state to state, (including differences in verification and penalty clauses), pose difficulties for suppliers of electrical and electronic goods in developing compliance programs. For compliance suppliers have to guarantee that the entire unit is free (within threshold limit) of the six hazardous materials specified. T... more...

Legal » Regulatory Compliance | By Sandra Noble @ Friday, 9th November 2007 @ 4:06 PM

The US Department of Labor's Bureau of Labor Statistics reported 5,702 workplace related fatalities (around 4 deaths per 100,000 workers) and approximately 4.2 million incidents of workplace related non-fatal injuries and illnesses. This demonstrates the continuing need for OSHA programs and initiatives to ensure safety and health in the workplace. Available data from the US Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) highlights the fact that non-fatal workplace injuries and illnesses have been... more...

Legal » Regulatory Compliance | By Sandra Noble @ Wednesday, 31st October 2007 @ 6:25 AM

Highly hazardous materials, widely used in modern industry, are an ever present source of potential danger during transportation, storage and use. A number of government departments and agencies such as the Department of Transportation (DOT), the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) and the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), each have a role to play in ensuring health and safety enforcement in the US. The DOT regulates transporta... more...

Legal » Regulatory Compliance | By Sandra Noble @ Wednesday, 31st October 2007 @ 6:25 AM

The objective of the Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) Directive 2002/96/EC is to minimize the environmental impact of electronic waste. The WEEE directive protects landfills and regulates the disposal of discarded or end-of-life electrical or electronic equipment (EEE) also known as e-waste. The related RoHS Directive 2002/95/EC strives to limit the use of six hazardous materials in the manufacture of electronic equipment. The WEEE Directive provides guidelines for the col... more...

Legal » Regulatory Compliance | By Sandra Noble @ Wednesday, 31st October 2007 @ 6:25 AM

The EU has developed the Restriction of Hazardous Substances (RoHS) Directive 2002/95/EC. This is only a directive (effective July 1, 2006) and member nations are to enact their own legislations based on its guidelines. The Chinese Administrative Measure on the Control of Pollution Caused by Electronic Information Products (popularly known as China RoHS) effective from March 1, 2007, is however a legislation. Both nations' regulations are targeted at their respective domestic markets. <... more...

Legal » Regulatory Compliance | By Amit Mehta @ Friday, 12th October 2007 @ 12:05 PM

Antitrust policies are laws that prohibit anticompetitive tactics in corporate America. In fact, other countries call such policies competition laws. Pro-competitive legislation outlaws business practices considered harmful to consumers and other businesses or which violate ethical standards. Violators are meted out a full range of penalties, from fines to years of incarceration. According to the US Sentencing Commission, the average jail sentence for antitrust violators is 12.7 months.more...

Legal » Regulatory Compliance | By Alec Moreland @ Thursday, 26th April 2007 @ 3:11 PM

Around the country, coaches and teachers are witnessing a complete overhaul of the school fundraising system. With USDA encouragement and some states passing actual laws, school districts all over the country are being very strongly encouraged to establish wellness policies which reduce or eliminate FMNV (Foods of Minimal Nutritional Value) on school grounds. In California on July 1 California Senate Bill 12 goes into effect. It essentially says that foods sold on California High School c... more...

Legal » Regulatory Compliance | By Obinna Heche @ Tuesday, 6th March 2007 @ 6:51 PM

If you are running a home business you know that there is so much more to being successful than simply hanging out a shingle advertising your availability. After all, you know that there are stringent rules and regulations with respect to the formation of a business and you do know that failure to follow these legal guidelines could result in problems of a variety of kinds, all of them costly. Yet did you know that in spite of your best efforts to keep all your activities legal, you migh... more...

Legal » Regulatory Compliance | By John Pawlett @ Thursday, 18th January 2007 @ 2:22 AM

There is definitely on thing in this world that everyone hates to get. No, I'm not referring to herpes or a number of other STDs. I was actually talking about speeding tickets. Yeah, that's right. Just feel your face cringe at the very thought of being pulled over. Those annoying red and blue lights in your rear-view mirror always get your boxers or panties in a twist. After all, doesn't that cop have better things to do than pass you a speeding ticket? Ha, don't we al... more...

Legal » Regulatory Compliance | By Antony Christie @ Thursday, 24th August 2006 @ 2:14 PM

In Hampshire alone, the Fire & Rescue Service is called out to approximately 6.5K false alarms each year, at an estimated cost of £1.6M. Believing that these false alarms are due, in no small part, to systems that have been badly designed and equipment which has been poorly installed by suppliers who lack in competence, the Chief Fire Officers Association (CFOA) and the fire alarm industry have developed a registration scheme for premises which have monitored fire alarm systems. Th... more...