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BOLD STRATEGIES UNMATCHED DEDICATION Confidence from Experience

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The Justice Department Criminal Division recently released guidance on what it considers when deciding how a corporation’s compliance program factors into its investigation and the ultimate decision as to whether to bring charges, negotiate pleas or enter into other agreements with corporations under investigation.    The Evaluation of Corporate Compliance Programs, released on April 30, 2019,  is an expansion of the 2017 guidance document issued by the Criminal Division Fraud Section.

Prosecutors Must Ask Three Fundamental Questions

Prosecutors will ask three fundamental questions to determine if a corporation’s compliance program was effective at the time of the offense and at the time of charging:

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Voice recordings violate the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) when companies fail to provide callers the ability to opt out according to a ruling earlier this month by the Denmark Data Protection Authority.  Under the GDPR, voice recordings are considered personal data.  Therefore, companies that communicate with EU residents need to understand what the GDPR requires from a compliance perspective to avoid unwanted violations.

This Call May Be Monitored …. Requires Affirmative Consent

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Computer Code

The State Office for Data Protection Supervision (BayLDA) in Bavaria recently conducted an audit on 40 websites and concluded all 40 websites were in violation of the GDPR.  The audit revealed, as discussed below, that all websites failed to provide its users with clear and concise information regarding the use of cookies in direct violation of the GDPR.  Interestingly, none of the 40 companies were technology based companies.  This should serve as a stark warning to all companies that compliance with the GDPR is not something only technology companies must comply with but applies across all sectors.

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Calculator with PencilNew Jersey has a tax amnesty gift for its delinquent tax payers.  In a nutshell, if by January 15, 2019, a taxpayer brings all back taxes current and pays 50% of the outstanding interest due, the NJ Department of Treasury will waive most penalties, collection costs and 1/2 of the interest that is due as of November 1, 2018.  To file for tax amnesty, the taxpayer must also file all past due returns.  Click here for detailed program information straight from the NJ Department of Treasury.

Filing Deadline, Eligible Periods and Forms for Amnesty Compliance

There are several deadlines NJ taxpayers must be aware of to be eligible for tax amnesty.

Hospital Beds

Hospital Beds

Last month on October 29, 2018 the New Jersey Paid Sick Leave Act became effective.  In general, this new law requires that all New Jersey employers provide their employees 1 hour of sick leave for every 30 hours worked.  This law applies even if you have only 1 employee.  The next deadline is tomorrow, November 29,2018.  By this date all employers will need to have posted the Department of Labor’s Notice of Employee Rights in a prominent location for all employees to see.  Please be sure to fill in the benefit year before posting.

If you have any questions regarding the New Jersey Paid Sick Leave Law, please click on this link and you will be directed to my earlier post.  Alternatively, please feel free to contact any of the other attorneys at Danziger Shapiro to discuss how this new change will affect your business or any other issue you may have that concerns you and your business.

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Starting July 1, 2018 the City of Philadelphia has a new reduced local tax structure.  It impacts local businesses, employees and residents as follows:

City Wage Tax (applies to all businesses that operate within the City limits or hire Philly residents)

  • 3.8809% city wage tax for Philadelphia residents

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The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) was approved by EU Parliament back in May 2017.  The GDPR, in a nutshell, was designed to replace an inconsistent set of data privacy laws with a comprehensive law that protected all European Union residents.  Please click here for my original post on the GDPR.  While the GDPR has been in effect for over a year, the law gave companies until May 25, 2018 to comply.  Well, that deadline has come and gone.  If you fail to comply, regulators can impose a fine of up to 4% of worldwide revenue.  This is NOT a typo!  4% of worldwide revenue up to 20 million euros.

Currently, there are no grace periods if your company still has not complied with the GDPR.  Additionally, as the ability to enforce compliance is less than 1 week old, there is no precedent out there that we can use as guidance.  Regulators for EU member states have indicated different going forward approaches to enforcement.  While one state regulator has inferred that even if full compliance has not yet been achieved, the efforts made to attain compliance will be taken into account as a mitigating factor.  Alternatively, other state regulators have simply stated that if we have reason to impose a fine we will impose a fine.  In this regard, the newly created European Data Protection Board was recently created.

Hospital Beds

Hospital Beds

Earlier this month New Jersey passed a paid sick leave act (the “Act”) that goes into effect on October 29, 2018.  This new law requires all New Jersey employers regardless of size to provide paid sick time off.  This law preempts towns and municipalities from enacting new paid sick law ordinances and preempts ordinances that were on the books prior to the passage of this new law.  For a full copy of the Act click here.

Amount of Paid Time Available

Scale of Justice

Scale of Justice

Last month the Diane B. Allen Equal Pay Act (the “Act”) was signed into law by New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy.  This marks the third time in four years that the NJ legislature has amended its Law Against Discrimination.  The Act expands equal pay protections for NJ employees and increases compliance obligations on NJ employers.  The Act goes into effect on July 1, 2018.  In a nut shell, the Act makes it an illegal employment practice to pay an employee who is a member of a “protected class” less compensation and benefits for performing substantially similar work by employees outside of the “protected class” unless the employer can show a recognized exception.  In addition, the Act imposes public reporting requirements for employers who deal with public contracts.

Substantially Similar Work and Recognized Exceptions to Equal Pay Act

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Wage Gap

Last month a federal judge sitting in the Eastern District of Pennsylvania ruled that the recently enacted prohibition against asking job applicants their wage history violated the first amendment.  The Philadelphia City Council enacted the ordinance to level the playing field with respect to the wage gap between men and woman.  For a discussion surrounding the history and specific components of this law, please click here for my earlier post.

Philadelphia’s Wage History Law

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