Compliance

Earlier this year, the EPA established a new rule to bring clarity to which wetlands and waters are protected under the Clean Water Act. The ruling was challenged, and a preliminary injunction has been granted. There’s still a fair amount of uncertainty around the subject, however. Companies developing on or near these areas should proceed with caution.

W-2 employee or 1099 contractor? Many businesses in the booming freelance economy have struggled to classify workers properly and have found themselves out of compliance with federal labor regulations. Armed with the right tools and insights, companies can enjoy the benefits of an on-demand workforce AND remain compliant.

To date, protections for whistleblowers have primarily covered those reporting to external authorities, but that's changing; in the very near future, employers can expect that staff who bring to light issues of noncompliance internally will enjoy the same protections from retaliation. Does your organization encourage its staff to speak up?

The U.S. Treasury regularly fines businesses for transacting with entities on OFAC sanctions lists. Though evidence shows most corporate financial departments fail to check their buyers and sellers rigorously against these lists, several easy, inexpensive approaches are available for accomplishing this task, thus increasing compliance and avoiding the threat of stiff penalties.

Some people love to trot out the old adage, "the customer is always right." And in the interest of keeping the customer happy, employers are generally pretty accommodating. Companies should feel comfortable setting boundaries, however; if, for instance, a customer expresses a desire to only work with people of a certain race, that's a demand that can go unfulfilled.

Amazon has long been known for its dynamic culture, but it's becoming increasingly evident that the company's culture has a seedy underbelly. Workers are treated miserably, and programs presumably designed to improve employees' experience are being used to punish them and pit one team member against another. What does this mean for the compliance practitioner? Read on.

Recently CCI's CEO, Maurice Gilbert, had the chance to interview Fabiana Lacerca-Allen, President of Ethiprax, a compliance consulting firm based in San Francisco that serves clients in the health care and life sciences industry. Ms. Lacerca-Allen, a thought leader in compliance, reflects today on what's made her successful and how the compliance landscape is changing.

If you want an ethics and compliance program that's more substantive than the paper it's printed on (and you do), take note: effective E&C programs don't materialize out of thin air; they require some intentionality. Compliance expert Renata Andrade offers up six characteristics of a solid ethics and compliance program. Does yours make the grade?

Anti-money laundering programs can fail for any number of reasons. In Michael Volkov's experience, most failures in AML compliance can be traced back to at least one of five core shortfalls. The planets don't have to be perfectly aligned for an AML program to work well, but it does require a concerted effort, from the top of the organization to...

The classroom experience has been revolutionized by advances in school technology; armed with data from student devices, teachers can personalize instruction and provide real-time feedback. And while this technological boom in digital solutions for the classroom is critical to student learning, a major concern remains: how do we ensure the privacy and protection of student data?

Starting this year, employers with 50 or more full-time employees are required to provide affordable health insurance coverage under the ACA, and to track, manage and report the company’s health insurance data. Begin establishing a reliable and smart compliance tracking and reporting process now to stay on schedule to meet the IRS’s requirements and avoid potential penalties.

Today Roetzel & Andress attorney Amanda Knapp brings us two vastly different examples of corruption investigations: one a cautionary tale, exposing the consequences of hiding corruption and impeding the investigation once it's found out and the other an encouraging tale, illuminating the benefits of forthrightness and cooperation with the DOJ when corruption is discovered.