Home Health & Hospice Week

Tip: 50 or more employees means FMLA applies to you.

You may have a very robust program in place for complying with Medicare rules and regulations, but you need to pay attention to another set of laws as well - those concerning human resources issues.

Often, small providers don't have a dedicated HR manager. But even with all the other challenges your agency faces, you can't forget HR compliance.

At the MGMA16 conference, speaker Marcia Brauchler, MPH, FACMPE, CPC, COC, CPC-I, CPHQ, gave attendees the lowdown on six important HR compliance areas that all providers should be paying attention to:

1. Non-Discrimination: The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission enforces the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (Title VII). The EEOC may file claims in federal court, which could result in your agency having to pay substantial civil damages and losing your good reputation, Brauchler points out.

Reference: Title VII of Civil Rights Act of 1964 www.eeoc.gov/laws/statutes/titlevii.cfm.

2. Sexual Harassment: "Sexual harassment is a form of sex discrimination that violates Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964," Brauchler explains. Penalties that can result from litigation against your company include lost wages, compensatory damages, and punitive damages.

Reference: www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/CFR-2011-title29-vol4/xml/CFR-2011-title29-vol4-part1604.xml.

3. Family Medical Leave Act: If your agency has 50 or more employees, your employees are entitled to up to 12 weeks of "job-protected leave during any 12-month period for the birth of a child, care of immediate family member, employee's own serious health condition, or immediate family member is on active military duty," Brauchler points out. The law was passed in 1993 and is enforced by the Department of Labor, Wage and Hour Division. Noncompliance can result in civil actions by employees.

Reference: www.dol.gov/whd/regs/statutes/fmla.htm.

Poster for YourWork Space Available at: www.dol.gov/whd/regs/compliance/posters/fmlaen.pdf.

4. Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA): This statute, which governs minimum wage and overtime pay and is enforced by the DOLWage and Hour Division, may be more familiar to home care providers given the industry's often complicated relationship with home care workers' schedules. Noncompliance can result in lawsuits by employees to recover lost back pay and damages.

Reference: www.dol.gov/whd/flsa.

5. Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA): If your agency has 15 or more employees, the ADA "prohibits discrimination in hiring, promotions, training, pay, social activities, and other employment privileges" based on disability, Brauchler reminds.

References: Statute: www.ada.gov/pubs/ada.htm.
Guidelines: www.ada.gov/cguide.htm.
Q&A: www.ada.gov/archive/q&aeng02.htm.

6. Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970 (OSHA): Enforced by the agency that bears the same name, these regulations apply to all workplaces. Penalties can be up to $63,000 per instance, Brauchler notes.

The good news: The guidelines available on OSHA's website are admirably clear and easy to follow, especially if you've become accustomed to sweating through confusing compliance guidance from CMS.

Tip: If you run across a compliance consultant who wants to sell you "an OSHA training program" for your agency, don't shell out any money until you check out what's available on OSHA's website for free. It's highly likely the site has all the resources and training materials you need, so save your outsourcing budget for other kinds of compliance help.

Handy, Free OSHA References

Statute: www.osha.gov/law-regs.html.
Compliance Assistance Quick Start for Health Care: www.osha.gov/dcsp/compliance_assistance/quickstarts/health_care/
Links to OSHA resources relevant to home care: www.osha.gov/SLTC/home_healthcare/index.html
Poster: www.osha.gov/Publications/poster.html.