Articles | Page 22 | Nauman Smith

Misclassifying Employees as Independent Contractors is a Gamble Employers Cannot Afford

Using independent contractors rather than employees makes sense for employers trying to reduce costs in a bad economy. The use of independent contractors can reduce the amount of money employers have to spend on health benefits, insurance premiums, unemployment and workers’ compensation, overtime, social security contributions, and administrative costs. However, employers should ensure that they correctly classify independent contractors… Read On

Expiring Tax Exemptions and Proposals to Limit Charitable Tax Deductions May Mean Now is the Time to Give

Next year may bring some unwelcome changes that will impact how we handle our charitable donations and financial gift giving. When Congress extended the Bush Tax Cuts at the end of 2010, an unexpected benefit was created when the exemption amount for imposition of the Federal gift tax was increased to $5 million in 2011 and $5,120,000 in 2012. … Read On

Marcellus Shale – Recent Court Ruling Favors Municipalities

State utility regulators are advising municipalities in Pennsylvania on the validity of their zoning ordinances regulating natural gas drilling even as a major provision of the new state impact fee law or “Act 13” as it is better known is under court review. On July 26, 2012, the Commonwealth Court in Robinson Township et al v… Read On

A Charitable Giving Policy for a Business

Most businesses today realize that a community benefit program can be a part of its marketing effort to develop community awareness and a means of promoting a sense of common purpose between the business and its employees. A principal part of any community benefit program is charitable giving. It can be a large or small program depending on the charitable intent of the principals of the business and the needs for community awareness of the business’ products… Read On

Scholarships for Children of Employees

With college tuitions rising, employers may consider scholarships for children of employees as a way to help. Employers are often dissuaded from establishing such scholarships because the scholarships would be included in the parent employee’s compensation. There is what amounts to a presumption that scholarships for children of employees are compensation for the employees. In fact… Read On

Internet Takes Anonymous Free Speech to New Level

With the advent of the Internet and its explosive use, the ability of an individual to comment or “speak” via the Internet has become commonplace. It is routine now to have the ability to comment on news articles, Internet videos, political events and similar activities via public forum on media websites, blogs and similar sites, which invite public reaction and comment. … Read On

Supreme Court directs Commonwealth Court to decide school teacher’s home address case

The Supreme Court ruled on Wednesday, August 22, 2012, that a case brought by the Pennsylvania State Education Association (PSEA) to prevent the Office of Open Records (OOR) from ordering school districts to release the home addresses of public school employees be remanded to the Commonwealth Court. Pennslyvania State Eduation Association v. Com., Dep’t of Comm… Read On

OOR Lacks Jurisdiction to Compel Disclosure of Records Related to Pending Litigation

The Commonwealth Court has reversed decisions by the Office of Open Records (OOR) and the Court of Common Pleas of Allegheny County which ordered the City of Pittsburgh (City) to disclose correspondence of settlement negotiations between city officials and a decedent’s estate. City of Pittsburgh v. Silver, — A.3d —-, 1658 C.D. 2011 (Pa.Cmwlth… Read On

Insufficiently Specific Request for Emails Denied where County Unable to Perform Keyword Search of Archived Emails

The Commonwealth Court has affirmed the denial of a request for county emails because the requester failed to sufficiently articulate what emails he wanted to obtain. In Montgomery County v. Iverson, — A.3d —-, 1071 C.D. 2011 (Pa.Cmwlth. 8/15/12), the requester submitted a request for emails in the County’s possession. The requester asked the County to produce all emails to and from specific internet domains which contained one of fourteen keywords… Read On

Commonwealth Court Refuses to Find Sunshine Act Violation

On July 31, 2012, a panel of the Commonwealth Court in an opinion authored by Judge Leavitt affirmed a decision of the Berks County Court of Common Pleas denying a request for a declaratory judgment that a Board of Supervisors had violated the Sunshine Act. Smith v. Township of Richmond et al., No… Read On

Commonwealth Court Reverses Decision of OOR and Orders the Release of Information Regarding Labor Union Disputes

It is not often that the Commonwealth Court reverses the Office of Open Records (“OOR”) and orders the release of records which the OOR found not to be public. Such a situation occurred in the recent decision of a panel of the Commonwealth Court in Johnson v. Pennsylvania Convention Center Authority, No. 1844 C.D… Read On

Commonwealth Court Orders DEP to Release Section 208 Determination Letters

As Marcellus Shale continues to occupy the hearts and minds of Pennsylvania citizens, Right-to-Know issues concerning Commonwealth agencies regulating it continue. On July 31, 2012, a panel of the Commonwealth Court in an opinion authored by Judge Anne E. Covey affirmed a final determination of the Office of Open Records (“OOR”) ordering DEP to search for and to release DEP Section 208 determination letters issued since January 1… Read On