Compliance

If your company retains personal and sensitive information about your employees, clients, or customers, you must protect this data. Cybercriminals attack businesses each day to steal data they can use for profit. As a business owner, it is important that you understand data security. A Read more . . .

The National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC) drafted the Insurance Data Security Model Law in 2017. On May 9, 2018, South Carolina became the first state to enact a version of the law. The provisions of the South Carolina Insurance Data Security Act will become effective for businesses on January 1, 2019. Therefore, if you are not aware of how the new law affects your business, you may want to consult a South Carolina business compliance lawyer as soon as possible to avoid any problems.

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Do you have an office or other operation in the European Union? Does your business sell products or services in the European Union? If you monitor, collect, or maintain personal data within the European Union, you need to ensure that your company complies fully with the requirements of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) for the European Union. Steps that our

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There are many reasons why a person or company may file a breach of duty claim. A breach of duty can occur for a variety of reasons related to several different areas of law, including personal injury claims, medical malpractice, probate law, and business law. The breach occurs when a company or a person owes a duty of care to another company or person and fails to adhere to the standard of reasonable care in a specific situation. When a company or person breaches a duty of care, that person may be held liable for negligence.

Filing a breach of duty claim or defending a breach of duty claim can be very difficult.

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Operating a successful business can be extremely satisfying. However, it can be overwhelming, especially when you consider the federal, state, and local laws and regulations that your business must comply with each day. The federal fines, lawsuits, criminal penalties, and other damages that can result when a company experiences compliance issues can be costly. Our

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If you assume that you do not need to comply with a regulation passed by the European Union (EU), you are wrong. Companies in the United States, including South Carolina, may be required to comply with the data privacy measures of the GDPR or face substantial fines. If you are unsure whether you need to comply with the GDPR or if you have questions about the regulation, call our South Carolina business compliance lawyer for more information.

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The very words “compliance audit” are enough to send chills down the spines of many entrepreneurs and business executives in the state. Why do many people get anxious at the thought of having their businesses audited by compliance agents? It may be because they are aware of the tough penalties facing non-compliant companies or because they are not 100 percent certain their entire company operations are compliant with federal and state regulations.

If you are having doubts as to whether your company’s top-down operations comply with the law, reach out to an experienced South Carolina compliance lawyer to help you identify non-compliance hotspots.
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Will my business be affected by the new overtime rule?

On December 1, 2016, a new overtime rule will go into effect, impacting an anticipated four million employees and their employers.  The changes, enacted by the United States Department of Labor (DOL), will significantly increase the annual salary requirement needed for employees to be considered exempt from overtime pay.  With less than five months before all employers must comply with this new federal regulation, many are scrambling to understand what it may mean for their business.

The Final DOL Overtime Rule

The Final Rule, announced on May 18, 2016 by President Obama and Secretary Perez, can be summarized as follows:

• The salary threshold for exempt white collar workers will increase from $23,660 a year (or $455 per week) to $47,476 a year (or $913 per week).
• For highly compensated employees, the salary threshold will increase from $100,000 a year to $134,000 per year.

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How can my business protect its trade secrets?

Certain forms of intellectual property such as patents, trademarks and copyrights have long enjoyed protection under Federal law. Until recently, this has not been the case for trade secrets. Now that Congressional lawmakers have passed the Defend Trade Secrets Act of 2016 (DTSA), however, owners of trade secrets will have a Federal private cause of action for the misappropriation of this highly sensitive information.

What are Trade Secrets?

Information such as formulas, designs, practices, processes or patterns that are not widely known outside of a business are considered to be trade secrets. These can include things like the formula for Coca-Cola or any of Google's search algorithms.

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As a small business owner, compliance with business and tax laws are likely at the forefront of your to-do list each month. Most notably, compliance with state and federal tax laws is one of the simplest ways to avoid fines and penalties – as well as insulate the business from unnecessary auditing and records inspection.

As the current quarter nears a close, the following corporate law tax changes me be of assistance to your business as you prepare your filings.
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How accommodating does an employer have to be to an employee with disabilities?

A case was recently brought before the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals concerning a disabled employee seeking accommodations beyond those required by the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). Both ADA federal regulations for businesses with more than 15 employees and state laws for smaller businesses require that employers make "reasonable" accommodations to disabled employees unless doing so would create "undue hardship."

The case in question involves a man who worked as a human resources specialist for the Durham Veterans Administration Medical Center in North Carolina from 2003 until his termination in 2011 for poor job performance. The employee suffers from dyslexia and attention deficit disorder (ADD). For most of his time working for the Veterans Administration, he did not request or receive special accommodation and his work was considered acceptable. His duties included customer service, recruitment, and providing technical advice and assistance.

About one year before his termination, however, he received a poor performance report. At that time, he was given a Performance Improvement Plan which he successfully completed. Nonetheless, in May, 2011, for the first time, he made a request for accommodation of his disabilities, including that his duties be limited and his performance standards lowered; he also requested an assistant. He stated that, due to organizational, leadership, and technological changes, his job had become untenable and that he had been “hospitalized twice due to the stress of the position."

In response, the Durham Veterans Administration Medical Center offered him a possible transfer to a less stressful, albeit lower-salaried, position, but he refused. He said he was interested only in the chaplain or patient advocate position, but neither was available. At this point, the employee filed a formal Equal Employment Opportunity complaint and in August, 2011 was terminated for documented performance violations, including failure to perform necessary tasks in a timely manner.

The employee sued under the Rehabilitation Act and the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of North Carolina dismissed the lawsuit in favor of the employer. Although the employee appealed his case to the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, the appellate court upheld the lower court’s decision. Both stated that employer was not compelled to change either the employee's workload, its own performance standards, or to hire an extra employee to assist him.

If you are having legal difficulties with employment or labor law issues, or would like to discuss other business-related matters of law, please contact one of our highly qualified attorneys at Willcox, Buyck & Williams. Serving clients throughout South Carolina, we can be reached at: 843.536.8050 or 843.461.3020.