It being early March, we are now in the heady season between where employers send out tax forms, and everyone scrambles to file their taxes. This means we are also in the season where fraudsters race to file false tax returns using stolen identity information, a form of identity theft. Worse, the FBI recently issued a PSA warning of an Increase in W-2 phishing. “Phishing” is a mode of scam where a fraudster uses an official-looking email to obtain access… Read More

Like most businesses, your business likely enters contracts with other businesses. Some of these may be service contracts for drivers or other employees. Do you know if these contracts contain indemnity clauses? If so, do you know the exact terms of those clauses? Thanks to a new decision from the Virginia Supreme Court, the language of an indemnity clause in a contract may allow you to be held harmless by the other contracting party – even if that party’s employee… Read More

On April 1, 2018, Department of Transportation (“DOT”) and state officials will begin issuing out-of-service orders to drivers who are found in violation of the electronic logging device (“ELD”) mandate. This will mark an end to the “grace period” that was in effect after the final rule establishing the ELD mandate came into effect on December 18, 2017. During this period, those found in violation of the final rule would not have their CSA scores penalized if found without an… Read More

As you have likely noticed, the tides have been turning on the issue of medical marijuana in America—as more than half of all states have comprehensive medical marijuana laws, and several have expanded to legalize various forms of recreational marijuana use. Meanwhile, marijuana remains a Schedule I controlled substance under federal law. All of this might leave employers confused about how to approach the issue of medical marijuana when it arises. In February 2015 Governor Terry McAuliffe signed into law… Read More

On January 26th, following a request from the National Asphalt Pavement Association (NAPA), the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) published two exemptions to hours of service requirements (HOS) in order to accommodate those carriers engaged in the transportation of asphalt. The first exemption will enable drivers engaged in the transportation of asphalt and related materials to use 30 minutes or more of on-duty “waiting time” to satisfy the requirement for the 30-minute rest break, provided they do not perform… Read More

The Supreme Court of Virginia recently decided an important case concerning spoliation of evidence and issues of jury instructions and liability at trial. First, you may ask “what is spoliation of evidence?” You may also ask—“why do I care?” Spoliation of evidence occurs when a party is aware that there is pending or probable litigation involving evidence in the party's custody or under its control, and such evidence, if destroyed or otherwise not preserved, will interfere with the ability of… Read More

Va. Code Ann. § 65.2-708 generally bars an injured worker from seeking compensation benefits, that is, lost wages, if a claim is not filed within 24 months of the date where compensation was last paid pursuant to an order under the Va. Workers’ Compensation Act (permanent loss and extraordinary equitable circumstances exempted). While this bar is not jurisdictional and can be waived, see Diaz v. Wilderness Resort Ass'n & Liberty Mut. Ins. Co., 56 Va. App. 104, 116, (2010), it… Read More

In most workplaces, the days of corridors filled with filing cabinets filled with folders filled with documents are gone, replaced by a noisy, overheating room filled with servers loosely connected to obscure, arcane backup options. In the days of paper, physical space was at a premium, now drive space and bandwidth pose similar limitations on the storage of documents. As part of this shift from corporeal to cyber, both laws, and partly as a result of laws, policies regarding document… Read More