Senate Bill 18: Will the General Assembly Finally Clarify the Reach of the Peer Review Privilege?

By Rachel K. Mulloy

A bill passed in the Kentucky Senate (by a vote of 22-12) and currently awaiting House action in the Judiciary Committee proposes to amend the portion of KRS 311.377 pertaining to the confidentiality of certain medical records.  If passed, Senate Bill 18, sponsored by Senator Ralph Alvarado of Senate District 28, will prevent records of an entity, group, or individual performing a professional review function from being admissible in any civil action or administrative proceeding, including, specifically, medical malpractice actions.

Under the proposed amendment, KRS 311.377(2) reads as follows:

At all times in performing a designated professional review function, the proceedings, records, opinions, conclusions, and recommendations of any committee, board, commission, medical staff, professional standards review organization, or other entity, as referred to in subsection (1) of this section shall be

Kentucky’s “Gender Pay Gap”

By Amanda Warford Edge

According to a new study and report from PayScale.com, working women in Kentucky earn 22.2% less than men, with the median pay for a male worker being $48,900, compared with $38,100 for a female worker. This “gender pay gap” — as it is often termed — is slightly smaller than the pay gap nationwide.

The report states that across the 50 states and the District of Columbia, women earned 23.7% less than men in 2016, with a median pay of $58,000 for male workers and $44,300 for female workers. These figures are representative of the raw gender pay gap — which looks at a median salary for all men and women, regardless of job type or worker seniority.

The same study and report also took into account factors such as years of work experience, education, company size, job title, and job level to determine a “controlled” gender pay gap. In so doing, it found that

Lexington Has a New Mandatory Minimum Wage Rate…For Now

By Leila G. O’Carra

The Lexington-Fayette Urban County Government’s minimum wage ordinance went into effect earlier this month, increasing the minimum wage requirements for all employers within Lexington-Fayette County.  As of July 1, 2016, the minimum wage for Lexington is $8.20 per hour.  On the same date, Louisville’s minimum wage hit $8.25 pursuant to that city’s minimum wage ordinance, which first raised Louisville’s minimum wage to $7.75 as of July 1, 2015.  Kentucky’s state minimum wage requirement matches the federal minimum wage at $7.25 per hour.

Does a local government have the authority to invoke a minimum wage that is higher than Kentucky’s requirement?  This is one of the issues that Kentucky’s Supreme Court may soon decide in the case of Kentucky Restaurant Association, et al. v. Louisville/Jefferson County Metro Government, Case No. 2015-SC-371.  If the Court answers the question in the negative, the mandatory minimum wage rates in Lexington and Louisville will drop back down to $7.25 per hour.

 

Lexington-Fayette Urban County Council Votes 9-6 to Increase the Minimum Wage to $10.10 over the Next Three Years

By Sharon L. Gold

At last night’s packed council meeting, the Lexington-Fayette Urban County Council voted 9-6 to increase the minimum wage in the city to $10.10 over the next three years. The ordinance provides that the minimum wage shall increase to $8.20 an hour on July 1, 2016, $9.15 an hour on July 1, 2017, and $10.10 an hour on July 1, 2018. Mayor Gray indicated to the media that he will sign the ordinance.

Neighboring Louisville passed an ordinance increasing the minimum wage to $9 over the next three years. A group of businesses challenged the Louisville ordinance and that case is currently pending before the Kentucky Supreme Court. The Court will ultimately have to decide whether cities have the authority to increase the minimum wage.

This issue is being hotly contested all across the country, with proponents of a minimum wage increase arguing that families cannot live on the current minimum wage of $7.25 per hour. Opponents of the wage increase argue, on the other hand, that raising the minimum wage will hurt lower income families because it will result in lost jobs and increased cost in everything from groceries to gas. Others argue that job training and education are more proper avenues to raise working families’ incomes.