Idaho Law Blog

Does the Fair Labor Standards Act apply to persons employed in Idaho?

Published on: August 23, 2016 | by Racine Olson

The Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) is a federal law that provides minimum wage, overtime pay, and other protections to covered, nonexempt employees. Employees who are “engaged in commerce” are covered employees. 29 U.S.C.S. § 206(a). An employee is engaged in commerce if he or she performs work “involving or related to the movement of persons or things” between state lines or overseas. See 29 CFR 779.103. However, the term commerce is defined so broadly under federal law that the FLSA covers almost every employee in Idaho. See 29 CFR 776.8. For example, the following employees are deemed to be engaged in commerce:

An employee in Idaho who uses a telephone, the U.S. mail, or e-mail to communicate with persons in another state.

Four Basic Steps to Sell Your Idaho Home “For Sale By Owner.”

Published on: August 23, 2016 | by Racine Olson

Real estate agents are a great asset when you sell your home. They can help you determine an appropriate price, market and show your home to potential buyers, negotiate the sales contract, and help you avoid problems and hiccups along the way. However, a real estate agent is not required, and some homeowners successfully sell their home without one.

The main reason people sell their homes “For Sale By Owner” is to avoid paying a real estate agent commission—typically six percent (6%) of the purchase price in Idaho. These savings are considerable, but they do not come without effort and risk. In addition to advertising and showing your home, it may take longer to find a buyer, and the ultimate sales price may be less than what a real estate agent could have obtained. If you feel comfortable with these challenges, consider the following advice.

List your home at the right price.

Estate Planning to Protect Your Children!

Published on: August 22, 2016 | by Racine Olson

By Lane V. Erickson, Attorney

We all think that we are going to live a long life. We just can’t conceive the notion that our life could come to a premature end. However, a recent headline grabbed my attention and helped me realize once again the urgent need we all have to complete our Estate Planning to protect our children. The headline:

11 Children Left Behind!

The 3 Ways You Can Avoid Probate in Idaho?

Published on: August 18, 2016 | by Racine Olson

By Lane V. Erickson, Attorney

There is a common misconception in Idaho that a surviving spouse is not required to go through the probate process. I suppose most people assume that the surviving spouse is somehow automatically entitled to receive and own all of the decedent’s property. The truth though is that property does not automatically transfer to the surviving spouse. The decedent is entitled to give his property away in his Last Will and Testament to whomever he wants which could include the surviving spouse, children, charities or even strangers. Unless special steps are taken to avoid probate, Idaho’s statutes and its courts require nearly all estates to be probated. There are, however, 3 ways you can avoid a Probate in Idaho.

1. Small Estate and No Real Property

100th Anniversary of the Idaho Worker’s Compensation Act

Published on: August 17, 2016 | by Racine Olson

By Fred J. Lewis

In 1917, the workers of the state of Idaho got some good news. The Idaho legislature passed the Idaho worker’s Compensation Act. Next year will be the 100th anniversary of the Idaho Worker’s Compensation Act. The grand bargain that was struck between employers and laborers centered on the requirement to prove fault on the part of the employer in order to recover. In exchange for sure and certain relief, the injured workers of Idaho traded their ability to bring negligence actions against their employer and the Idaho Worker’s Compensation claim became their sole remedy.

The Idaho Worker’s Compensation Act is a no fault exclusive remedy by an injured worker against their employer. The Act was never intended to make an injured worker whole. However, it at least provides a subsistence amount of benefits that lessens the sting of devastating injuries that happen at work. Specifically, it provides the following:

SUMMARY OF ESPA SETTLEMENT AGREEMENT

Published on: August 9, 2016 | by Racine Olson

By: Randy Budge, T.J. Budge

On June 30, 2015, a historic settlement agreement was entered into between groundwater users and surface water users to permanently end conflict over use and management of Idaho’s vast Eastern Snake Plain Aquifer (ESPA). Nearly the size of Lake Erie, the ESPA supplies water to roughly two million acres of farmland and dozens of cities and industries across southern Idaho. About half of that farmland is irrigated with groundwater pumped from the ESPA while the other half is irrigated with surface water from the Snake River that is supplemented with groundwater that discharges from the ESPA into the Snake River via springs located primarily in the American Falls and Thousand Springs areas. The settlement resolved more than a decade of contentious litigation between surface water and groundwater users. It calls for increased aquifer recharge funded by the State of Idaho and diversion reductions by groundwater users designed to stabilize and over time improve groundwater levels

Groundwater levels in the ESPA have been declining since the 1950s due the conversion from flood to sprinkler irrigation, the advent of groundwater irrigation, and persistent drought. As groundwater levels declined, so have spring discharges from the ESPA into the Snake River, thus reducing the water supply available to senior surface water rights. This spawned a meteoric conflict as canal companies in the Magic Valley and fish hatcheries in the Thousand Springs area called on the Idaho Department of Water Resources (IDWR) to shut off junior groundwater pumping in an effort to increase spring and surface water flows.

Idaho Industrial Commission Values Loss of Labor Market Access

Published on: August 8, 2016 | by Racine Olson

By Fred J. Lewis

Good news for injured Idaho workers. In Hackworth v. Super 8 and Employers Workers Compensation Co., the Claimant injured her left wrist as she was lifting a box. A local orthopedic surgeon performed four surgeries on her left wrist. Claimant was able to return to work at or near her pre-injury wage. Therefore, she had little or no wage loss. However, her treating orthopedic surgeon gave her no permanent restrictions. Claimant was also seen by Dr. Bates, a physical medicine doctor from Meridian, Idaho, who believed she should have restrictions of 30 lbs. lifting, with no forceful gripping, and no pronation or supination of her wrist. The Commission was convinced that after four surgeries to her wrist the Claimant really should have some restrictions to prevent further injury to her wrist. In deciding that the Claimant was entitled to disability in excess of employment, the Commission stated the following:

Due to her functional limitation , her options for employment are more limited than younger, non-disabled workers who have more than high school educations and more transferable skills. It is important to note in particular the fact that due to the weakness of left hand, Claimant can no longer safely perform child care work, one of her most frequent past occupations, which is demonstrative of her reduced employability. The evidence, therefore, does not support Defendants’ contention that, merely because Claimant has had continuous employment since her industrial injury and has suffered no wage loss, she has also not suffered any disability in excess of impairment.

Avoid the 3 Biggest Estate Planning Mistakes of the Rich and Famous

Published on: August 4, 2016 | by Racine Olson

By Lane Erickson

Estate Planning can be tricky. This is true for the Rich and Famous just like it is for the rest of us. However, by reviewing the poor on incomplete Estate Planning of several celebrities we can learn to avoid the mistakes they made. Here are the 3 biggest Estate Planning mistakes of the Rich and Famous

1. Too Busy to Get My Estate Planning Done

Two Big Mistakes to Avoid in Pursuing Your Idaho Worker’s Compensation Claim

Published on: August 4, 2016 | by Racine Olson

By Fred J. Lewis

First, your treating physician must adopt the restrictions set out in the functional capacity evaluation (FCE) or there is a good chance the Idaho Industrial Commission will deny your claim. Second, if you do not do a work search, chances are you’ll lose your Idaho Worker’s Compensation case.

In Kim Gray v. Industrial Special Indemnity Fund (ISIF) filed on May 5, 2016, the claimant found out the hard way that you have to have your treating physician adopt the restrictions given by the physical therapist as a result of a functional capacity evaluation and do a work search or you will lose your total and permanent disability case. The claimant in this case was injured in a number of accidents and at the time of the hearing, was unable to work. However, the claimant made one job inquiry as a part of his job search. The claimant completely relied on the opinion of his vocational expert that it would be futile for him to look for a job. This was the death nail to the claimant’s case.

The Doctor Game

Published on: August 2, 2016 | by Racine Olson

In Idaho worker’s compensation cases the doctors control the most important evidence ie causation, restrictions and impairment. As the injured person you have to come forward with medical evidence in the form of opinions from your doctor to support your Idaho worker’s compensation claim. Often your employer will send you to a physician there insurance company always uses. This could be a physician’s assistant or a doctor. Often these physicians will try to get you back to work as soon as possible. Let us say you injured you back. You go to PA your employer sent you to and he thinks you are fine gives you some pain meds and sends you back to work. You want a second opinion. You go see a spine specialist. They determine you need to be off work for a while to heal and get better. Unfortunately you didn’t get a referral to the spine specialist from that PA you first saw, and your employer won’t accept the spine specialist’s opinion. Even though the spine specialist has done countless number of spinal surgeries and went to school for four years and had an additional six years of training. Doesn’t make sense right? It doesn’t to me either.

Always try and get a written referral from a doctor the Idaho worker’s compensation insurance company has paid as a part Idaho worker’s compensation claim. The new doctor will then be in the referral chain and　 Idaho worker’s compensation insurance company will then be required to pay the new doctor so long as you can prove through medical testimony that the care they provide is reasonable.

In the end the treating physician’s opinion will have more weight and so will the spine specialist, but until that time comes, you are caught up in the doctor game. An expert Idaho worker’s compensation attorney can help you get the treatment you need. Idaho worker’s compensation lawyers work with medical professionals all the time and know who to refer you to get the proper treatment.