Top 10 Labour and Employment Headlines from All Regions The 2009-2010 formal session of the Massachusetts Legislature ended with another new law that will affect Massachusetts employers. The Queensland Supreme Court has affirmed that an appropriately worded contractual indemnity is adequate to effectively transfer liability in negligence from a tortfeasor to the party granting the indemnity. On July 23, 2010, the IRS, the Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA), and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) jointly published a final rule implementing the new provisions of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) governing a group health plan's internal claims and appeal processes and external appeal requirements. On July 21, 2010, President Obama signed into law the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act ("Dodd-Frank Act"). The H-1B visa program is used by U.S. employers to employ foreign nationals in specialty occupations that require theoretical or technical expertise in a specialized field and require a bachelor's degree or its equivalent as a minimum requirement. On July 14, 2010, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) published a notice of proposed rulemaking (Proposed Rule) to implement modifications to the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act's (HIPAA) Privacy, Security and Enforcement Rules. On 3 June 2010, Fair Work Australia’s Minimum Wage Panel released its decision on the first Annual Wage Review conducted under the Fair Work industrial relations framework. This decision is the first adjustment to wages in Australia’s national industrial relations system since October 2008. General protections provisions are being widely accessed by employees, with recent court decisions demonstrating the breadth of the provisions and the coercive powers available to protect employees who have exercised an employee right. All corporations and organisations in Australia should be paying attention to the David Jones sexual harassment case, because, if it succeeds, there will be a new, and quicker, path for making claims of sexual harassment. Certain federal contractors and subcontractors must soon inform employees about their rights under the National Labor Relations Act ("NLRA"), the primary law governing relations between unions and employers in the private sector. | 
