They Insured WHAT??!!

There are some interesting folks out there, and very few businesses as many crazy members of humanity as the insurance biz does. Throughout history, there have been some wacky, weird, and downright bizarre insurance claims, as people try to protect things that are valuable to them, no matter how strange they may seem. Here are the top five weirdest policies that will make you say, “They insured WHAT??!”

#5: The Loch Ness Monster
This famed cryptic is thought to live in the Loch Ness Lake in the highlands of Scotland. The legend started in the seventh century when a monk was supposedly attacked by a “sea beast.” The story told by witnesses was recorded and has been passed down ever since with many variations on the original tale. There have been many murky pictures were taken that have claimed to be of this sea monster, but nothing definitive has been snapped thus far. However, the Cutty Stark Company is not giving up hope. They have offered a $1.5 million reward for anyone who manages to capture the monster alive. They also took out an insurance policy to cover this $1.5 mil. Whether or not insurance will have to pay has yet to be determined. The myth has been around since the 600s, so who knows?

#4: Who wants to be a Millionaire?
Ironically, this long-running game show is actually insured to cover their losses if a contestant manages to win the competition. This insurance is set against the possibility of a victorious contestant. I guess it’s more a question of who’s going to pay the “millionaire” than who’s going to be one.

#3: J. Lo
Jenny from the Block is one of the biggest stars in Hollywood and she’s not taking any chances with her famously beautiful physical appearance. Jennifer Lopez has insured her butt for a whopping $27 million, guarding against any gluteal injury that might hurt her career. And she’s not the only celeb: Dolly Parton has also insured her chest, Bruce Springsteen has insured his voice, and Rihanna (after receiving an award from Gillette razors) has insured her legs for $1 million.

#2: Alien Abduction
No, this is not a joke. Think of it as a life insurance policy, except not necessarily for a death, per say. People can purchase alien abduction insurance in case they are abducted by extraterrestrials. Possibly the most comical aspect of this is that there is a higher payout for people who have the misfortune of being abducted frequently by aliens. You would have to prove that you were abducted in order to receive your money, however. Alien abduction is something that’s pretty impossible to prove, considering that most people are probably going to be very skeptical. You can also insure yourself against falling UFO parts and debris that comes hurtling down from space as a result of these alien invaders.

#1: Werewolf (or Vampire) Insurance
The only thing possibly weirder than alien abduction insurance is insurance that is purchased in case someone is transformed into a werewolf or vampire. Lloyd’s of London, an overseas company, has put out around 60,000 policies that protect against just that. You would have to prove that you were turned into one of these terrifying creatures, and so far, to the best of our knowledge, no one has walked into an insurance company’s office that looks even remotely like a werewolf or vampire.
These are only a few examples of the strange policies people take out against a variety of body-part-related or supernatural incidents. But even for those of us who aren’t looking to insure something quite that unique, insurance is still a very important part of taking care of your health, family, pets, and future. Companies, like Insurance Land, can help you choose the right insurance for your lifestyle.

About the author
Lautaro Martinez, a freelance writer who has interests in personal health enjoys contributing articles into healthy living. If you would like to learn more about Lautaro, you can check out his google+ profile.

Common Myths About Civil Law

Chances are the everyday average Joe doesn’t know too much about law and legal matters, beyond the most basic and obvious matters. It’s exactly for that reason that lawyers are able to make such a booming trade. When people find themselves faced with legal conundrums, they need someone who knows the laws involved and the legal system inside and out to help get them out again. So unsurprisingly, there are a lot of myths and misconceptions about civil law floating about the populace. Some are, admittedly, rotted in some measure of truth. Others are just outright fabrications.
Should you ever find yourself in a situation that requires a working knowledge of civil law, it’s important to know fact from fiction. Making yourself aware of the most common myths about civil law is the first towards gaining a basic working knowledge to help in any future cases.

#1 The McDonalds Coffee Case
You may have heard this floated around from time to time. If so, it usually goes like this: a woman having a meal at McDonalds orders a cup of coffee, and ends up burning herself on it because it’s “too hot”. She ended up getting $8 million from McDonalds, and that’s why we have to remind people coffee might be hot. This is usually followed by a jab at how easy it is to get money from lawsuits, or how stupid some people are to not realize coffee might be hot.
Don’t believe everything you hear around the water cooler.
What’s often not mentioned about this case is that the woman didn’t just singe her tongue on her coffee. She spilt it on her lap and the coffee caused third-degree burns on her thigh. For those who’ve forgotten, that means it was hot enough to burn through all the layers of her skin. That sort of thing requires emergency medical attention. So ask yourself: just how hot was that coffee to be able to do that?
Another thing often mentioned was that McDonalds didn’t just pay upfront the $8 million awarded. The woman initially just wanted her medical bills covered. However, during the course of the proceedings, it was found that McDonalds knew their coffee was being kept at temperatures high enough to cause third-degree burns, yet persisted the practice anyway. Thus, the amount was so inflated because the damages were so grievous, and because McDonalds showed such disregard for the health and safety of their customers.
What this all underlines is this: lawsuits do not usually pay out such high amounts of cash. In most personal injury claims, your winnings may actually be very small. Payments in the region of tens of thousands of dollars and larger are actually quite rare. The McDonalds Hot Coffee Case was the exception by nature of being very exceptional, it is not the rule.

#2 You Must Suffer Physical Damage to have a Case
When people talk of suffering “injury” or “damage”, they have a tendency to take those terms rather literally. Before you can go to court, you need to actually have a physical injury to show for it. So, for example, say you’re at work and you’re being bullied or harassed by a colleague, or even a superior. You’ve reported it to Human Resources, but they’re not doing anything about it. Over time, the harassment causes you emotional stress and prevents you from working. However, you don’t actually suffer anything truly physical from it.
Some would say this means you cannot take anyone to court. After all, how can you quantify feelings? A broken leg can easily be assessed by how much it costs to have it seen to at the hospital. But what does emotional pain cost?
Actually, that’s one of the things that would be settled in a lawsuit. An injury does not have to be physical, it just needs to have damaged the person somehow. And emotional anguish is damage. What it does mean, though, it that lawyers may be more reluctant to take up your case, as it can be hard to exactly assess how much those damages cost. Unless the potential claim is big enough to entice them, it may be hard to find representation.

#3 You Must Always Present Original Copies Paperwork
Actually, this is a bad idea. If you submit an original document when filing a plea, say a birth certificate or an important receipt, there’s actually a chance it could go missing during the process. And then where does that leave you?
This myth roots itself in the idea that, in order to proceed in a civil court, you must have original copies to verify their authenticity. After all, copies could easily be fake or stolen. It’s mistaken, however – most courts are happy to accept photocopies when filing a plea. You will, however, be asked to present originals during the actual hearing. If you can’t provide them, then it doesn’t mean your case won’t go through. It just means your copies have to be verified by a gazetted officer. To help the process, make sure all your copies are clear with identifying marks (such as seals, signatures and barcodes) clearly visible.

#4 It’s Fine to Copy Work if it’s Non-Profit
This only really applies under certain circumstances. Well there are works out there that can be freely copied and distributed – such as documents and works that exist the public domain – in most other cases permission must still be sought from the owners of the work in question before you use the work. Even if you don’t plan to make any money off of the work in question, the fact remains you’re denying the original owner the chance to make money themselves off of it. That counts as copyright infringement and allows the owner to sue for financial losses.
So to use an example. Copying and reproducing copies of Geoffrey Chaucer’s The Canterbury Tales is perfectly fine because that work exists in the public domain. It’s owned collectively by the public, and can be used, distributed and adapted freely. However, Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings is a product still owned by Tolkien’s estate and is still held under copyright. Thus using anything from the works – even the word “hobbit” – is a breach of that copyright, even if the use is non-commercial.

#5 You Are Responsible for Your Spouse’s Debts
Again, this myth is only true under a specific circumstance – you’ve entered the debt jointly, have secured the debt against a joint property, or you are a guarantor of those debts. In those instances, you share responsibility for them. However, if the debts exist in solely the other person’s name, then they are solely responsible for it. You are not legally required to pay for any of it.
The law can be confusing as there are so many different scenarios where this can happen or this can’t happen. It can be overwhelming, especially if you are considering filing, or are in the midst of a trial. It is definitely up to you to do your research, but there are things that you won’t and can’t understand without a lawyer. So if you find yourself confused and, reach out to a lawyer, as most of the time they offer a first time free consultation, like David Heil at Heil Law in Orlando Florida.

About the author
Christian Mills, the writer of this article is a professional student and freelance writer who contributes articles for people to have a better understanding of the law and their rights.

5 Ridiculous Trademark Attempts

A lot of people are under the impression that you can trademark anything as long as no one else beats you to it. In reality, this simply isn’t the case 99.9 percent of the time.

There are several rules regarding what you can and can’t trademark, but the primary consideration is that what you are trademarking has to be original or exclusively associated with you or your brand.

Although there have been a few exceptions over the years where the UPSTO approved something that wasn’t completely original, it’s a very rare occurrence. However, that fact doesn’t stop some people and companies from trying to trademark things that obviously don’t qualify.

It’s hard to tell sometimes if these are just publicity stunts or if these people actually think they have a case for their trademark. Either way, some of them are really funny. In this article we’ve found five of the most ridiculous trademark attempts for you to get a laugh at.

1. Walmart Attempts to Trademark Yellow Smiley Face

In 2006, the international retailer Walmart filed an application to trademark the yellow smiley face that use on signs in their stores and in their advertising. Although the yellow smiley face is a key part of their branding, Walmart was not the first company to use the famous icon.

The first-known yellow smiley face was created by a freelance artist named Harvey Ball in 1963, which he sold to the State Mutual Life Insurance Company. The image later reached the masses when two brothers trademarked the combination of the image and the tagline “Have a nice day” and made millions off of merchandise featuring the combination.

2. Harley Davidson Attempts to Trademark the Sound of a Revving Engine

Inspired by NBC (which trademarked their three-tone jingle) and MGM (who trademarked the lion’s roar), Harley Davidson wanted to trademark their own signature sound and filed for an application to trademark the sound of a revving engine. Although their vehicles aren’t the first or only vehicles to feature that sound, one could argue that a loud revving engine is something that most people could associate with Harley Davidson.

However, the application was dropped in the year 2000 after several other manufacturers complained that their engines made the exact same sounds. It might have been a clever idea, but it’s definitely one of the more ridiculous trademark attempts of any auto manufacturer.

3. Jason Gamber Attempts to Trademark the Term “SEO”

The term SEO is an acronym for search engine optimization, which is a marketing strategy to boost the rankings of a website in search engines such as Google. The term is used widely among internet marketers, marketing professionals, and people who manage websites for personal or business use.

The idea of trademarking SEO is almost as ridiculous as trying to trademark the work marketing. Gambert filed several applications beginning in 2007, which never received a final decision until 2010 when a blogger alerted the public of his attempts. Several people filed notices of opposition and the UPSTO denied his requests in March of 2010.

4. Donald Trump Attempts to Trademark the Phrase “You’re Fired”

No surprise here, as The Donald is known for his attention-grabbing antics. Following the success of his reality show The Apprentice, Trump attempted to trademark his signature phrase from the show -- “you’re fired” -- in an attempt to make more money off the show’s success.

Despite the fact that this phrase is so commonly used in the public domain, that’s not the exact reason that Trump was denied. Apparently, officials felt that “you’re fired” sounded too similar to “You’re Hired,” which is an educational board game.

5. The New England Patriots Attempt to Trademark “19-0”

After going undefeated throughout the entire 2008 season and the playoffs, the New England Patriots’ owner rushed to apply for a trademark on the phrase “19-0” just weeks before the Super Bowl. They ended up losing the Super Bowl to the New York Giants, losing their perfect record. In addition, they were denied their trademark.

The New York Post refused to let them off the hook for this ridiculous trademark patent and filed an application for the phrase “18-1” following the Giants victory in the Super Bowl.

Bonus: Boise State University Successfully Trademarks Their Blue Turf

Just to give you an idea of the ridiculous trademarks that do get approved, here is a great example. For years Boise State University has been known for their signature blue turf, also referred to as the Smurf Turf.

In 2009 they finally claimed their signature turf officially, which prevents other universities from using blue turf in their football stadiums. (Not that they want to.) In an interesting turn of events, several universities responded by changing the colors of their fields. A notable example is Eastern Washington that installed bright red turf.

Kyle Stout is a freelance writer based out of Houston, TX. This article was prepared on behalf of Vethan Law Firm P.C.

Rules on Service of Summons

Rules on service of summons is largely dependent upon the nature of action: whether it is in personan, in rem, or quasi in rem. In SPOUSES DOMINGO M. BELEN, ET. AL., vs. HON. PABLO R. CHAVEZ, et al. G.R. No. 175334, March 26, 2008, the Supreme Court cited a case, to wit:

In Asiavest Limited v. Court of Appeals,[7] the Court underscored the necessity of determining first whether the action is in personam, in rem or quasi in rem because the rules on service of summons under Rule 14 of the Rules of Court of the Philippines apply according to the nature of the action.The Court elaborated, thus:

In an action in personam, jurisdiction over the person of the defendant is necessary for the court to validly try and decide the case. Jurisdiction over the person of a resident defendant who does not voluntarily appear in court can be acquired by personal service of summons as provided under Section 7, Rule 14 of the Rules of Court. If he cannot be personally served with summons within a reasonable time, substituted service may be made in accordance with Section 8 of said Rule. If he is temporarily out of the country, any of the following modes of service may be resorted to: (1) substituted service set forth in Section 8; (2) personal service outside the country, with leave of court; (3) service by publication, also with leave of court; or (4) any other manner the court may deem sufficient.

However, in an action in personam wherein the defendant is a non-resident who does not voluntarily submit himself to the authority of the court, personal service of summons within the state is essential to the acquisition of jurisdiction over her person. This method of service is possible if such defendant is physically present in the country. If he is not found therein, the court cannot acquire jurisdiction over his person and therefore cannot validly try and decide the case against him. An exception was laid down in Gemperle v. Schenker wherein a non-resident was served with summons through his wife, who was a resident of the Philippines and who was his representative and attorney-in-fact in a prior civil case filed by him; moreover, the second case was a mere offshoot of the first case.

On the other hand, in a proceeding in rem or quasi in rem, jurisdiction over the person of the defendant is not a prerequisite to confer jurisdiction on the court provided that the court acquires jurisdiction over the res. Nonetheless, summons must be served upon the defendant not for the purpose of vesting the court with jurisdiction but merely for satisfying the due process requirements. Thus, where the defendant is a non-resident who is not found in the Philippines and (1) the action affects the personal status of the plaintiff; (2) the action relates to, or the subject matter of which is property in the Philippines in which the defendant has or claims a lien or interest; (3) the action seeks the exclusion of the defendant from any interest in the property located in the Philippines; or (4) the property of the defendant has been attached in the Philippines service of summons may be effected by (a) personal service out of the country, with leave of court; (b) publication, also with leave of court; or (c) any other manner the court may deem sufficient.

Republic Act 7875 Implementing Rules and Regulations

The law requires that all business establishments must enrol their employees with Philhealth. To know more about this law, you can read the Implementing Rules and Regulations of Republic Act No. 7875 from the Philhealth website.

Philhealth Vision: Bawat Pilipino dapat miyembro. Bawat miyembro ay protektado. Kalusugan natin sigurado.

Just What Are You Allowed or Not Allowed To Trademark?

Using trademarks to protect the intellectual property of your business is a smart move. However, before you start trying to prevent all of your competitors from using any word or image that you’ve ever looked at, it would be a good idea to find out what you can and can’t trademark. There are a number of things, or “marks”, that can be protected by trademark.

Before we go any further I should mention that this is not legal advice and you should always speak with an attorney before filing for trademarks or patents. Filing a trademark isn’t as straightforward as say for example, forming an LLC, and a trademark attorney can save you from wasted time and money.

What Can Be Trademarked?

A trademark’s purpose is to protect things that identify a business in the marketplace such as a word, phrase, symbol or design that “identifies and distinguishes the goods or services of one person or company from those of others.” Your logo, brand name, tagline, or any other similar branding elements are protected.

What Are the Easiest Marks to Trademark?

You must file an application to have your mark registered and there is no guarantee that it will be accepted, even if it appears to meet the basic criteria. Some marks are more likely to be accepted than others. Below are the marks that are most likely to be successfully trademarked.

Fanciful Marks

Marks that you’ve created originally or coined for the sole purpose of identifying your business or brand are referred to as fanciful marks. Well-known examples include Exxon, Kodak, Febreze, and Xerox. Fanciful marks are generally the easiest to protect. The only downside is that they can require a larger investment to increase awareness and establish a connection between the unique name and the brand promise it represents.

Arbitrary Marks

In the case of an arbitrary name, a common word is used for a brand or product that is unrelated. Arbitrary names are excellent for trademarks and are usually easy to protect. Some examples you are likely familiar with include Apple for a computer company, Coach for purses, Puma for athletic apparel, Lotus for software, and Jockey for underwear.

Suggestive Marks

Suggestive marks are generally unique and suggest a mental association between the name and the features or benefits of the product or service that the name represents. Suggestive marks are much more common than fanciful or arbitrary marks, despite not being quite as strong. The reason is that suggestive marks usually grant a marketing advantage of tying a mark to the product in a customer’s mind. Suggestive marks are often confused with descriptive marks, but the key difference is that suggestive marks require a bit of thought and creativity to link the name with the product or service, while descriptive marks do not require any imagination. As you can probably guess, this is a highly disputed area of trademark law.

Notable examples of suggestive marks include Microsoft for computer software, Sharpie for markers, Zappos for an online store, or Flickr for a photo sharing website.

What Can’t Be Trademarked?

While trademarks do cover a wide range of things, they still have their limitations. You can’t trademark generic names. A car manufacturer could not trademark the word “car” or “trunk” because those two words are very common in their industry. You (obviously) can’t trademark anything that’s already been registered by someone else. You also can’t trademark anything that might cause confusion between you and another business.

What Are the Hardest Marks to Trademark?

While there is a slight chance that you will be able to trademark one of the following marks, if you can prove that it is unique enough, the odds are not in your favor. Below are the most difficult marks to trademark from most likely to least likely.

Descriptive Marks

Choosing a company name that describes a certain feature of the product or service is considered descriptive and cannot be trademarked. An example would be “Garden Supply Store,” because it only describes what the store sells. In addition, changing the spelling of a common descriptive phrase, such as “Karpet Klean” will not likely be approved either. Small changes in spelling are not enough.

Geographically Descriptive Marks

Business names that include the geographic location of where the business operates are difficult to trademark. Examples such as “Houston Pest Control” or “Atlanta Auto Repair” would be very likely not be approved.

Surname Marks

Names that are primarily used as surnames are very difficult to trademark. Examples would be “Smith’s Lawn Care” or “Thompson’s Bakery.” The only way you would have a chance would be to invest so heavily in marketing that the names became established enough in the marketplace to have a secondary meaning in consumers’ minds as more than just a surname.

Generic Names

If your brand name could be used to describe an entire industry or category it is too generic to be trademarked. Examples would be “Speedy Car Wash” or “Dallas Loans.”

Deceptive Marks

Names that attempt to mislead or deceive consumers by inaccurately describing certain benefits or features of the product/service cannot be trademarked. For example, a company can’t use a phrase suggesting that the products are made in America if their products are manufactured in China.

5 Excuses Your Boss May Give You For Not Paying Overtime

The idea behind the movie “Horrible Bosses” was not dreamt out of thin air. Regardless of your critique of the movie, I think we are all well aware that not all bosses are great. In fact some are downright horrible. Hopefully you have not had the unfortunate pleasure of working under one, but if you have you know how miserable life can be for forty hours per week. Or more if you count overtime.

Speaking of overtime and horrible bosses, some bosses even go to great lengths to withhold hard earned overtime pay from their employees. You are legally entitled to an overtime pay rate if you work over forty hours in a workweek and are a non-exempt employee. So what do these horrible bosses commonly use as excuses for not paying overtime?

You Are Exempt
One common excuse that employers use to avoid paying employees overtime is claiming that the employee is exempt. To verify if you truly are exempt, you will want to run down the list of exemptions.

If you are a salaried employee, you are more than likely exempt. However, there is a caveat to this but more on that later. Another common exemption relates to job duties. For example, if your primary duties contain any supervisory role, you are usually exempt. The key to this is determining if your primary job duties consist of managerial or supervisory role. Simply having the job title of “Managing Supervisor” does not mean that you are exempt.

Executive, administrative, and professional job duties are also considered exempt. Professional job duties include doctors, lawyers, teachers and others.

You Are a Salaried Employee
As mentioned earlier salaried employees are typically exempt. In fact, most employers believe that any salaried employee loses their right to overtime pay. However, this is untrue. If you are not making at least $455 per week in salary, you are still entitled to overtime pay. Currently, this rate is in debate for being raised. Additionally, you must still fit into one of the other exemptions as state by the Fair Labor Standards Act.

That Was Off-the-clock Work
Another common excuse employers give to avoid paying you overtime is that the work you did was off-the-clock.

There are a number of ways in which employees can force you to do off-the-clock work. A common way is to make you work through your lunch or your break even though you’ve clocked out. They could also demand that you stay late, even if you’ve clocked out. Some employees do not even have a physical system for clocking in and out. In this case you are most likely required to keep a timesheet in which you are marked for eight hours each day, even though you worked through your lunch or stay late.

Hours Worked From Home Don’t Count
Another common example of employer excuses for not paying overtime is not paying your for the time you worked at home. Some jobs require that you respond to emails, texts, or phone calls even after you have left the office and are home.

If you are an hourly employee, you are entitled to earn your wage during that time period. So if you have spent an additional thirty minutes responding to emails before bed, make a point to track that time and add it to your daily total. Some employers think that they can get away with not paying you since you are not physically in the office.

Preventing You From Clocking In
The list of excuses continues as some bosses will actually require that you be in the office or jobsite at a certain time, but prevent you from clocking in until later. For example your boss may require you to come in at 8 a.m. but not allow you to clock in until 9 a.m. when the main business hours start. Regardless of if you are doing work in that hour or not, you are still legally entitled to that hour of pay. Your time worked starts the moment you enter the workplace.

All of these excuses can lead to employees missing out on some serious overtime pay. If you feel you have been cheated from overtime pay, you can contact your local labor commissioner or get in touch with an attorney that specializes in overtime wage disputes.

What is the FLSA (Fair Labor Standards Act)?

History of the Fair Labor Standards Act

The Fair Labor Standards Act, or FLSA, was first past in 1938 to establish 44 hours as the absolute maximum workweek. One of its primary intentions upon inception was to combat child labor, therefore keeping minors from being legally able to engage in any workforce considered to be oppressive to children and youth. In the process of the act's development, however, minimum wage and the time-and-a-half requirement for overtime pay within applicable job situations became established as this federal law went into effect.

Over the past 76 years since the FLSA was first past, many amendments have been made to it. These have included the specific amount of minimum wage, explanations regarding the types of jobs eligible for the overtime pay set forth within the law, and changes to the maximum legal workweek. Other amendments have been designed to prevent age discrimination, to extend the law's benefits to employees of the U.S. government, and to protect migrant and agricultural laborers.

The Present State of the Fair Labor Standards Act

In addition to the minimum wage, overtime pay, and child labor considerations that have been part of the FLSA since its beginnings, recordkeeping is now an essential aspect of upholding this law. An authorized government-endorsed poster must be displayed including all of the active FLSA requirements for employees to use for quick and easy reference.

As of July 24, 2009 the minimum wage mandated through an amendment to the FLSA is $7.25/hour. Individual states, however are entitled to choose their own rate of minimum wage. Nevertheless, if a particular employee is covered under both the federal and state minimum wage laws, then he or she is required to receive the greater amount between the federal and state minimum wage requirements.

Applicable employees must receive overtime pay for any workweek exceeding 40 hours. The time-and-a-half standard originally set in 1938 remains the minimum legal expectation for overtime pay today. However, there is no longer a limit on how many hours an eligible employee can work within a week, as was the case with the original act's limitation of 44 hours. The FLSA defines working hours as any time an employer requires his or her employees to be at a designated work site or whenever an employee is labeled as on duty through clocking in or other tool through which hours are tracked.

The child labor aspects of the law central to its original purpose are still in tact. The emphasis has shifted, however, with cultural changes over the past several decades. As such, the current weight is placed on the protection of minors' educational needs and the legal requirements therein. For a complete guide to all the current guidelines in place as a result of the FLSA, please click here.

Eligibility Requirements for Applicability of the Fair Labor Standards Act

The FLSA covers all employees engaged in the work of interstate commerce. This includes production, sales, transportation, and other involvement with work related to this manner of business. A company becomes subject to the FLSA when it fits one of three following categories.

The company's overall annual income reaches or exceeds $500,000.

The business is a hospital, school or other facility primarily purposed in health care or education.

The organization operates as an aspect of a larger public entity.

It must be realized, however, that some companies are subject to the minimum wage requirements while not themselves an organization covered by the entirety of the FLSA. As such, it is necessary for both employers and employees to be intimately familiar with the specific regulations and exemptions involved in the FLSA as outlined in the "Handy Reference Guide to the Fair Labor Standards Act" linked above.

Employees defined as domestic service workers are eligible to receive all the benefits of the FLSA if their wages in 2010 were $1,700 or more or if they work eight hours or more each week. Employees who receive tips that exceed $30 per month are exempt from the standard minimum wage. Instead, employers must pay these workers a minimum of $2.13 on top of the tips obtained. Employees under the age of 20 likewise have a different minimum wage according to the FLSA than the general figure, though it is only in effect for the first 90 days of their employment. $4.25 is the minimum legal hourly wage for employees in such circumstances; after the initial 90 days of employment, their wages must increase to the standard $7.25 per hour.

Legal Services for Violations of the Fair Labor Standards Act

Employees who have experienced unfair treatment from their employers may work with an overtime attorney to help obtain the justice and compensation to which they are entitled. Vethan Law Firm specializes in representing clients who have been victims of FLSA violations. Vethan's overtime lawyers ensure that clients receive the payment they are entitled to according to the act and its individual implications within the state of Texas. They have significant documented success at combatting the common excuses given by employers for noncompliance to the FLSA. They are experts in every detail of the FLSA, therefore able to guide clients in understanding if they have been treated unfairly according to the act and if so, how to proceed in a manner that will result in the deserved compensation.

John West is a legal writer in Houston, Texas.

What Happens if You Are injured in a Public Bus Accident?

Bus accidents, while less frequent than smaller vehicle accidents, still happen. When they do, it can be mayhem all around because of the size and the number of people in the bus. That said, no one knows when accidents can happen. The only thing we know is what to do in the event of one.

Of all vehicle accidents; bus accidents tend to sustain the highest number of fatalities. This is further confirmed by the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration (NHTSA) which says the statistics point to roughly a 37% fatality rate. This is not surprising given the lack of safety features like seatbelts in buses.

The following outlines the important things that we consider extremely useful and helpful in keeping you alive, and most importantly, helping you get the required treatment you need to get healthy and stay alive.

Determine Liability

This is the very first thing you need to do. What caused the accident? Who was at fault? Was it the driver or the other party? Did the other party suddenly cut in front of the bus, thus causing the driver to swerve suddenly resulting in a loss of control? Was the road too wet for traction? Alternatively, was the driver speeding in wet or snowy conditions?

Did the accident happen as a result of a lack of maintenance by the bus company? Did the bus company intentionally overlook some mechanical and electrical issues just to cut costs and save money? Was the accident caused by a jaywalker or an individual who wasn’t alert? Was it caused by an animal suddenly running across the road?

Did the driver suffer from a heart condition that could have impaired his driving? Was the driver too tired or was he suffering from sleep deprivation? Is it possible that he wandered off the road whilst dozing or lost concentration while at an intersection? There are so many questions that you need to ask to prove who was at fault. Starting with these will usually get you started and point you in the right direction.

File Claims for Medical Treatment

Once you get yourself or are checked into the hospital by the EMTs. You or a close family member should start filing for your insurance claims if you have any. It does not matter that the accident is minor or severe. Just make sure that you get a physical within 48 hours after the accident.

This is because going to the hospital after 72 hours will impact your payout negatively. So, make sure you have a clear detail of everything you remember that happened before during and after the accident.

Admittedly, this might be a bit difficult if you suffered a moderate to severe accident. However, whatever you can remember should go in a detailed report. Please note that the claims process is different when the driver's employer is the government.

Suing the Driver and Bus Company

To do this, you would need to get in touch with a seasoned and experienced personal injury and bus accident lawyer. This has to be specific because there are various rules regarding public transport that he will be familiar with. He’ll be able to give you a realistic outlook and possible results based on his experience with such accidents.

If the bus is run by the state government, then the whole thing will take a different turn and can be pretty complicated. Whatever you do, don’t do this alone. Let the lawyers advise you accordingly and take care of any issues that might arise from taking the insurance companies to court if they fail to compensate you adequately.

When not writing, Oscar King works for the Florida Department of Transportation, and has dealt with a number of these sorts of accidents. When they do happen, he usually refers people to Orlando Attorney David Heil for the best consultation and legal reprsentation.

July 29, 2014 is a HOLIDAY in the Philippines

Proclamation No. 826. Declaring Tuesday, 29 July 2014, as a regular holiday throughout the country in observance of Eid'l Fitr (Feast of Ramadhan).

Please be guided.