Friday News Roundup: Lady Gaga lawsuit, CEO to Workers pay ratios and more

Each week we take the most interesting news from the human resources and training fields...and this week there was plenty exciting. Check out our stories on Lady Gaga getting sued for overtime, the SEC's requirement for reporting the wage gap between CEOs and their workers and more.

Lady Gaga hit with overtime lawsuit 

International pop star Lady Gaga is facing a lawsuit from a former personal assistant claiming she is owed $379,000 in unpaid overtime. Jennifer O'Neill worked for Gaga off and on from 2009-2011 and was expected to be on call 24/7. O'Neill claims in the suit she worked 7,168 hours of overtime performing such tasks as ensuring the availability of outfits, serving as a personal alarm clock and even sleeping the same bed as Gaga to address tasks given in the middle of the night.

Obamacare on the chopping block?

The threat of a government shutdown come October 1 is prompting the Republican-controlled House to make a final effort at abolishing the Affordable Care Act (ACA). A vote is set for Friday on a stopgap spending bill that would keep the government running, but would also defund ACA, commonly known as Obamacare. President Obama has stated he will veto the bill if it makes it to his desk.

Companies to disclose CEO-to-Workers pay ratios 

In vote earlier this week, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ruled public companies now must report the salary of their CEOs compared with that of their employees. While the ruling provides more transparency into a company's pay ladder, the reporting burden will ultimately add to the workload of HR departments who will be responsible for complying with the new regulations.

Breaking down the source of HIPAA violations

Software Advice recently analyzed public data available on the Department of Health & Human Services website regarding security breaches affecting 500 or more individuals. The main takeaway? The Internet isn't to blame. Most HIPAA breaches are avoidable either with stronger security measures or better care-taking on the part of organizations. The Cloud doesn't pose nearly as big a threat as some fear – in fact, it's relatively safer than on-premise storage. The solution? Organizations can protect themselves through improved training for medical practices and health systems dealing with protected health information. 

Image Credit: T.J. Sengel via Flickr