Liability For Injury Occuring On One’s Property
When is a homeowner or business owner responsible for injuries occurring on his or her property? Like many legal questions the answer is "it depends." As a general rule the owner is required to exercise reasonable care to maintain the premises in a safe condition for those who come on the property. An owner must correct or warn against any dangerous condition of which he is aware or reasonably should have known of. The duty applies not only to those invited onto the property but others such as delivery and repair persons, door to door salesmen and those soliciting contributions.
Special Taxation Districts: Use with Care
Business communities looking to improve their infrastructure may consider funding improvements through special taxation districts. These districts go by different names in different states: Special Service Areas, Community Improvement Districts, or—in Tennessee—Central Business Improvement Districts. The basic idea is that property owners create a district and levy a special tax on the properties within the district. The tax revenue is then used to fund improvements, but only improvements within the district. In some versions, the improvements are funded by bonds, and the tax revenue is used to retire the debt. The district is often dissolved after the debt is retired. Special
Department of Labor, Administrator’s Interpretation on Worker Classification
The Wage and Hour Division of the Department of Labor provided recent guidance in determining classification of workers. The WHD says a business "'suffers or permits' an individual to work if, as a matter of economic reality, the individual is dependent on the entity." The factors of the economic reality test include: (a) the extent to which the work performed is an integral part of the employer’s business; (b) the worker’s opportunity for profit or loss depending on his or her managerial skill; (c) the extent of the relative investments of the employer and the worker; (d) whether the work performed requires special skills