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Employer’s Cost-Cutting Move Backfires

With the economy still on shaky ground, many employers are desperate to cut costs. But it’s important not to let financial desperation cause you to make bad business choices—such as going into business with the wrong people. As one employer learned, the consequences can be far more costly in the long run.

California Public-Sector Employers Facing Challenging New Laws

Public-sector employers in California are facing an array of challenges in 2012 — declining revenues, out-of-control costs, fading reserves, and “a slew of bills further hobbling public agencies’ ability to control costs,” according to Jonathan Holtzman, a partner with Renne Sloan Holtzman Sakai LLP in San Francisco. Here’s a look at some new laws affecting […]

Service Dog

Endangered (Service) Animal Species

by Karen McAndrew As of March 15, 2011, boa constrictors, ferrets, wildebeests, and rabbits are no longer considered “service animals” under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), so assuming the Attorney General’s Office of your state concurs, you will not have to let those animals dine in your restaurant or hang out in a cubicle […]

Who let the dogs out?

by J. David Kutch A Palm Beach State College (PBSC) student received permission from the school to use a service dog trained to help her deal with the effects of her psychiatric disorders. However, she failed her classes and was escorted off the campus at times, apparently because two offices at the school had different […]

Washington D.C. Earthquake! HR Managers at ‘Epicenter’ of Emergency Planning, Response

As the earthquake that shook Washington, D.C., area today demonstrates, damage to your primary place of business can occur suddenly and without warning. Having a crisis management plan on the ready is essential to minimizing the interruption to your business. The business continuity plan improves the company’s capacity to return to business, thereby minimizing financial […]

After-tax HSAs may help employers avoid paying the Cadillac tax

Plan design can help employer plan sponsors avoid the objectionable task of paying excise taxes on health plan coverage they provide to employees. The Cadillac tax is the Affordable Care Act’s way of taxing health benefits, in part to fund the law’s ambitious coverage objectives. As liability under the tax in 2018 approaches, employers are […]

DOL Getting Strict on Child Farm Labor: Proposed Rules Due Sept. 2

Agricultural employers on the lookout for Fair Labor Standards Act’s child labor regulations for their industry can look no more — a new notice of proposed rulemaking (NPRM) that would revise those rules will finally be published in the Federal Register tomorrow. Agricultural employers have been awaiting these rules since final child labor rules for […]