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Grandfathered Plan and Patient Protection Guidance Finalized

How much a health plan may change before losing grandfathered plan status was addressed in a final Affordable Care Act rule issued on Nov. 13 by the three U.S. departments that administer ACA reform. The rule (which takes effect on Jan. 1, 2017) finalizes familiar pieces of agency guidance, many of them issued in 2010. The rule also addresses […]

CBO: Fewer employers would offer insurance under Obamacare replacement

On March 13, the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office (CBO) released its cost estimate of the effects of the proposed Affordable Care Act (ACA) repeal and replace legislation. Deficits down, but number of uninsured up According to the CBO and the Joint Committee on Taxation (JCT): The legislation would reduce federal deficits by $337 billion from […]

Workingjay

Inspired by The Hunger Games trilogy, some employers may feel the urge to pile the employees onto a bus, head off site, and pit coworker against coworker in some form of physical competition under the guise of “team building.” Savvy employers are always looking for new and better ways to motivate the troops, solidify relationships, and build […]

Terminated Employee Was Not a Whistleblower, Court Says

Is every employee who makes a formal complaint considered a “whistleblower”? The federal District Court says no. Mark Shulthies, a long time Amtrak employee working in California, sent an email to his supervisor complaining that the company’s decision to reorganize certain aspects of its service between the Bay Area and Bakersfield posed a “danger to […]

Is Your Workplace an ‘Experience’?

Do your employees and clients view your workplace as just a facility? At Square, founded by Jack Dorsey, inventor of Twitter, the workplace is an “experience”—complete with an on-site barista! According to an article in Fast Company, the mobile credit-card and money payment system company, with offices in San Francisco, New York City, and Atlanta, […]

Advocacy groups challenge Trump’s 2-for-1 regulation requirement

Three liberal advocacy groups have filed a lawsuit alleging that President Donald Trump’s 2-for-1 regulation mandate violates the U.S. Constitution and directs agencies to violate federal law. In a January 30 Executive Order, Trump instructed federal agencies to cut two regulations for every new one issued during the current fiscal year. He said the order […]

Win the “Recruitment Wars” with Marketing’s Secret Weapon

To be victorious in the “talent wars,” use what Marketing uses to win customers: segmentation. If you’re having trouble recruiting the employees you need these days, the solution might just lie in your Marketing department, says consultant Eileen Levitt, founder of HR Team in Baltimore. “Can you attract all your desired customers using one sales […]

Individual privacy rights trumped by union’s freedom of expression

By Lorene Novakowski and Brandon Wiebe On November 15, 2013, the Supreme Court of Canada ruled that a union’s right to collect, use, and disclose personal information for legitimate labor relations purposes outweighs an individual’s right to privacy. In so doing, it declared Alberta’s Personal Information Protection Act (PIPA) unconstitutional but suspended the declaration for […]

turnover

How to Avoid Fast Turnover with New Hires

In a previous post, we discussed the high cost of turnover and recruitment and the need for businesses to make sound and lasting hiring decisions when possible to keep these costs to a minimum.

North Carolina’s unemployment overhaul to take effect July 1

by Richard L. Rainey North Carolina’s law overhauling the state’s unemployment system will take effect July 1, bringing about a small tax increase for many employers and a reduced maximum weekly benefit amount for claimants. It also will change the circumstances in which a claimant is disqualified from benefits. During the economic recession, the state […]