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Idaho: Last Democrat Standing Is Defeated

by J. Kevin West, Hall, Farley, Oberrecht & Blanton, P.A. Before the election, Idaho’s four-member congressional delegation had two Republican senators and a representative from each party. The lone Democrat, Blue Dog Walt Minnick, lost to Raul Labrador, a Tea Party-endorsed underdog (and attorney), who pulled off the unexpected win against the incumbent. So now […]

Coming Soon: OSHA Vs. New House Majority on Enforcement

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s (OSHA) agenda to increase enforcement, which includes items such as ergonomics, noise standards, and an injury and illness prevention program, seems destined to run into resistance from the new Republican majority in the U.S. House of Representatives. It’s fairly clear that changes to the Occupational Safety and Health Act […]

Workers’ compensation latest battleground for NFL

When is $765 million a bargain? Apparently, when you’re the National Football League. By now most people know that the NFL agreed to pay $765 million last month to settle a lawsuit brought by more than 4,500 players and their families, who alleged that the league concealed what it knew about the dangers of concussion-related […]

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Managing Employee Status Changes Under the Affordable Care Act

By Jennifer Carsen, JD, Senior Legal Editor So, you think you’ve got a pretty good handle on this whole Affordable Care Act (ACA) thing. You know that you’re an applicable large employer (or ALE—and that “ALE” isn’t merely that thing you want to drink a lot of after a day of filling out ACA paperwork).

Who’s working at home, and is home the proper place?

Workers who battle drive-time traffic, spend a significant portion of a paycheck at the gas station, and fight the distracting hubbub of the office may dream of working amid the comforts of home. There’s no frustrating commute, no office annoyances. But a good many telecommuters worry that they’re missing something because they’re isolated from colleagues. […]

Health Reform Adds a Twist to College Graduation Celebrations

Once, parents were not the only ones celebrating a child’s college graduation — employers were too. While parents were looking forward to kids finally getting out on their own, employers were anticipating getting them off of their group health plan. But health care reform means that employers have to wait a little longer to break […]

Top 5 Health Reform Issues Employers Should Focus on Today

It has now been almost a year since health care reform was first enacted. The first year involved many compliance challenges, not the least of which was keeping up with the many pieces of guidance issued by DOL, IRS and HHS. Plans had to expand coverage (more dependents, fewer dollar limits, no more questions about […]

Fingerprint Checks and Reference Checks in California

Yesterday, we got some insights on background checks from Jared Callahan, a licensed private investigator and the director of client services for Employment Screening Resources (ESR) in Novato. Today, his thoughts on two more common “checks”: fingerprint checks and reference checks.

#hrintelchat: HR Experts Analyze Social Media Risks and Rewards

It’s a little meta to talk about social media in a social media venue, but what better way to talk about all the employment law challenges employers face when they’re dealing with such a rapidly evolving medium? Last week we hosted a panel of employment lawyers who weighed in on what they saw as the […]