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Employee Benefits: New EEOC Guidelines On When It Is—And Isn’t—Legal To Discriminate In Providing Benefits, Part 1

The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission has released comprehensive new guidelines addressing the legality of benefit differentials under several federal anti-discrimination laws. The guidelines apply to health and life insurance, long- and short-term disability benefits, severance, pension and early retirement incentives.

Supreme Court of Canada Helps Employers with Duty to Accommodate Disabilities

by Rachel Ravary McCarthy Tetrault Last week’s decision in Hydro Québec v. Syndicat des employé-e-s de techniques professionnelles et de bureau d’Hydro-Québec 2008 SCC 43 is good news for employers – finally there is a clear limit to your duty to accommodate employees who are chronically absent from work. Not only did the Supreme Court […]

Paid Family Leave Program Passes in N.Y.

The 2016 budget bill (S.B. 6406C) signed into law on April 4 by New York Governor Andrew Cuomo includes a paid family leave program that will provide partially-paid leave to nearly every employee in the state. New York is the fourth state, following California,New Jersey and Rhode Island, to enact a paid family leave program administered as part of the state disability insurance program. New […]

Democrats Drop EFCA Card-Check Provision

Democrats have reportedly agreed to drop the card-check provision of the controversial Employee Free Choice Act (EFCA). The card-check provision would have made it much easier for employees to form labor unions by allowing a majority of employees to unionize by signing card-check petitions. Under this provision, employers would no longer have been able to […]

Millennials will transform management practices

by Jimmy Daniel Millennials, also known as Generation Y, have surpassed Generation X and Baby Boomers to become the largest group in America’s workforce, according to Pew Research Center’s analysis of the 2015 U.S. Census Bureau data. Not only are Millennials continuing to grow and dominate the workforce, but they are also starting to take […]

Obama’s three NLRB recess appointments were invalid, Supreme Court rules

On June 26, 2014, the U.S Supreme Court unanimously upheld the decision of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit in Noel Canning v. NLRB, concluding that President Barack Obama’s three recess appointments to the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB)—Sharon Block, Richard Griffin, and Terence Flynn—were not valid.  Accordingly, since three out of the […]

EBSA Releases Final Rule on Fee Disclosures (extends effective date to July 1)

The U.S. Department of Labor (DOL)’s Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA) issued the final rule for pension and 401(k) plan fee disclosures on Feb. 2. The announcement was jointly made with the U.S. Department of Treasury, which issued a proposal at the same time to reduce regulatory burdens on retirement incomes. Secretary of Labor Hilda […]

Social Learning Technology for Companies of All Sizes

In fact, more than 65 percent of companies that participated in a recent survey reported that they are using social learning technology. “State of the Industry Study: A Pulse on Social Learning” surveyed 500-plus decision makers at companies of all sizes and in a variety of industries. The study, conducted by Saba®, in partnership with […]

Be Aware: IRS Eyes Join DOL’s on Your Form 5500

If you file the Form 5500, you know what an odious exercise that can be. And you’d better get it right. Not only is the Department of Labor’s Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA) examining the form you file — so is the IRS. The DOL wants the forms to be complete and accurate, of course, […]