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Student Loan Holders Would Greatly Value Employer Assistance

A new survey has found that many student loan borrowers in the U.S. would prefer to work for a company that offers student loan management help as part of their benefits package. The survey was conducted among 1,000 individuals with student loans by Iontuition Inc., a member of the Ceannate companies that helps students and […]

EEOC Declares that Title VII Protects Transgender Employees

By Heather Knox The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), the federal agency that interprets and enforces employment discrimination laws, recently considered whether Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 protects transgender employees from workplace discrimination. The case involved an employee who claimed she wasn’t hired by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and […]

Deadline Looms for Plans to Conform with OTC Rules

If you have not updated your plan documents to conform with the new rules for reimbursing the cost of over-the-counter (OTC) drugs under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA), time is almost up. You only have till June 30! Under the PPACA, only OTC drugs that have been prescribed may be reimbursed through […]

December Dilemna: Do’s and Don’ts

The December Dilemma: practicing inclusion during the winter holidays. The top religious accommodation companies have made in the past 12 months? Considering different religious beliefs of employees when planning holiday-related events, according to the Society for Human Resource Management’s (SHRM) “Religion and Corporate Culture Accommodating Religious Diversity Survey.” Taking differing beliefs into account is never […]

EEOC Releases Proposed GINA Regulations

On March 2, 2009, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) officially released the proposed regulations under the Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act of 2008 (GINA). GINA is intended to protect employees from discrimination by employers, employment agencies, labor unions, and insurers based on genetic information. The proposed regulations are designed to implement and provide further guidance […]

Spouses of certain H-1B visa workers now eligible for employment authorization

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has published final regulations that will extend employment authorization eligibility to spouses of certain nonimmigrant workers who are in the United States on H-1B visas. The H-1B, or highly-skilled worker, visa is the most commonly discussed and highly sought employment-based nonimmigrant visa. The number of visas available each year […]

Terminating Older Workers: New Regulations Clarify Rules For Waivers Of Age Bias Claims; Do Your Releases Pass The Test?

When you ask an employee 40 years old or over to sign a severance agreement that includes a release of potential age discrimination claims, there’s an array of strict requirements that must be met. For many employers, figuring out how to comply with these rules has been confusing-especially in cases of downsizing through group terminations […]

Oregon Court Says No to Medical Marijuana in the Workplace

by Calvin Keith, Perkins Coie For over 10 years, Oregon employers have been waiting for an answer to the question of whether they must accommodate a disabled worker’s use of medical marijuana. The Oregon Supreme Court’s April 14 decision in Emerald Steel Fabricators, Inc. v. Bureau of Labor and Industries answers that question with a […]

You Don’t Have to Be Blind to See

In his blog The Oswald Letter, M. Lee Smith Publishers’ President Dan Oswald shares a story from YOU DON’T HAVE TO BE BLIND TO SEE by Jim Stovall about a woman determined to find her kidnapped baby. Ever the businessman, Oswald draws a connection between this mother who triumphs over adverse conditions that paralyze the […]