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Edginess About Ebola Points to Need for Pandemic Preparation

An outbreak of the deadly Ebola virus in Africa is causing concern in the United States, as the medical community and various organizations watch to see if the outbreak will be contained, or will spread globally. Although this situation is occurring thousands of miles away, it is a good reminder for businesses in the United […]

Labor Day: September 6, 2010

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the first observance of Labor Day is believed to have been a parade of 10,000 workers on September 5, 1882, in New York City, organized by Peter J. McGuire, a Carpenters and Joiners Union secretary. By 1893, more than half the states were observing a “Labor Day” on one […]

Employer Health Plans Could Face Unpredictability as State Responses to Reform Differ

Time will soon tell how many states will run health exchanges and expand Medicaid as directed in the federal health reform law. But for employer plans, the waiting game just draws out the inevitable confusion that may occur as those plans anticipate being impacted in different ways on a state-by-state basis, speakers explained at a […]

OFCCP proposes new rule on sex discrimination guidelines for contractors

by Tammy Binford The U.S. Department of Labor’s (DOL) new proposed rule updating sex discrimination guidelines for federal contractors takes aim at what the director of the Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP) calls “regulatory anachronism.” The proposed rule appears in the January 30 Federal Register. The public will have until April 14 to […]

New Massachusetts law to expand transgender protection

by Stefanie M. Renaud Massachusetts law has prohibited discrimination against transgender people in employment and housing since 2011, but a new law taking effect on October 1 will expand transgender protections to places of public accommodation. On July 8, Governor Charles Baker signed into law a bill that prohibits discrimination against persons because of their […]

California Ranks Low Among Employee-Friendly States

The Golden State is often criticized as being unfriendly to businesses, so it’s reasonable to assume that the state would qualify as employee-friendly. But researchers at the Political Economy Research Institute at the University of Massachusetts have come to a surprising conclusion: California ranks in the bottom half of the 50 states in terms of worker-friendliness.