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by Greg Naylor, Whitfield & Eddy P.L.C. Twenty-five years ago, Michael J. Fox took us all Back to the Future. On Election Day, however, Iowa went back to the past, returning former Republican Governor Terry Branstad to a gubernatorial seat that hadn’t seen a Republican occupant in three consecutive terms. Republicans also will take control […]
What a difference a couple of years makes. Not so long ago, a flurry of states passed legislation or ballot initiatives to increase their minimum wage rates. As recently as 2009, there were minimum wage increases in 24 states. Since then, it appears that changes in the political climate and in the economy have completely […]
Government requirements for certifying compliance with HIPAA’s transaction standards would impose a significant, unwarranted burden on self-funded group health plans that do not perform these transactions directly, employer groups warned in written comments to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. The proposed rules would lay “significant costs” on self-insured plans that hire vendors […]
A Connecticut-based fiduciary investment adviser agreed in a settlement to pay about $1.3 million to 13 pension plans to resolve alleged ERISA violations related to mutual fund fees the firm received. USI Advisors Inc. made investments in mutual funds on behalf of ERISA-covered defined benefit plan clients and received 12b-1 fees from those funds, according […]
BLR® – Business & Legal Resources, a leading provider of employment law compliance and training solutions for HR, has launched a new professional network called HR Executive Roundtable | Hospitality. HR Executive Roundtable | Hospitality facilitates the sharing of ideas, best practices, benchmarking data, experiences, and cost-saving ideas among senior Human Resources leaders in restaurant, […]
The antiretaliation provisions of the Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s (OSHA) new electronic record-keeping rule are set to be implemented on December 1 after a Texas federal judge denied a request for a preliminary injunction on November 28. The eventual fate of the rule isn’t known since Judge Sam Lindsay of the U.S. District Court […]
In a unanimous decision, the U.S. Supreme Court has formalized and affirmed the legal standard for employment discrimination claims for nonminority groups under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. What Changed? Typically, in Title VII cases, employees must show they are members of a protected class, they were qualified for the job […]
The Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act of 2009 changed the scope of claims for pay discrimination, stating that each additional paycheck issued under a discriminatory pay decision constitutes a new act of discrimination, which then resets the clock on the limited time during which employees may file suit. In a unanimous decision issued Monday, the […]
Employers with 20 or more employees who provide health benefits must notify terminated workers of their continuation rights under COBRA. But a new federal appeals court ruling has confirmed you’re required to separately notify the employee and the worker’s spouse of their COBRA rights.7 To protect yourself, Ina Potter, a partner with the San Francisco […]