HR Recordkeeping Simplified
How important is it to keep accurate employment records? Not very, some might say, but they’d change their tune as soon as the lawsuits started to fly.
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Workplace Lawsuits: Employer Continues To Pay For Catastrophic Refinery Fire
In continued fallout from a tragic 1999 fire at the Toscore finery in Martinez, the company has agreed to pay $4 million to settle a lawsuit for emotional injuries suffered by a subcontractor’s employee. Alfred “Chip” Simoni witnessed other workers burn to death while working on the refinery tower. He was unable to return to […]
New Health Savings Account Limits for 2009
Based on the cost of living, the IRS has increased for 2009 the maximum contribution levels for health savings accounts (HSAs) and out-of-pocket spending limits for high-deductible health plans (HDHPs) that must be used in conjunction with HSAs. For 2009, the maximum annual HSA contribution for individuals is $3,000 and $5,950 for families. Catch-up contributions […]
Supreme Court to Decide if Employers Must Help Pregnant Employees
The U.S. Supreme Court will decide whether the Pregnancy Discrimination Act requires employers to accommodate pregnant employees, it announced July 1. The court agreed to review Young v. United Parcel Service, Inc., a case from last year in which the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that a corporate policy that does not include […]
Contraceptive Mandate Enforcement Stay Revised to Admit More Employers
Compliance with the contraceptive coverage mandate under health reform is stayed until Aug. 1, 2013 for employers that fit into a slightly expanded enforcement safe harbor described by the Center for Consumer Information and Insurance Oversight (CCIIO) in an Aug. 15 memo. Reform’s preventive care mandate requires plans and insurers to cover a host of […]
Final rule on minimum wage for contractors released
by Tammy Binford Federal contractors can now take a look at the rules they will have to follow when an Executive Order that requires a $10.10 per hour minimum wage for workers on federal service and construction contracts takes effect. The U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) announced the final rule on October 1. The rule […]
Bias Charge Filings Drop Slightly
The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) has reported that discrimination charge filings in 2005 were down in all bias categories, and dropped by 5 percent overall. The EEOC received 75,428 charges for the fiscal year 2005 (which ended Sept. 30) and recovered almost $380 million in monetary relief through enforcement actions and litigation. The […]
College Hiring Outlook Highest in Nearly 10 Years
This year’s crop of college graduates will find welcoming conditions as they enter the entry-level job market. According to a new survey from CareerBuilder, 67% of employers say they plan to hire recent college graduates this year, up from 65% last year and the highest outlook since 2007.
Hot List: New York Times Bestselling Business Books
The following is a list of the bestselling hardcover business books as ranked by the New York Times on December 17. 1. The World Is Flat, by Thomas L. Friedman. (Picador, $16.) A columnist for the New York Times analyzes 21st-century economics and foreign policy and presents an overview of globalization trends. 2. The Tipping […]
Mental Health Parity Regulations Now Available
The U.S. Departments of Labor (DOL), Health and Human Services, and the Treasury recently published interim final regulations in the Federal Register that implement the Paul Wellstone and Pete Domenici Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act of 2008 (MHPAEA). These regulations are effective April 5, 2010, and apply to plan years beginning on or […]