Most Popular

Senate Votes to Extend COBRA Subsidy

Update Dec. 21, 2009: President signs bill including COBRA subsidy extension In an unusual Saturday morning session on Dec. 19, the U.S. Senate voted 88-10 to pass legislation that would extend the original federal COBRA subsidy created by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA), which President Barack Obama signed into law in […]

How Will the Election Affect Health Care Reform?

Here’s the third in our popular series of “Eye on the Election” posts which are focused on helping employers prepare for post-election changes, no matter who is elected. Eye on the Election For today’s topic—likely changes to health care reform after the election—we turned to BLR legal editor Jessica Webb-Ayer, J.D., editor of the Benefits […]

DOL Issues Model Notice/Guidance on Exchange Options, also Updates COBRA Election Notice

Employers wanting to get an early start on providing a required notice to employees of coverage options under health insurance exchanges just got some help from the federal government. On May 8, the U.S. Department of Labor issued a model notice for employers may use now — but must use beginning Oct. 1, 2013. The […]

Supreme Court Hands Down Retaliation Decision

by Peter Panken On June 22, the U.S. Supreme Court decided an employment retaliation case in which it held that any action by an employer against an employee, applicant, or even a former employee constitutes unlawful retaliation if the action would deter a reasonable employee from filing a discrimination charge against an employer. Retaliation cases […]

Workers’ Compensation: Sweeping New Law Promises Major Changes; Rate Cuts May Be Just Around The Corner

As we reported last month, the California Legislature enacted a sweeping overhaul of the state’s 91-year-old system for compensating workers injured on the job—and Gov. Schwarzenegger quickly signed the workers’ compensation legislation, S.B. 899, which took effect immediately. Employers should soon see savings from the new reforms. The Workers’ Compensation Insurance Rating Bureau has proposed […]

Immigration: Judge Halts No-Match Rule

In the current issue of the California Employer Advisor, we report on a new Department of Homeland Security (DHS) regulation mandating the steps an employer must take to verify an employee’s Social Security number (SSN) when the employer receives a “no-match” letter from the DHS or the Social Security Administration. Under the rule, employers would […]