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California overtime pay rules don’t apply to unionized employees if the union contract sets premium overtime rates as well as a regular hourly rate that’s at least 30% over the minimum wage. Examining an older version of this exemption, a California Court of Appeal explained that it permits an employer and union to negotiate how […]
The Workers’ Comp Insurance Rating Bureau has just recommended that California insurers raise their workers’ comp premiums by 12 percent next year. Although insurers remain free to compete and determine how much to charge for insurance, many carriers rely on the bureau’s cost-of-claims data to determine premium increases.
The U.S. Department of Labor has just announced the launch of its first application for smartphones: a timesheet to help employees independently track the hours they work and determine the wages they are owed. Available in English and Spanish, users can track regular work hours, break time, and any overtime hours for one or more […]
Insurance Commissioner John Garamendi has announced he will recommend a 16.4 percent decrease in the workers’ compensation pure premium rate for policies starting on or after July 1, 2006. This recommendation is the latest in a string of recommended rate reductions since July 2003, when workers’ comp reforms went into effect. The cumulative recommended reductions […]
The U.S. Supreme Court will decide whether age-neutral policies violate the Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA) if they adversely impact older workers. The federal appeal courts are split as to whether “disparate impact” claims—which allege that a neutral policy or practice had an adverse, although unintentional, impact on a protected group—are permitted under the […]
September 27, 2010 On and after March 30, 2010, both coverage under an employer-provided health plan and amounts paid or reimbursed under such a plan for medical care expenses of an employee’s child who has not attained age 27 as of the end of the employee’s taxable year are excluded from the employee’s gross income […]
Meeting COBRA election notice requirements can be tricky – and even a minor oversight can potentially be expensive. A recent opinion letter from the Department of Labor clarifies the process for providing COBRA election notices to households with more than one qualified beneficiary. If several beneficiaries live at the same address, you can send their […]
The U.S. Ninth Circuit Court of Appeal has upheld the City of Berkeley’s living wage law in the face of a challenge to its constitutionality.1Berkeley’s law, enacted in 2000, requires certain city contractors and lessees to pay workers a minimum hourly wage a few dollars higher than state and federal minimums, plus health benefits. […]
The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission has approved a rule that would allow employers to reduce or cut retiree health benefits once a retiree becomes eligible for Medicare or a comparable state-sponsored health benefit—without violating the Age Discrimination in Employment Act. According to the U.S. General Accounting Office, 10 million retired employees age 55 and over […]
Employer monitoring of employee Internet access is a hot issue. Federal Ninth Circuit judges recently jumped into the fray by shutting off surveillance software that monitored court employees’ Internet use, stating that such monitoring without prior notice to employees could be illegal. Now the body that governs the federal court system is requiring federal courts […]