FEATURED
Health and Welfare Plans: Recent Topics in Year-End Compliance
by Caitlin M. Britos & Kellie M. Thomas, Jackon Lewis, attorneys at law As we begin the new year, we reflect on the many evolving compliance obligations that health and welfare plan sponsors tackle each year. Although this list is by no means exhaustive, it...
Health and Welfare Plans: Recent Topics in Year-End Compliance
by Caitlin M. Britos & Kellie M. Thomas, Jackon Lewis, attorneys at law As we begin the new year, we reflect on the many evolving compliance obligations that health and welfare plan sponsors tackle each year. Although this list is by no means exhaustive, it...
TRENDING
EEOC Issues New Guidance on Wearable Technologies: Key Points for Employers
By Kathleen A. McGinley, Ashley Woozley, Katharine C. Weber & Joseph J. Lazzarotti, Jackson Lewis Attorneys at Law As more employers incorporate wearable technology in the workplace, including those enhanced by artificial intelligence, the Equal Employment...
Social Security and Medicare Tax for 2012
The employer tax rate for social security remains unchanged at 6.2%. On wages paid and tips received before March 1, 2012, the employee tax rate for social security is 4.2%. On wages paid and tips received after February 29, 2012, the employee tax rate for social...
NEP on Recordkeeping
As a reminder, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) launched its “National Emphasis Program (NEP) on Recordkeeping” last year after various studies revealed that many companies were underreporting or incorrectly reporting workplace-related injuries...
Social Security Benefit Increase
On October 19, 2011, the Social Security Administration (SSA) announced the monthly Social Security and Supplemental Security Income (SSI) benefits will increase in 2012. The 3.6 percent cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) will begin with the January 2012 benefit...
OSHA Whistle-Blower Claims
Published in the Federal Register on November 3, 2011, the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) announced Sarbanes-Oxley Act whistle-blower claims may now be filed orally. The final rules revise existing regulations and public comments must be...
IRS Mileage Rate
The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) optional standard mileage rate of 55.5 cents/mile for business miles expires on December 31, 2011. The IRS has not yet announced if the rate will be different in 2012.
OCR Privacy and Security Compliance Audits
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Office for Civil Rights (OCR) is responsible for privacy and security enforcement under the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) and the Health Information Technology for Economic and...
Right to Know Rule
By October 2011, the Wage and Hour Division seeks to issue a proposed rule updating the recordkeeping regulations under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) in order to enhance the transparency and disclosure to workers of their status. The recordkeeping requirements...
American Jobs Act
On September 12, 2011, President Obama revealed the Jobs Bill that encompasses several employment-related provisions. Some of the provisions offer relief from payroll taxes and provide tax credits for hiring the long-term unemployed individuals and veterans. More...
OSHA’s 2011 Site-Specific Targeting Plan
On September 9, 2011, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) announced its 2011 Site-Specific Targeting (SST) plan, the agency's annual inspection program for general industry establishments with high numbers of injuries and illnesses. This year's...
Executive Order 13495 Final Rule
On August 29, 2011, the Department of Labor's Wage and Hour Division (WHD) issued a final rule to implement President Obama's Executive Order 13495, Nondisplacement of Qualified Workers Under Service Contracts. The Executive Order requires federal contractors and...
Health Insurance Premium Tax Credit
On August 12, 2011, the Departments of Treasury and Health and Human Services released Proposed Regulations to provide guidance to individuals who enroll in qualified health plans through State-based Exchanges, as envisioned under the Affordable Care Act, and to...
Proposed Parental Bereavement Act
On July 13, 2011, the Parental Bereavement Act was introduced in Congress. The bill would amend the federal Family Medical Leave Act (FMLA) by adding a new job-protected leave category for the death of an employee's son or daughter. If passed, an eligible employee...
New NLRB Notice Required
The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) issued a final rule requiring most private-sector employers to notify employees of their rights under the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA). The NLRB will enforce employers to post a new NLRA notice in the workplace. The...
DOL To Coordinate With IRS
Secretary of Labor Hilda L. Solis, on Sept. 19, 2011, hosted a ceremony at U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) headquarters in Washington, D.C., to sign a memorandum of understanding with the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) that will improve departmental efforts to end...
Proposed Rules Related to Health Insurance Exchanges
Published on July 15, 2011, in the Federal Register, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) issued two proposed rules: (1) Establishment of Exchanges and Qualified Health Plans and (2) Standards Related to Reinsurance, Risk Corridors and Risk...
Unemployment Discrimination Legislation
Introduced on July 12, 2011, by the U.S. House of Representatives, the proposed Fair Employment Opportunity Act of 2011 would prohibit employers and employment agencies from discriminating against the unemployed or placing job advertisements or posts stating that...
Final SEC Whistleblower Program Rules
Effective August 12, 2011, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) issued final rules to implement the Dodd-Frank whistleblower program, such that publicly traded employers should not interfere with an employee’s communication efforts with the SEC or take...
Changes to OSHA Recordkeeping Requirements
Published on June 22, 2011, in the Federal Register, the federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) proposed changes to its current requirements on recordkeeping and reporting of employee injuries and illnesses. OSHA is seeking comments from the...
Required Consumer Report Disclosure
Effective July 21, 2011, the Dodd-Frank Act amendment to the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) requires an employer, who uses a consumer report with a credit score to determine employment eligibility, to inform a job applicant that a credit score was used, specify the...
Increased Standard Mileage Rates
On June 23, 2011, the Internal Revenue Service announced an increase in the optional standard mileage rates for the second half of 2011. The rate will increase to 55.5 cents a mile for all business miles driven from July 1, 2011, through December 31, 2011.
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