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Rhode Island joins states with ‘ban the box’ laws

by Timothy C. Cavazza Rhode Island’s new law prohibiting employers from asking on employment applications whether an applicant has ever been “convicted of a crime” takes effect on January 1. Despite the initial ban, employers are permitted to “ask an applicant for information about his or her criminal convictions at the first interview or thereafter, […]

COBRA Penalties Not Needed When QB Got ‘Free’ Coverage, 8th Circuit Affirms

An employer/plan administrator that tried to make good on a COBRA administrative error got more reinforcement that its efforts greatly minimized its legal liability. The 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed the fact that the aggrieved qualified beneficiary received two years of free health coverage effectively cancelled out any need to impose penalties for […]

Advertising Requirements Before Hiring Foreign Worker

By Gilda Villaran In our January 4, 2010, article titled Obtaining a Work Permit in Canada: The Labour Market Opinion Process, we explained that in order to get a work permit for a foreign worker, an employer in Canada generally must first obtain a Labour Market Opinion (LMO) from the Department of Human Resources and […]

Walking the line between hiring only authorized workers and violating the discrimination laws

by Elaine Young Here are two situations in which you must avoid discrimination while fulfilling your obligation to hire only authorized workers.  Situation #1 ABC Resort is a beautiful, large new resort in the Utah mountains. Some of its managers heard about Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) raids a few years ago at other resorts […]

Rare costs award granted in human rights complaint

by Hannah Roskey Although courts routinely order one party to pay the other party a portion of its legal fees, administrative tribunals in Canada very rarely have the power or inclination to do so. That includes human rights tribunals across the country, which very rarely order one party to pay the other’s legal costs even […]

Plan’s Network Policy Was Clear Enough to Ward Off ERISA Claims (in spite of poor call center performance)

Rejecting a plan participant’s claims that plan documents should specifically list in-network providers, the 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals held that a plan clearly providing information on how to check for provider status was sufficient to escape benefits-denial and fiduciary-breach claims. In affirming a lower court decision, the court also rejected an argument that […]

3 emerging trends for employers to watch

by Bryan R. Cokeley The following article provides an overview of how the law might change in the near future based on three issues that employers across the country have been grappling with.  1. Ban-the-box legislation The United States incarcerates a larger percentage of its population than any other industrialized country. Consequently, our correctional facilities […]