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New I-9 Form Required Starting April 3

All employers are required to verify the employment eligibility of their employees by completing a federal Employment Eligibility Verification Form I-9 for each worker. Employers can use self-audits to verify that the employment eligibility documentation kept on file for their employees is accurate. Recent changes Effective April 3, 2009, the list of documents acceptable to […]

Departments Issue PPACA Regulations on Waivers for State Innovation

The U.S. Departments of Health and Human Services (HHS) and the Treasury recently issued proposed new regulations under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) that outline the steps states must take to acquire Waivers for State Innovation. Under the PPACA, in 2017, states will be able to ask for such waivers to allow […]

Virginia’s new worker privacy law takes effect July 1

by Stacey Rose Harris A new state law in Virginia aimed at increasing worker privacy takes effect July 1. It bars employers from being required to disclose to third parties current and former employees’ personally identifiable information except under certain circumstances. The law, House Bill 1931, says employers can’t be required to disclose the personally […]

FMLA Leave: Military Caregiver Leave

by Susan M. Webman and Burton F. Fishman Fortney & Scott, LLC Last week, we looked at the similarities and differences between traditional Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) leave and the new qualifying exigency military FMLA leave. This week we look at military caregiver leave. The rules for employer coverage (employing 50 employees within […]

EEOC Proposes 30-percent Limit for Wellness Incentives

Financial wellness incentives of up to 30 percent of coverage costs would be allowed under the Americans with Disabilities Act, based on rules proposed by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. This long-awaited guidance generally defers to HIPAA’s nondiscrimination rules, as amended by health care reform, in determining whether a wellness program is permitted by […]

Supreme Court Holds Two-Member NLRB Lacked Quorum, Authority

This morning, the U.S. Supreme Court issued a surprising 5-4 decision holding that the previously short-staffed National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) acted without authority over the two years it had only two members. As a result, more than 500 opinions decided by that Board are now invalid and will need to be readdressed. In addition […]

Benefits: Can We Screen Out Unhealthy Applicants When We Hire?

Our healthcare premiums have gone through the roof (whose haven’t?), and management is putting pressure on me to get the costs down. They think we can have an impact by establishing health criteria to screen out applicants who will be likely to have high health bills, e.g., smokers, those who are overweight and/or have high […]

EBSA’s Lifetime Income Illustration: Some Question DOL Formula

The day after the U.S. Department of Labor’s Employee Benefits Security Administration issued a proposal outlining rules it is considering for lifetime income illustrations in pension benefit statements, retirement industry professionals applauded DOL’s effort but expressed concern about how realistic the proposal’s formulas are. In the recently released advance notice of proposed rulemaking, EBSA is […]

PEDs, iPhones, Payroll, Piracy—Perfect Storm?

PEDs—portable electronic devices such as laptops, PDAs, pocket drives, and memory cards—are in your office by the dozens. Are they putting confidential data at risk? Generating unexpected overtime? Destroying productivity? It’s time for a separate PED policy. First, courtesy of our sister newsletter, the Safety Daily Advisor, let’s consider the various laws that relate to […]

States challenge EEOC guidance on criminal background checks

by Joshua Wood The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), the agency responsible for enforcing federal employment discrimination laws, periodically issues enforcement guidance to aid employers in complying with the laws it enforces. The guidance is usually published on the agency’s website at www.eeoc.gov and can be an indication of how the EEOC will interpret or […]