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House Leader Schedules Vote to Overturn Health Reform

Expressing strong concerns about health reform’s negative impact on health costs and people’s ability to choose health care options, House Majority Leader Eric Cantor, R-Va., set a July 11 date for the House of Representatives to vote on legislation that would repeal the health care reform law. He said health reform is precluding people from […]

News Notes: Change In I-9 Forms Delayed

Last month’s Bulletin mentioned that the Immigration and Naturalization Service had asked Congress for an additional year to comply with its mandate to modify the I-9 form. The INS has just been given a six-month extension. Although the INS has announced some interim rule changes, you can continue to use the current I-9 form. We’ll […]

Bulletin Item: California Supreme Court Says Catholic Group Must Offer Contraception Coverage In Employee Health Plan

The California Supreme Court has ruled that a Catholic charity doesn’t qualify as a “religious employer” and therefore must comply with the Women’s Contraception Equity Act (WCEA) by offering prescription contraception coverage in its employee health plan if it offers prescription drug coverage—even if the organization opposes contraceptives on religious grounds. This ruling could impact […]

News Notes: Mandatory Arbitration Programs Under Attack

New developments signal a growing trend toward restricting the use of mandatory arbitration. The California Supreme Court recently decided a case involving charges that the Kaiser Permanente Medical Group misrepresented the fairness of its mandatory arbitration system for medical malpractice claims. The Supreme Court issued a strong directive to lower courts to ensure that private […]

News Notes: Classification Mistakes Prove Costly For Employers

Several large employers have recently run into expensive problems over the practice of handing out assistant manager titles, allegedly to avoid paying overtime to employees who perform largely the same work as nonexempt personnel. Workers are calling such tactics unfair labor practices and are suing for back overtime pay and damages. Two such cases are […]

EEOC Announces Crackdown on “Systemic” Discrimination

Last week, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) announced that strengthening its nationwide approach to investigating and litigating systemic cases of discrimination is now an agency-wide top priority. According to the EEOC, systemic cases involve a “pattern or practice, policy and/or class cases where the alleged discrimination has a broad impact on an industry, […]

IRS Lawyers Discuss Reporting on Offers of Coverage

IRS officials described when employers themselves have to fill out full information on all health plan enrollees along with months enrolled, and when employers can hand that over to another entity, such as an insurer. Most employers offer minimum essential coverage to employees; the purpose of Section 6055 reporting is to demonstrate that they are […]