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The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services has released final security standards under the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA) for protecting individually identifiable health information. The standards require health insurers and certain healthcare providers and clearinghouses to establish procedures to protect the confidentiality of electronically maintained or transmitted health information. […]
Gigante USA Inc., a Los Angeles supermarket operator, went to court to get an injunction prohibiting union members from picketing in front of its stores. Gigante argued that the restriction was necessary to protect the safety of store employees and customers following an incident in which union members disrupted a new store’s opening day to […]
A new California law requires you to give employees who are victims of a crime at work written notice informing them they are eligible for workers’ compensation benefits for their injuries, including psychiatric problems. The notice generally must be provided within one working day of the crime and delivered personally or by first-class mail.
The U.S. Department of Labor has announced that National Guard and reserve service members can now file military leave complaints–under the Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act (USERRA)–using a new electronic filing service. This new service is the latest in a series of compliance tools developed by the DOL to help educate employers and employees […]
The U.S. Department of Labor has eased the paperwork burden for administering employee pension plans. Under new regulations that recently went into effect, plan administrators no longer have to automatically file summary plan descriptions or summary material modifications with the department. However, you must still provide summary plan documents to employees.
The U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration has unveiled new safety and health guidance for protecting workers from avian flu. The new document, which updates avian flu guidance by OSHA in 2004, alerts employees and employers about the hazards of occupational exposure to avian influenza from infected birds and provides practical recommendations on ways to […]
Approximately one-third of employers report that their organizations supplement wages and salaries with cash incentives in the form of individual or team awards, spot bonuses, and similar payments, according to a recent survey of Cash Compensation practices conducted by BLR. Long term incentive bonuses were most frequently reported to be paid to employees at the […]
An Orange County jury has awarded $1,350,000 to a real estate agent who claimed she was terminated because she complained she was being sexually harassed by a corporate vice president. And a Los Angeles jury has awarded $1,125,000 to a transit employee who claimed that she was sexually harassed by her supervisor and that the […]
For tax years beginning after 2001, a retirement plan can now allow participants who are at least age 50 or older at the end of the plan year to make catch-up contributions to their accounts.
Today’s workers are likely to celebrate their 65th birthdays with a cake and a short gathering of coworkers in the break room – not with a big retirement party complete with the awarding of a gold watch. Retirement has taken on a new look, and employers must be ready for that trend to continue. The […]