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News Notes: High Court Issues New Travel Time Ruling

The California Supreme Court recently ruled that an agricultural employer has to compensate farm workers for their travel time to and from work. The workers were required to report to a company parking lot each morning to take their employer’s buses to their worksite. The court noted that employers may provide free transportation to employees without […]

Obama Names GE CEO as Head of New President’s Council on Jobs and Competitiveness

President Obama has named GE CEO Jeff Immelt as head of the new President’s Council on Jobs and Competitiveness. The move is a definite switch from the President’s previous Economic Recovery Advisory Board, lead by Paul Volcker. Now, the focus is not on repair, but on creating new jobs. Immelt knows a little something about […]

News Flash: Court Rebuffs Temps’ Claim For Benefits

A federal court in California has thrown out a lawsuit we mentioned in the August 1999 issue of California Employer Advisor, which was filed by long-term temps contending that, even though they were paid by employee-leasing agencies, they should be considered regular Atlantic Richfield Co. employees entitled to receive benefits. The temps sought retirement benefits, […]

January 31st Deadline for Tax Rate Update

It has only been a month since the new federal Tax Relief, Unemployment Insurance Reauthorization and Job Creation Act was signed into law, but the new tax cut rates are already in effect…and employers must race to adjust their payrolls. As of January 1st, the Social Security Tax withholding rate has been reduced from 6.2% […]

Health Care Reform: COBRA notices changed; special enrollment opportunity created

Due to some ambiguity in model government language explaining the interplay of the Affordable Care Act with COBRA coverage, the Obama administration has both proposed an update to model COBRA notices and provided a new special enrollment opportunity for COBRA qualified beneficiaries (QBs) to enroll in marketplace coverage. Last year, the U.S. Department of Labor […]