Practical HR Tips, News & Advice. Updated Daily.
Recent legal challenges have focused on constitutional issues, but health care reform is expected to create new reasons for benefits and employment-law litigation, according to a reform expert. Reform rules fraught with legal risk include: (1) pay-or-play requirements, (2) claims appeals and external review, (3) essential benefits; and (4) retiree medical rules. Another area of […]
Employers should take note: more of their employees are coming to and going from the office via public transportation. That’s more than an interesting statistic — it has implications for employers. Employees who take public transportation to work may benefit from a tax break, but only if their employer sponsors a qualified transportation fringe benefit […]
Small businesses that seek to improve their retirement plans should have access to more information from the federal government. That is the recommendation of the Government Accountability Office (GAO), which in a recent report steers clear of advocating bold moves and suggests that the federal government improve what it’s already doing in order to better […]
“The difficult workers’ compensation problems are only one aspect of a multi-dimensional employment law problem.”, noted David Schmit in a BLR webinar titled “Workers’ Comp: How to Discipline or Terminate Claimants While Minimizing Your Legal Risks,”. If you’ve been considering firing an employee who is out on workers’ comp leave – or recently back from […]
In a BLR webinar titled “New Year, New Laws, New Employee Handbook: What to Change and What to Keep in 2012,” Lisa Barnett Sween outlined some guidelines on what to include in employment handbooks and gave some guidance on the inclusion of paid time off (PTO) and other leave policies. Mandatory Unpaid Time Off to […]
Many, perhaps most, employers provide some coverage to employees’ dependents under the benefit plans they offer. But an employer needs to be careful when it does so. Many factors can complicate this coverage. Following are examples that highlight complicated situations that can arise for an employer that covers employees’ dependents and how an employer should address […]
Imaging you run a health plan and you’re responsible for preventing overpayments for ineligible beneficiaries. Dependent audits sound like a good idea, but when and how do you do them? Do you think it is better to do a proactive dependent audit to catch improper free riders before they incur big charges or would you […]
Two former interns recently sued the producer of the Oscar-winning film “Black Swan” for minimum wage and overtime law violations, hitting headlines nationwide. The case is a good illustration of some of the inherent dangers of taking on interns.
Approximately 105 million Americans now have health coverage without lifetime limits on benefits — including 95 million individuals with employer-sponsored health coverage — due to health care reform requirements, according to a new report by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). The Affordable Care Act prohibits health plans renewing on or after […]
Employers and plan administrators will be better able to administer plan loans and meet the prohibited transaction exemption, since the IRS has given them a clearer picture of what constitutes a “reasonable rate of interest.” The IRS has provided this assistance in guidance it published in the Winter 2012 edition of its “Retirement News for […]