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Health Benefits: New COBRA Rules Announced

After a 13-year wait, the Internal Revenue Service has just released its comprehensive regulations covering COBRA health benefits continuation coverage. The new regulations-which are a complex mix of final and so-called proposed rules-clarify several gray areas of the law but don’t change the basic COBRA mandates, including the detailed notice requirements. Even though the rules […]

Minimum Wage Cranks Up Again. Do You Have the Correct Posters Up?

The latest increase in the minimum wage happens soon, and a big change in FMLA is in effect now, so you’d better have posters reflecting the changes (which include a new FMLA “poster insert”) in a prominent place.  Here’s a low cost, worry-free way to take care of it all at once. Why think about […]

COBRA Premium Subsidy Law —What a Difference a Year Makes

Last year around this time, COBRA administrators were waiting with dread to see if Congress would enact yet ANOTHER extension to the continuation coverage premium subsidy law. The law had been extended three times before, so why not four? But due to the political shifts in Congress as a result of the 2010 elections, and […]

Rodney Martin: more productive than a full diversity committee

Most law firms approach diversity from a committee approach (see the “Diversity Trends” article for proof), if at all. A few years ago, Warner Norcross & Judd LLP decided that method wasn’t working. The firm, one of the largest in Michigan, named Rodney Martin its diversity partner in 2006 and gave him the authority and […]

Hot List: Bestselling Business Books on Amazon.com

Amazon.com updates its list of the bestselling business books every hour. Here is a snapshot of what is hot right now, this Monday morning, October 27, in the “Business and Investing” category. 1. The Snowball: Warren Buffett and the Business of Life by Alice Schroeder. The legendary Omaha investor has never written a memoir, but […]

Obama Extends Benefits to Same-Sex Partners of Federal Employees

President Barack Obama signed a Presidential Memorandum on Federal Benefits and Non-Discrimination June 17 at an Oval Office event. The memorandum addresses the benefits to which same-sex partners of federal employees may be entitled and is a result of internal reviews conducted by the director of the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) and the secretary […]

Breach Notice Brings $1.5M HIPAA Enforcement Action

A health insurer agreed to pay $1.5 million and adopt a detailed corrective action plan to resolve HIPAA security allegations stemming from a 2009 data breach. This is the first HIPAA enforcement action to result from the breach reports now required by the HITECH Act. Like many data breaches that have been making the news […]

Your Website, the Soul of Your Recruiting: Sinners Repent!

Most people look at the WOW factor when evaluating an organization’s career website, says Gerry Crispin, but that’s not the point. “Say you see a site filled with impressive technological tricks. That’s cool,” says Crispin, “but does it work?” The factor you really care about, he says, is the quality of candidates that the site […]

Employment Law Tip: Three Ways to Manage Workplace Romance

With Valentine’s Day around the corner, romance is in the air—and maybe even in the workplace. But while workplace romance may be a nice diversion for those involved, it can create some big risks for employers. This can include the threat of sexual harassment lawsuits when a relationship sours, lowered productivity, and even diminished morale […]