Expert Compliance Insights & Tips for Businesses

October 25, 2017

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National Apprenticeship Week Set for Nov. 13-19

Secretary of Labor Alexander Acosta today announced that the third annual National Apprenticeship Week will be held November 13-19, 2017. Apprenticeships provide demand-driven education, allowing apprentices to earn while they learn – helping to close the skills gap between the skills job creators seek and job seekers need. “Expanding apprenticeships across all industries is a priority for the...

October 24, 2017

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The Incredible Shrinking Labor Department

Over the past 12 months, the Department of Labor (DOL) has lost 4.7 percent of its workforce to attrition and retirements, according to data released by the Office of Personnel Management (OPM), as detailed by Bloomberg News. The DOL's Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA) has been hit even harder, with a 9 percent reduction in force. Between June and September 2017, the EBSA lost ...

October 24, 2017

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Iowa Drops Its Obamacare Waiver Request -- Only One Insurer Remains

With Obamacare open enrollment only days away, Iowa was hoping to get a waiver from the Obama administration to set up its own subsidy program for health insurance, as premiums on the Affordable Care Act (ACA) marketplace are set to soar 50 percent in the state for 2018. Yesterday the state officially gave up and dropped its waiver request in the face of inflexibility in the ACA. ...

October 23, 2017

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Trump Appears to Want More from Bipartisan Health Care Reform Bill

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R.-Ky.) over the weekend signaled he would bring the Alexander-Murray bipartisan health legislation to a floor vote if President Trump wants him to do so. Trump officials, however, said the bill needs to be expanded to axe the individual and employer health insurance mandates and offer less comprehensive policies for lower-income people through associatio...

October 20, 2017

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Bipartisan Health Care Bill Draws 24 Sponsors, Both Dem and GOP

The latest effort to kick start health care for 2018 -- a bipartisan bill to restore insurance company subsidies for low-income Americans -- has drawn 24 sponsors in the U.S. Senate from both sides of the aisle, evenly divided, but still faces stiff opposition in the House of Representatives amid mixed signals from the White House. ...

October 19, 2017

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SCOTUS to Resolve EEOC and DOJ Split on Sexual Orientation Issue?

An upcoming potential Supreme Court case, which will require reviewing a decision by the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals, could help reconcile the different opinions by the Department of Justice (DOJ) and the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) regarding sexual orientation and whether it is protected under the Civil Rights Act of 1964. At least, that's the hope of Acting EEOC Chair ...

October 19, 2017

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ICE Plans to Increase Worksite Inspections by '4 or 5 Times'

ICE agents carrying out an inspection. In a major shift from the Obama administration and its focus, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) is now looking to deport workers it discovers who lack legal immigration documents to work in the United States. The vehicle for this will be worksite inspections of a company's I-9...

October 17, 2017

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Bipartisan Deal Announced for Cost-Sharing Payments to Obamacare Insurers

Senators Lamar Alexander (R.-Tenn.) and Patty Murray (D.-Wash.) today announced they have reached agreement on a bipartisan bill that will fund cost-sharing reduction (CSR) payments to insurers serving the Affordable Care Act (ACA) (Obamacare) marketplaces for two years. The CSRs -- totaling $7 billion a year -- were ended last week by President Trump, who called the payments illegal because C...

October 16, 2017

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DOL Announces Members of Task Force on Appenticeship Expansion

Following President Donald J. Trump’s Executive Order " "Expanding apprenticeships will help Americans learn the skills they need to fill jobs that are open right now and in the future. I am pleased to see business leaders, unions, educational institutions, and industry groups come together to help the American worker," said Secretary Acosta. "The members of the Task Force on Apprenticeship Ex...

October 13, 2017

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Trump Ends Subsidies to Obamacare Insurers

Confirming what a federal judge had already ruled, President Trump has ended "Based on guidance from the Department of Justice, the Department of Health and Human Services has concluded that there is no appropriation for cost-sharing reduction payments to insurance companies under Obamacare," the White House said in a statement. "In light of this analysis, the Government cannot lawfully make ...

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