Expert Compliance Insights & Tips for Businesses

January 22, 2015

46 view(s)

Fired Workers Sue Both the Franchisee and McDonald's Corp. for Discrimination

A group of 10 terminated McDonald's employees in Virginia -- one Hispanic and nine African-American -- are suing both the local franchisee and the behemoth mother corporation for discrimination, claiming they were let go because they "didn't fit the profile" for employees at their restaurants. The legal action filed in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Virgina yesterday trace...

January 21, 2015

47 view(s)

CMS Failed to 'Perform All Required Oversight Activities' on HealthCare.Gov, OIG Finds

The Office of Inspector General (OIG) of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) yesterday released results of its review of the 60 "Federal Marketplace contracts" for HealthCare.gov awarded by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), which it said "raised a number of concerns." The study questioned "the adequacy of CMS's planning and procurement efforts" and charged CMS...

January 20, 2015

48 view(s)

MSHA Final Rule to Help Prevent Miners from Being Crushed to Death

A continuous mining machine and miner. The Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) has announced a final rule that will strengthen protections for miners on the working section of underground coal mines by reducing the potential for pinning, crushing or striking accidents. Since 1984, there have been 35 deaths where ...

January 19, 2015

35 view(s)

OSHA Sets Whistleblower Case Milestone | WWC

For the first time since it's had jurisdiction over the nation's 22 federal whistleblower statutes, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has investigated more than 3,000 cases in a year. The fiscal year 2014 total of 3,060 establishes a new benchmark. More than half of the cases investigated (57 percent) were safety-related and filed under the OSH Act's anti-retaliation cla...

January 17, 2015

58 view(s)

CMS Obamacare Architect Tavenner to Step Down | WWC

Though not subject to the scathing public indictment that Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Kathleen Sibelius faced for the Obamacare rollout, Marilyn Tavenner, head of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), is resigning a year after her boss Sibelius. She will be replaced on an interim basis by newly hired Obamacare czar Andy Slavitt. Tavenner was directly responsible f...

January 15, 2015

49 view(s)

DOL's Home Health Care Worker Rule Truncated Even More | WWC

Following its decision in December that vacated a rule by the Department of Labor (DOL) to force third-party employers to pay home health care workers minimum wages and overtime, the District Court for the District of Columbia yesterday threw out Section 552.6 of the same rule, which sought to narrow the definition of "companionship services" in the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). The court r...

January 14, 2015

49 view(s)

MSHA Final Rule Mandates Use of Proximity Detection Systems in Mining Ops

Today, the Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) announced a final rule that will require operators of underground coal mines to equip continuous mining machines with proximity detection systems. It will be published in the Federal Register on Jan. 15 and become effective 60 days thereafter. "Simply put, the proximity detection final rule will save lives and has the potential to dramati...

January 14, 2015

75 view(s)

DOL, Florida Partner Against Worker Misclassification

misclassification

Officials from the Department of Labor (DOL) and the Florida Department of Revenue have signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with the goal of protecting the rights of employees by preventing their misclassification as independent contractors or other non-employee statuses. Under the agreement, both agencies will share information and coordinate law enforcement. The MOU represents a new e...

January 13, 2015

35 view(s)

Aetna to Institute $16-an-Hour Wage Floor | WWC

Some 5,700 employees of Aetna Inc., the health insurance provider, will see their wages rise to $16 an hour as the company prepares to become "a much more consumer-oriented business" with "a better and more informed work force," according to CEO Mark T. Bertolini. Chalk part of the company's decision up to Obamacare, as Aetna now finds itself more actively involved in the individual insurance ...

January 13, 2015

40 view(s)

OSHA Recordkeeping Annual Summary Due by Feb. 1 | WWC

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) 300A injury and illness summary form must be posted in a conspicuous workplace location by Feb. 1 and kept up until April 30. The 300A is a summary of the information from the OSHA 300 injury and illness recordkeeping form (which shouldn't be posted, just the summary form). The summary form must be signed by a company executive to verif...

194 of 329

Options

Recent Articles

Practical articles on HR, Safety, compliance, and people operations—written for real businesses, not legal textbooks.

DOJ Challenges EEOC's Stance on Disparate Impact Claims

The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) recently issued a legal opinion that may signal major changes ahead in federal workplace discrimination enforcement. In a June 9, 2026 memorandum, the DOJ's Office of Legal Counsel (OLC) expressed the opinion that the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission's...

Department of Labor Issues 2026 Civil Penalty Update: No Adjustments This Year

The U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) recently published its annual update announcement regarding federal civil monetary penalties under the Federal Civil Penalties Inflation Adjustment Act. In a notice published in the Federal Register on May 27th, 2026, the DOL announced that no penalty increases...

U.S. Department of Labor Issues New Opinion Letters on Overtime Exemptions, Bonuses, and Compensable Time

On May 29th, 2026, the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) released several new opinion letters addressing key wage & hour issues. Specifically, one of the four documents informed readers whether an exempt employee could perform additional work in a secondary role at an hourly rate and still be eligible...

EEOC Issues New National Enforcement Plan Through 2029

On June 4th, 2026, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) released a new 2025-2029 National Enforcement Plan (NEP). The NEP sets the EEOC’s specific subject-matter priorities from June through fiscal year 2029.

U.S. Department of Labor Officially Restores Prior Overtime Exemption Rules

On May 14th, 2026, the Wage and Hour Division (WHD) of the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) announced it has officially rescinded the 2024 overtime exemption rules. Specifically, the WHD published a technical amendment to restore previous 2019 regulations that dictated overtime exemptions for...

View All Articles