Expert Compliance Insights & Tips for Businesses

December 29, 2010

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IRS Hands Holiday Gift to Companies with Cadillac Health Plans

Commencing Jan. 1, 2011, a provision of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) was set to prohibit companies from offering more expensive health insurance plans to top executives, armed with a fine of $100 per day for each such highly insured executive. Previously, this requirement had applied only to self-insured plans, but come the New Year, it was to apply to all non-grandfat...

December 21, 2010

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DOL Focuses on Workplace Safety in Agenda

IIPP OSHA

In 2011 the Department of Labor (DOL) plans to issue 35 proposed rules and 25 final rules. Many of these will be emanating from the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) and will be focusing on workplace safety issues. Details are contained in the department's Semiannual Regulatory Agenda, which it published just this past Friday (Dec. 17, 2010). OSHA will be releasing final regu...

December 15, 2010

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FMLA Leave Up by 10 Percent in 2010

Family and Medical Leave Act FMLA

According to a survey by FMLASource, the number of employees taking unpaid leave from work under the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) has risen by 10 percent in 2010. “As companies continue to operate with leaner staffs in a slowly recovering economy, many workers are seeking FMLA job protection in order to take time off to care for themselves as well as family members,” said Jim...

December 15, 2010

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Some States Raising the Minimum Wage Come Jan. 1, 2011

December 14, 2010

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New York Puts Some New Teeth into Wage and Hour Enforcement

Governor David Patterson of New York has signed into law the Wage Theft Prevention Act, which specifies new notification and reporting obligations on the part of employers and also raises the stakes money-wise on civil and criminal fines. It also provides for imprisonment in some circumstances. The law requires employers to provide documentation to each employee, in both English and the employe...

December 7, 2010

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DOL Hotline Helps Employees Sue Employers

ABA DOL Wage and Hour Division

Beginning next Monday, the Department of Labor (DOL) will be setting up a hot line so complaint filers whom the DOL is too busy to serve can call a member of the American Bar Association (ABA) and seek legal redress over wage and FMLA issues. The partnership between the DOL and the ABA springs from the Middle Class Task Force that President Obama set up, and it's part of the administratio...

December 3, 2010

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DOL Collects $300 Million in Back Wages in New Enforcement Push

FLSA overtime pay

The Department of Labor (DOL) announced recently that it has collected more than $300 million in back wages since 2009, benefiting some 385,000 workers. Typically, back wages represent overtime pay that was withheld either knowingly or unknowingly. Since taking over, the Obama administration and DOL Secretary Hilda Solis have beefed up their inspection force by hiring some 300 additional W...

December 1, 2010

42 view(s)

EBSA Requires 401(k) Fee Transparency

401(k) DOL EBSA final rule on fee transparency

In the wake of a spate of high-profile employee class action lawsuits on excessive 401(k) fees, the Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA) has jumped into the fray with the publishing of a final rule of the transparency of fees and expenses associated with 401-(k)-type retirement plans. Plan administrators will now have to provide detailed, plain-language breakouts of all fees and exp...

November 24, 2010

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EEOC Catches Up on Backlog of Discrimination Claims

discrimination lawsuits EEOC

In its just-released Performance and Accountability Report (PAR) for fiscal 2010, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) says it is "rebuilding" and reducing its backlog of discrimination claims needing action. Though a record number of of claims--99,992--were filed in the fiscal year, the inventory of claims to resolve rose less than 1 percent, from 85,768 to 86,338. Acco...

November 23, 2010

65 view(s)

Inflation Stagnant; Retirement Limits Flat

benefit plans HIPAA IRS

The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) has announced dollar limits for tax-deferred retirement savings accounts for 2011, and, reflecting a flat cost-of-living index for 2010, has left those limits virtually unchanged for the new year. For instance, the limit for 401(k), 457(b) and 403(b) plans remains unchanged at $16,500, with health savings accounts (HSA) holding steady at $3,050 for individuals...

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