Expert Compliance Insights & Tips for Businesses

The Supreme Court has agreed to review a case brought by the Little Sisters of the Poor, a Catholic home for the elderly and "neediest," against a mandate by the Obama administration that they must provide birth control services in their health insurance policies.  Little Sisters of the Poor Philadelphia “It is disapp...

The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has proposed a rule that implements President Trump’s Executive Order No. 13831 (May 3, 2018), removes regulatory burdens on religious organizations, and ensures that religious and non-religious organizations are treated equally in HHS-supported programs.  The proposed rule ensures that HHS-supported social service programs are implemented in a ...

According to the Inflation Adjustment Act, the Department of Labor (DOL) and its Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) each year have until Jan. 15 to adjust their penalties for inflation. Accordingly, increased penalties will take place tomorrow, Jan. 16, 2020. The new 2020 maximum OSHA penalties are as follows: Other-than-Serious: $13,494 (increased from $13,260) Ser...

The Department of Labor (DOL) today announced a final rule to update the regulations interpreting joint employer status under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). The regulations have not been meaningfully updated in more than 60 years. Eugene Scalia, Secretary of Labor Under the FLSA, an employee may have, in additi...

The SECURE Act (Setting Every Community Up for Retirement Enhancement Act) became law as part of the year-end federal budget package signed by President Trump in December, and looks to be the most important piece of retirement legislation in a decade or more. The SECURE Act will help businesses adopt retirement plans.

Trader Joe's, the iconic food retailer, has been sued over its retirement plan by former employees who claimed to have lost millions of dollars through the company's mismanagement of their funds. Trader Joe's, Pasadena, Calif. At issue is the fee charged annually for the maintenance of each account. The plaintiffs' l...

UPDATE: On Jan. 7, the Supreme Court set a Friday afternoon deadline for ACA opponents to respond to the Blue State coalition's request to expedite the case to be resolved before the November 2020 election. Led by California, a coalition of 20 Blue State attorneys general (AGs), plus the District of Columbia, has petitioned the Supreme Court to review the December decision by the 5th U.S. Ci...

New Year's Day ushers in a new Department of Labor (DOL) overtime rule, which raises the salary exemption threshold from $23,660 a year to $35,568, or from $455 a week to $684. Those employees making less than that new amount are eligible for overtime pay. According to a DOL senior official, the new exemption threshold will make an additional 1.3 million workers eligible for overtime come 20...

The 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals today ruled unconstitutional the individual mandate portion of the Affordable Care Act (ACA, or Obamacare), but left the fate of its other provisions in the hands of a Texas judge, who in December 2018 ruled the entire law unconstitutional. Judge Reed O'Connor "The most straightf...

The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) has ordered an administrative law judge (ALJ) to accept a settlement offered by McDonald's USA, LLC in a case involving employees at Illinois franchises fired for their efforts in Fight for $15 picketing. The Obama-era NLRB and its general counsel supported the lawsuit, claiming the corporation was a joint employer liable for actions by its franchise...