Articles by WorkWise Compliance team

June 10, 2015
46 view(s)

Obamacare State Exchanges Biting the Dust | WWC

Hawaii became the latest state to shut down its online health insurance marketplace after the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) began cutting back on grant funds because its exchange was out of compliance with the Affordable Care Act (ACA). The Hawaii exchange enrolled only 8,500 persons in the first year of Obamacare, costing the state $24,000 per sign-up, the highest average i...
June 9, 2015
43 view(s)

EEOC Challenges Inflexible Leave Policies | WWC

ValleyLife, a disability support services company, unlawfully discriminated against disabled employees by refusing to provide them with reasonable accommodations in violation of federal law, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) has charged in a lawsuit filed in the United States District Court for the District of Arizona. ValleyLife is an Arizona corporation which provides progra...
June 9, 2015
43 view(s)

EEOC Files Third Transgender Lawsuit | WWC

Deluxe Financial Services Corp., a Shoreview, Minn.-based check-printing and financial services corporation, violated federal law by subjecting a transgender employee to sex discrimination, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) has charged in a lawsuit. This is the third lawsuit filed recently by the EEOC alleging discrimination on the basis of gender identity/transitioning/transg...
June 7, 2015
37 view(s)

OSHA Issues Guideline on Transgender Bathrooms | WWC

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has published an OSHA Guide to Restroom Access for Transgender Workers. The publication provides guidance to employers on best practices regarding restroom access for transgender workers. The guide was developed at the request of the National Center for Transgender Equality, an OSHA Alliance partner that works collaboratively with the ag...
June 5, 2015
33 view(s)

OSHA to Convene Its Advisory Committee for Input | WWC

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) will hold a meeting of the National Advisory Committee on Occupational Safety and Health (NACOSH), June 17-18, 2015, in Washington, D.C. The Temporary Workers Work Group will meet June 17 and the full committee will meet June 18. The tentative agenda for the committee meeting includes an update from Assistant Secretary of Labor for Occup...
June 4, 2015
44 view(s)

1.5 Million Fail to Pay Premiums or Drop Obamacare | WWC

Since recording 11.7 million health care sign-ups by the end of the open enrollment period in February, Obamacare has witnessed a plunge of 1.5 million who failed to pay their premiums or simply dropped off, the administration announced this week. Coverage under the Affordable Care Act (ACA) this year thus totals 10.5 million, up from 6.3 million in 2014. Some 85 percent of all enrollees recei...
June 3, 2015
33 view(s)

Wal-Mart to Raise Wage Floor for Managers Following Employee Hourly Hike

After previously announcing it would raise the minimum wage paid its employees to at least $10 an hour, Wal-Mart is now embarking on a program to raise managers' hourly rates depending on their department, starting with their Aug. 13 paychecks. Managers in more service-oriented departments such as auto care and electronics will receive at least $13 an hour; managers in less service-oriented ar...
June 1, 2015
32 view(s)

SCOTUS Allows Head Scarf Bias Suit | WWC

Abercrombie & Fitch Co., the nationwide retailer, will no doubt have to revisit its hiring policies following a Supreme Court ruling today that a Muslim job applicant can sue the company after she was rejected for wearing a head scarf, which the company said violated its no-caps rule. The ruling came courtesy of a decisive 8-to-1 majority, with Justice Antonin Scalia writing the opinion an...
June 1, 2015
38 view(s)

Possible ACA Subsidy Workaround Explored | WWC

June is upon us, meaning we can expect the issuance of decisions on the more controversial issues the Supreme Court has weighed this year, including whether subsidies under the Affordable Care Act (ACA) are available only in states with their own exchanges or also on the federal Obamacare website, HealthCare.gov. The wording in the 1,300-page document would seem to indicate that premium subsid...
May 28, 2015
35 view(s)

DOJ Won't Appeal Immigration Plan Injunction to Supreme Court

The Department of Justice (DOJ) has vowed to stay the course in fighting a federal judge's injunction against President Obama's November 2014 immigration executive orders, which would award up to 5 million undocumented immigrants a safe haven from deportation and, for many of them, legal work permits, if implemented. DOJ officials said Wednesday that they would not appeal to the Supreme Court,...