Articles by Girish Anand

June 26, 2014

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Massachusetts Enacts Highest Minimum Wage Law Among All States

Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick today signed S.2195, “An Act Restoring the Minimum Wage and Providing Unemployment Insurance Reforms,” a bill that "gradually raises the minimum wage to $11 over three years, lowers unemployment insurance (UI) costs for employers across the state, strengthens safety protections for workers and makes permanent the multi-agency task force charge...

June 26, 2014

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SCOTUS Rules Obama 2012 Recess Appointments Unconstitutional

In a unanimous decision, the Supreme Court today ruled that recess appointments made by President Obama while the Senate was holding "pro-forma" sessions but otherwise on a short break overreached his constitutional authority. "Because the Senate was in session during its pro forma sessions, the president made the recess appointments before us during a break too short to co...

June 26, 2014

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More Employers Now Eliminating Jobseekers Because of Social Media Searches

A survey by Career Builder found that 51 percent of employers who research job applicants on social media end up rejecting them, up from 43 percent in last year's survey and 34 percent in 2012. So what are employers finding on social media that’s prompting them to eliminate candidates from consideration? The most common reasons to pass on a candidate included: · Job c...

June 26, 2014

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Ikea to Raise Store Minimum Wage to $10.76 an Hour

Ikea, the Swedish home goods megastore, is raising the minimum wage it pays its workers at 38 U.S. locations to $10.76 an hour beginning Jan. 1, 2015, a 17-percent increase over the current $9.17-an-hour rate. "The happier the co-worker, the happier the customer and the better the overall shopping experience," said Rob Olson, acting U.S. president for the firm. The raise wil...

June 24, 2014

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DOL Releases Funds for Unemployment Assessment, Training

The Department of Labor (DOL) today awarded $68,745,912 to 37 states, Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands and the District of Columbia to implement or continue re-employment and eligibility assessments for Unemployment Insurance beneficiaries. "Offering newly unemployed Americans access to a full array of job training and placement services will help to reduce time spent between job...

June 23, 2014

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OSHA Launches Interactive Game to Help Identify Workplace Hazards

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has launched a new interactive training tool to help small businesses effectively identify hazards in the workplace. Employers and workers can virtually explore how to identify common workplace hazards in the manufacturing and construction industries. Users of the new training tool will learn not only hazard identification skills but al...

June 20, 2014

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New HHS Secretary to Hire Obamacare Czar

In her first week in office, Health and Human Services Secretary Sylvia Mathews Burwell has already shaken up the Affordable Care Act (ACA, aka Obamacare) personnel structure and announced plans to hire a "marketplace chief executive officer," in other words, a CEO for HealthCare.gov. In addition, she hired Andy Slavitt, group executive vice president of Optum, the main contract...

June 20, 2014

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DOL Proposes Rule to Expand FMLA to Same-Sex Couples

Secretary of Labor Thomas E. Perez announced today a proposed rule extending the protections of the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) to all eligible employees in legal same-sex marriages regardless of where they live. The proposal would help ensure that all families will have the flexibility to deal with serious medical and family situations without fearing the threat of job loss...

June 20, 2014

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Few Pay Full Premium for Obamacare, HHS Reveals

In a report released this week, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) reveals that 90 percent of the 5.4 million Americans who purchased health insurance on the federal exchange are receiving subsidies and paying less than $100 a month for their policies. According to the report titled "Premium Affordability, Competition, and Choice in the Health Insurance Marketplac...

June 20, 2014

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EEOC to Update Wellness Program Rules to Root Out Discrimination

In its latest regulatory agenda, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) lists a re-examination of the rules for company wellness programs as one of its priorities, determined to wring every ounce of discrimination out of these programs. As an example, the disabled might not be able to participate in all the incentives in such programs, as these incentives often include exercis...

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About author

Girish Anand

Recent Articles

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

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...

NLRB General Counsel Takes Action to Tackle Current Case Backlog

On May 6th, the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) and NLRB General Counsel Crystal Stowe Carey announced the bulk transfer of thousands of labor practice cases. Specifically, this action fulfills an initiative signed by the NLRB General Counsel earlier this year. Overall, the initiative...

Privacy Agency Invites Comments from Businesses on the CCPA’s Usage of Personal Data

Recently, the California Privacy Protection Agency (CPPA) issued a call for comments on the current state of personal data collection under the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA). Specifically, the invitation to deliver remarks was issued on April 20th, 2026. The information provided by the...

DOL Proposes New Joint Employer Rule To Unify Standards Under Federal Labor Laws

In April 2026, the U.S. Department of Labor issued a proposed rule to establish a single, clear standard for determining when joint-employer status applies under three major federal laws: the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA), and the Migrant and Seasonal...

DOL Updates Enforcement Approach for Employee Benefit Plans: What Employers Should Know

The U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) recently announced a significant change in its enforcement of employee benefit plan rules. The DOL will now focus more closely on serious violations that harm workers and retirees, meaning compliant employers may face less scrutiny under the updated approach.

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Articles by Girish Anand