Articles by Girish Anand

July 18, 2013

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Insurance Rates Under ACA to Be Lower Than Expected, HHS Says

HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius today released a new report that finds premiums in the Health Insurance Marketplace will be nearly 20 percent lower in 2014 than previously expected. The Affordable Care Act requires health insurers in every state to publicly justify any premium rate increases of 10 percent or more. Health insurance companies now generally have to spend at least 80 ce...

July 18, 2013

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4th Circuit Dittos Earlier Rulings on NLRB Recess Appiontments

The U.S. 4th Circuit Court of Appeals yesterday concurred with two other appeals courts in ruling that President Obama's "recess" appointments to the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) in January 2012 were unconstitutional because the Senate wasn't actually in recess, just on break between ongoing sessions. The vote by the three-member panel representing the full cour...

July 18, 2013

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President Names Two Replacement Nominees to NLRB

Earlier this week the Senate, in a showdown between Democrats and Republicans over filibuster rules, struck a deal to confirm many of President Obama's pending federal appointments. As part of the deal, two persons given recess appointments in 2012 to the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) -- and later renominated when their appointments were ruled unconstitutional -- have been rep...

July 18, 2013

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Oregon Adds Bereavement to Protected Leave Categories

Oregon Gov. John Kitzhaber has signed HB 2950 to add bereavement to the list of protected leave categories under the Oregon Family Leave Act (OFLA), effective Jan. 1, 2014. Under the law, employees within 60 days of the death of a family member will be able to take two weeks of leave to attend the funeral or other service, to make necessary funeral arrangements, or simply to grieve. O...

July 18, 2013

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EPA Building Renamed in Honor of Bill Clinton

The Ariel Rios Building housing the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is now the William Jefferson Clinton Building, thanks to legislation introduced by Sen. Barbara Boxer, D.-Calif. The Ariel Rios name, which honored a fallen agent of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), will be resurrected on a reflecting pond with the family's consent. (The EPA Buildin...

July 17, 2013

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Romneycare Defers to Obamacare and Drops 'Play or Pay' Assessment

Regardless of the fact that the Employer Shared Responsibility "play or pay" assessment of the Affordable Care Act (ACA, or Obamacare) has been delayed until 2015, Massachusetts has dropped its similar penalty provision effective this July 1 in deference to the national health care code. In Massachusetts the employer penalty for not providing health insurance for its employees i...

July 17, 2013

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Rhode Island Minimum Wage to Rise to $8 an Hour

Gov. Lincoln Chafee on Monday signed legislation to raise the Rhode Island minimum wage to $8 an hour on Jan. 1, 2014, up from the current $7.75. Nearby Massachusetts has an $8 minimum wage in place, and Connecticut's rate stands at $8.25.

July 15, 2013

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Idaho Joins E-Verify RIDE

Yesterday, Idaho became the third state after Mississippi and Florida to join the Records and Information from DMWs for E-Verify (RIDE) program, which collects driver's license and state ID information from participating states to be used in the employment verification process. Such state-based information then can be culled from the online databases that form the E-Verify program, wh...

July 14, 2013

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Starting Oct 1. See Your Pastor for Health Insurance -- Really?

On Friday, July 12, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) issued final regulations on health insurance navigators, who will help steer consumer toward the proper coverage beginning Oct. 1, 2013, when the Health Insurance Marketplaces open for business (in 16 states so far, plus a gargantuan federal mechanism for the other 34). Community organizers and church leaders are b...

July 13, 2013

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DHS Secretary to Leave Post and Join UC System as President

Janet Napolitano, secretary of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and former Arizona Governor, is leaving her post to become president of the University of California (UC) system. "I thank President Obama for the chance to serve our nation during this important chapter in our history, and I know the Department of Homeland Security will continue to perform its important duties ...

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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