Articles by Girish Anand

May 7, 2013

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Appeals Court Nixes NLRB Employee Rights Poster

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia ruled today that the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) cannot force businesses to display a poster explaining employees' rights to form a union. The issue has been before the court for many months, but in its final ruling, a three-justice panel of the court held that to force businesses to display such a poster would violate t...

May 6, 2013

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At $240 Million, EEOC Wins Largest Discrimination Judgment Yet

A Davenport, Iowa, jury has awarded the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) damages totaling $240 million -- the largest verdict in the federal agency's history -- for disability discrimination and severe abuse. The jury agreed with the EEOC that Hill County Farms, doing business as Henry's Turkey Service, subjected a group of 32 men with intellectual disabilities ...

May 2, 2013

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OSHA Targets Safety of Temporary Workers

This week the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) sent out a directive to its field offices about conducting tighter inspections of worksites where temporary workers are employed, citing recent fatalities and lack of safety training for temporary personnel. The memo read, in part: Given the number of temporary workers and the recent high profile fatal incidents, th...

May 1, 2013

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OCR Introduces Tools to Clarify HIPAA Privacy and Security Rules

Though designed for consumers and their education, the Office for Civil Rights (OCR) has published a set of tools on its website to clarify the provisions of the HIPAA Privacy and Security Rules. For further details, visit Guidance Materials for Consumers.

April 30, 2013

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Arkansas Places Sweeping Restrictions on Employers' Access to Social Media Accounts

Arkansas has passed legislation banning employers from requesting passwords to job applicants' and employees' social media accounts. Employers are also banned from asking applicants and employees to change their privacy settings or to add the employer on their contact list. The only thing employers can still do is view the public pages of any employee's or applicant's soci...

April 29, 2013

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Jenny Yang Confirmed as EEOC Member

Jenny R. Yang has been confirmed as a member of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) to fill an open Democratic seat. She joins Chair Jacqueline Berrien (D) and members Constance R. Barker (R), Chai Feldblum (D) and Victoria A. Lipnic (R). Yang's term expires on July 1, 2017. She comes to the position from private practice, where she specialized in representing employees...

April 25, 2013

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State OSHA Agencies Do More Inspections Than Feds But Fine Less

Some 21 states and Puerto Rico operate their own Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) operations, covering 40 percent of all affected entities (government and private sector), but they perform more inspections each year than federal OSHA, 52,000 vs. 40,000. However, federal inspectors term a greater percentage of violations as serious, resulting in an average fine for a federa...

April 24, 2013

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Average for Settling a Wage-and-Hour Lawsuit: $5.8 Million

Wage-and-hour litigation is the fastest-growing employment law threat employers face, according to a study by the Crowell & Moring law firm. It costs an average of $5.8 million to settle a wage-and-hour case, largely because so many are class-action lawsuits. The firm warns that exempt/nonexempt misclassification cases will continue to be particularly troublesome because of more vigor...

April 22, 2013

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HHS Proposes Rule to Ease HIPAA Barriers on Gun Background Checks

gun control mental health

Responding to concerns that the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) Privacy Rule is preventing states from reporting relevant information to the National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS), which is used to clear or disbar people from making gun purchases, the Department of Human Services (HHS) will seek public input on what should be done. In the Federal ...

April 22, 2013

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DOL Proposes to Add More Whistleblower Agents

Under the Obama adminnistration's proposed 2014 budget for the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), the whistleblower program would hire 47 new staff members with a $5.9 million increase in its funding to $21.8. Meanwhile, the Voluntary Protection Program (VPP) would be cut by 33 positions. Explained OSHA head David Michaels: “To focus on the integrity ...

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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