Articles by Girish Anand

March 28, 2019

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Judge Blocks Medicaid Work Rule Again

UPDATE: Arkansas has asked the Trump administration to appeal the judge's ruling, and Indiana is proceeding nonstop to implement Medicaid work rules without regard to the rulings in Kentucky and Arkansas. U.S. District Judge James Boasberg has blocked the implementation of work requirements for able-bodied Medicaid recipients in Kentucky and Arkansas. Nine months ago, the judge blocked Kentu...

March 27, 2019

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McDonald's Drops Opposition to Minimum Wage Hikes

McDonald's Corp., which is involved in a lingering legal dispute over whether it is a joint employer, is now dropping its lobbying efforts against minimum wage hikes, an issue that led to its legal wrangle in the first place. McDonald's unveiled its new position yesterday in a letter to the National Restaurant Association. "We believe increases should be phased in and that all industries ...

March 27, 2019

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Centene, WellCare Merger to Create Obamacare Behemoth

Centene, a major health insurer based in St. Louis, is paying $17.3 billion in cash and stock to purchase WellCare Health Plans, a provider of government-sponsored health care programs, including Medicaid. The merger has been approved by both companies' boards of directors and is expected to be completed in the first half of 2020. Together, the merged company will service about 22 million me...

DOJ Now Argues for Legal Dissolution of the ACA

March 26, 2019

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The Department of Justice (DOJ) under new Attorney General William Barr has changed course and is now calling on the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals to strike down in its entirety the Affordable Care Act (ACA, or Obamacare). U.S. Attorney General William Barr This is in opposition to its previous position, which ar...

March 25, 2019

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Grandmothered Health Plans Extended

In announcing the final tally for enrollment in Obamacare plans for 2019 through the exchanges, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) today also announced that health insurance plans that are not compliant with all new mandates but were "grandmothered" in 2014 are being given another year of non-compliant, grandfather status.

Triangle Shirtwaist Tragedy Remembered

March 25, 2019

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It was a Saturday in New York City 108 years ago today -- March 25 -- when fire engulfed by Triangle Shirtwaist Factory, leaving 146 workers dead, some as young as 13. Asch Building in New York, site of the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire The factory employed mostly young immigrant women sewing garments in harsh con...

New Jersey to Set Up Own ACA Online Marketplace

March 25, 2019

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New Jersey has opted to leave the Affordable Care Act (ACA, or Obamacare) federal exchange at HealthCare.gov and create its own online portal for the start of the 2021 health insurance open enrollment period. New Jersey Gov. Murphy "A New Jersey exchange will be a strong measure of independence at a time when the fed...

March 22, 2019

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Overtime Proposal Published, Public Comments Sought

The Department of Labor (DOL) today published a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) regarding its overtime initiative in the Federal Register, opening a 60-day window for the public to offer comments, which will end May 21. Earlier this month, the DOL sent a draft of the proposed rule to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) to begin the process of finalizing everything. Today's action ...

March 20, 2019

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EEO-1 Pay Data Reporting Still in Limbo

An Obama-era requirement that affected employers must include employee pay data on their annual EEO-1 reports, once nixed by the Trump Office of Management and Budget (OMB) and then restored by a federal judge, is now pending formal announcement by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC). The EEO-1 online reporting portal opened Monday (March 18) for the traditional Component 1 (r...

March 20, 2019

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Despite Obamacare Options, Employers Still Responsible for COBRA Compliance

Though in many cases a departing employee would be better served obtaining subsidized insurance on the Obamacare exchanges, employers are still required to inform departing employees and their qualified beneficiaries of the option to extend their company-based health insurance based on the circumstances of their departure. Under the Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act (COBRA), emp...

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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