Articles by Girish Anand

June 27, 2012

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DOL Focuses on Outreach to Employees About Their FMLA Rights

In a dual move in the past few days, the Department of Labor (DOL) has reached out to employees to provide educational resources about their rights under the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA), which provides up to 12 weeks of unpaid leave for qualified workers facing serious health conditions or needing to care for close relatives. (Military caregiver leave has recently been included.) Fir...

June 26, 2012

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DOL Disclosure Fee Regulations Take Effect July 1

The Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA) of the Department of Labor (DOL) is implementing a new disclosure rule effective July 1, 2012, regarding the fees associated with 401(k)-type investment plans. The final rule will require plan fiduciaries to release in both printed form and in Web format the costs associated with these retirement plans, including the commissions and/or fees c...

June 25, 2012

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DOL to Host FMLA Webinar for Employers, Employees on June 27

The U.S. Department of Labor's Wage and Hour Division (WHD) will host a free webinar on June 27 at 2 p.m. EDT to help workers and employers understand the Family and Medical Leave Act. The department also has prepared a 16-page booklet, available online, that explains the FLMA and answers common questions. "The Family and Medical Leave Act provides America's workers one of the coun...

June 21, 2012

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OSHA to Publish Direct Final Rule on PPE Tomorrow

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has prepared a direct final rule on the use of personal protective equipment (PPE), updating the existing standard promulgated in 2009 regarding the use of head gear, that it will publish in the Federal Register Friday, on June 22, 2012. If the agency receives no adverse comments from the public during its open commentary that runs throug...

June 20, 2012

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Trumped: Court Rejects NLRB Certification of 'Card-Check' Unionization at Casino

In 2007 the International Union, United Automobile, Aerospace and Agricultural Implement Workers of America campaigned to organize the card dealers at the Trump Plaza in Atlantic City, N.J. Days before the election, the union assembled federal, state and local politicians, Trump employees and union organizers for a mock card-check vote, broadcast by a local TV station that subsequently announce...

June 18, 2012

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Supreme Court Strikes Down DOL Interpretation of Pharma Reps' Overtime Status

The U.S. Supreme Court today rejected an interpretation by the Department of Labor (DOL) that pharmaceutical sales representatives are hourly employees subject to overtime day. The 5-4 decision, in Michael Shane Christopher, et al., Petitioners v. SmithKline Beecham Corp. dba GlaxoSmithKline, restores the DOL's position on the issue that existed for decades prior to 2009, when a newly agend...

June 18, 2012

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NLRB Launches Web Page on 'Protected, Concerted Activity'

The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) announced today that it has made public a Web page that describes the rights of employees to act together for their mutual aid and protection, even if they are not in a union. The page, at www.nlrb.gov/concerted-activity, tells the stories of more than a dozen recent cases involving protected concerted activity, which can be viewed by clicking points on...

June 17, 2012

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Firm Turns Tables on EEOC and Wins $750K Judgment for Wrongful Lawsuit

A staffing firm named Peoplemark Inc. has been awarded $752,000 in damages over a lawsuit by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) that alleged racial discrimination that it could not prove, and which in fact Peoplemark showed to be the opposite of the truth. The EEOC went after Peoplemark, claiming that its blanket rejection of applicants with criminal backgrounds disparately impa...

June 14, 2012

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Wal-Mart Women File EEOC Discrimination Claims in 48 States

After the Supreme Court decertified their class-action status in Dukes v. Walmart in 2011, some 2,000 current and former female employees of Wal-Mart have filed pay and promotion discrimination claims with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), enabling them to file individual lawsuits against the retailer. The claims were filed in every state except Montana and Vermont. This past ...

June 13, 2012

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List of State Attorneys General Enforcing HIPAA May Expand

The Health information Technology for Clinical and Economic Health (HITECH) Act of 2009 empowered state attorneys general (AGs) to enforce HIPAA privacy and security rules. So far, four AGs have taken up the cause--in Connecticut, Indiana, Minnesota and Vermont. More AGs may follow now that the Office for Civil Rights (OCR), the enforcing agency in the Department of Health and Human Services (H...

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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