Articles by Girish Anand

May 16, 2012

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Health Insurance Rebate Letters Coming in August, With or Without a Check Inside

The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has released a final rule on health insurers' compliance with the medical-loss ratio (MLR) standards of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) that will result in all insured Americans receiving a letter from their insurance company this summer, even if they're not receiving a rebate. Under PPACA, health insurance compani...

May 15, 2012

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Woody Allen Rule Gets NLRB Quickie Election Decision Invalidated

A federal judge, citing Woody Allen, has ruled that the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) did not meet the standard of having a quorum present when it voted 2-0 to initiate so-called "quickie" election rules for union organizing. The decision by Judge James Boasberg of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia came this past Monday, May 14. Judge Boasberg was also instr...

May 12, 2012

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HHS Releases Final Rules to Ease Regulations for Health Care Providers

Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Kathleen Sebelius has announced what the agency is calling "significant steps to reduce unnecessary, obsolete, or burdensome regulations on American hospitals and health care providers." These steps will help achieve the key goal of President Obama’s regulatory reform initiative to reduce unnecessary burdens on business and save nearly $...

May 11, 2012

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KPMG Relates Observations from First 20 HIPAA Security Audits

Giant accounting and consulting firm KPMG in 2011 was contracted by the Office for Civil Rights (OCR) to conduct an initial round of up to 150 HIPAA security audits as mandated by the HITECH (Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health) Act of 2009. HIPAA (Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act) requires covered entities to safeguard all private health informatio...

May 10, 2012

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EBSA Releases Guidance on Fee Disclosure Rules for Retirement Funds

The U.S. Department of Labor's Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA) has issued guidance meant to help plan administrators and service providers comply with the requirements of new rules improving the transparency of fees and investment expenses in retirement plans. A set of frequently asked questions and answers has been published in Field Assistance Bulletin No. 2012-02. "...

May 8, 2012

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Wal-Mart Agrees to Pay $4.8 Million in Back Wages

Wal-Mart Stores Inc., headquartered in Bentonville, Ark., has agreed to pay $4,828,442 in back wages and damages to more than 4,500 employees nationwide following an investigation by the U.S. Department of Labor's Wage and Hour Division (WHD) that found violations of the federal Fair Labor Standards Act's overtime provisions. Additionally, Wal-Mart will pay $463,815 in civil money penal...

May 7, 2012

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OSHA Launches Summer Heat Danger Campaign

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has kicked off a national outreach initiative to educate workers and their employers about the hazards of working outdoors in hot weather. The outreach effort builds on last year's successful summer campaign to raise awareness about the dangers of too much sun and heat. Every year, thousands of workers across the country suffer from s...

May 3, 2012

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NLRB Maintains Arbitration Clauses That Preclude Class Action Are Illegal

The National Labor Relations Board has issued a complaint alleging that 24 Hour Fitness USA, Inc. violated federal labor law by insisting that all employment-related disputes be resolved by individual arbitration. The California-based corporation, which operates fitness centers across the country, requires employees to agree in writing, as a condition of employment, to forego any rights to coll...

May 3, 2012

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D.C. Passes Law to Protect the Unemployed from Hiring Bias

The District of Columbia has enacted legislation forbidding employers from discriminating against job applicants who are unemployed, joining Oregon and New Jersey in the effort. In all three locations, employers are enjoined from placing job advertisements that say, in effect, "The unemployed need not apply." This past year, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) held hear...

May 2, 2012

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New I-9 Still in the Works, But Not Approved Yet

In March, the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced a revamp of the Form I-9 used to document employees' legal right to work in the United States. Until an official announcement is made, employers are required to continue using the current I-9 with an expiration date of 8/31/2012. The new I-9 will expand to three pages (including a list of acceptable docum...

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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