Articles by Girish Anand

September 16, 2011

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President Wants to Make the Unemployed a Protected Class

As part of President Obama's American Jobs Act, the Fair Employment Opportunity Act would add unemployed individuals who are actively seeking work as a protected class under the Civil Rights Act of 1964, giving the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) the power to investigate discrimination complaints and levy fines, penalties and injunctive relief (as well as lawyer's fees). ...

September 15, 2011

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Judge Rules Five Employees Were Unlawfully Fired for Facebook Comments

An Administrative Law Judge for the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) has taken up the board's position that comments on Facebook and other social media sites can in many cases be considered "protected concerted activity." In a recent ruling, Judge Arthur Amchan ordered Hispanics United of Buffalo (HUB) to restore the jobs of five employees fired for critical comments on...

September 14, 2011

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Proposed Regulations Issued on PPACA Disclosure Requirements

The Departments of Health and Human Services (HHS) and Labor (DOL) have joined the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) in proposing regulations to fulfill the requirement of 2010's health care reform for insurers to issue full statements of benefits to all affected. These summaries of benefits were mandated by the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) and must be fully implemented b...

September 12, 2011

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Manufacturers Association Sues NLRB over Mandated Employee Rights Poster

The National Association of Manufacturers (NAM) has sued the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) to rescind its required employee rights poster, which the association says the board lacks the authority to mandate. The NLRB on August 30 published a final rule mandating that virtually every business in America display an NLRB-worded poster to inform employees of their rights under the National ...

September 9, 2011

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OSHA Issues Directive for Field Officers on Combatting Workplace Violence

OSHA workplace violence

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has issued a new directive for its field agents entitled Enforcement Procedures for Inspecting Incidents of Workplace Violence. Specifically, the directive “highlights the steps that should be taken in reviewing incidents of workplace violence when considering whether to initiate an inspection in industries that OSHA has identified ...

September 8, 2011

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Health Insurance Rate Reviews Kick in Sept. 1 with 10-Percent Ceiling

Under provisions of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA), beginning Sept. 1 states and the federal government will begin reviewing health premium increases in the small group and individual market, with any increase above 10 percent triggering an automatic need for the insurer to submit detailed justification. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) will conduct t...

September 7, 2011

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OCR Makes Annual Report on HIPAA Privacy and Security Rule Compliance

HIPAAA HITECH OCR privacy rule security rule

In its annual report to Congress, the Office for Civil Rights (OCR) said it is developing audit protocol to conduct audits of up to 145 covered entities in an ongoing effort to enforce the privacy and security rules of HIPAA. The Office for Civil Rights of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) is charged with enforcing the security and privacy rules of the Health Insurance Portabili...

September 6, 2011

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DOL Looking to Update Child Labor Regulations

The U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) is proposing revisions to child labor regulations that it hopes will strengthen the safety requirements for young workers employed in agriculture and related fields. The agricultural hazardous occupations orders under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) that bar young workers from certain tasks have not been updated since they were promulgated in 1970. The dep...

September 2, 2011

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EEOC Takes Aim at Pago Pago for Age Discrimination

The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) is suing American Samoa, alleging the U.S. territorial government discriminates against older workers. According to the complaint filed Tuesday (Aug. 30, 2011) in Hawaii, the director of the territory's human resources department told employees 50 and older in 2009 that they should retire so younger (read: cheaper) workers could take their ...

September 1, 2011

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Down to Three Members, NLRB Still Overturns Three Bush-Era Rulings

NLRA NLRB

With Wilma Liebman already departed, the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) is down to three members with another departure looming at the end of the year. Nevertheless, the board has been busy overturning Bush-era decisions just days after publishing a final rule mandating the display of an NLRA Employee Rights Poster in virtually every workplace. In two of the decisions it issued on Tuesda...

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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