Articles by Girish Anand

August 11, 2011

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OSHA Expected to Release Revised HAZCOM Standard Soon

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) is set to issue a revised hazard communication (HAZCOM) standard soon to incorporate the Globally Harmonized System of Classification and Labeling of Chemicals (GHS). The GHS was developed from a United Nations initiative that seeks to set worldwide standards for how chemicals are classified (according to their danger, or hazard) and how ...

August 7, 2011

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Last of COBRA Subsidy Recipients Rolling Off the Rolls

As part of the government's effort to combat the pitfalls of the recession, Congress in March 2009 passed a 65-percent government-funded subsidy for laid-off employees who signed up for a COBRA health insurance extension. The program ran from September 2008 to May 2010, with 15 months of subsidies available for any employee who was "involuntarily terminated," a phrase that was int...

August 5, 2011

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HHS Expands List of No-Co-Pay Preventive Services for Women

This week the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) added several new, no-cost-to-patients preventive services to the list it aggregates as part of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA). The newly added services for women will have to be offered with no co-pay by all health insurance policies on their first plan year beginning on or after Aug. 1, 2012, making the effect...

August 3, 2011

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DOL to Revamp, Strengthen Whistleblower Protection Program

After critical audits by the Government Accountability Office (GAO) in 2009 and 2010, the Department of Labor (DOL) is implementing several measures to enhance its Whistleblower Protection Program. The federal whistleblower provisions consist of 21 statutes protecting employees who report violations of various workplace safety, airline, commercial motor carrier, consumer product, environmental,...

August 2, 2011

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NLRB General Counsel Clarifies That Social Media Commentary Can Be Punished

Well, yes, in certain situations, anyway. Background: In Connecticut, a famous incident involving American Medical Response, which fired an employee for her bad-mouthing comments on Facebook, led to legal action by the local office of National Labor Relations Board (NLRB), which in turn led to a settlement and shudders in the business world that it might have to put up with endless employee tir...

August 1, 2011

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Genetic Information and Company Wellness Programs

ADA EEOC GINA

The Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act (GINA) prohibits the gathering of genetic information from employees or new hires unless such information is deemed "job-related and consistent with business necessity." Another exception pertains to voluntary wellness programs, with the stipulation that the information obtained is kept confidential and not used in a manner that viol...

July 31, 2011

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EEOC Aims to Ban Pre-Hire Criminal Background Checks

The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) held a wide-ranging meeting on July 26 to discuss a ban on pre-employment criminal background checks. A proposed regulation is expected to be released the week beginning Aug. 1, 2011, or shortly thereafter. In reaching this decision, the EEO commissioners indicated their main concern was the high rate of recidivism and return to prison among...

July 29, 2011

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Wal-Mart Plaintiffs in Court to Revive Their Case on a Narrower Basis

Betty Dukes Wal-Mart

Lawyers for the Wal-Mart plaintiffs, whose massive class-action lawsuit was shot down by the U.S. Supreme Court as being too big and unfocused, are back in court today (July 29, 2011) to argue for a revival of the sex-bias complaint but on a narrower basis and with multiple lawsuits. The attorneys hope to file one class-action lawsuit in California and then move on to other states to replicate ...

July 28, 2011

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New Haven Firefighters Win $2 Million from City in Settlement

In 2009 the Supreme Court ruled that the city of New Haven, Conn., had discriminated against a group of white firefighters who, though they had earned the top scores on an advancement test, were passed over for promotion in favor of minority firefighters because the latter were deemed to have been disadvantaged by the test. After the SCOTUS ruling, the 20 firefighters filed suit in the U.S. Dis...

July 28, 2011

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Supreme Court Petitioned to Review Constitutionality of PPACA

Commerce Clause individual mandate Obamacare PPACA

Following a Circuit Court ruling that the individual mandate to purchase health insurance contained in Obamacare is constitutional, the Thomas More Law Center has petitioned the Supreme Court to review the lower court's decision on the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) and its mandate. Usually, the Supreme Court agrees to such reviews only when two Circuit Courts have issue...

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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