Articles by Girish Anand

January 15, 2009

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Egads, Our Medical Records Are an Open Book!

Well, not quite. They can't legally be published online or in a print publication, but they can be shared with too many groups without our consent. Most people have never heard of HIPAA, the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996, but that law is the source of what privacy rights we have and don't have. HIPAA directed the federal government to establish privacy rules for p...

January 14, 2009

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COBRA Is Aptly Named; It Bites Its Victims

COBRA health insurance

The Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1985, now known as COBRA, contains a clause allowing employees to keep their company's health insurance for up to 18 months after they leave their jobs, provided they pay the premiums. With people being laid off right and left and the ranks of the unemployed rapidly swelling, many Americans are getting their first introduction to COBRA--and...

January 13, 2009

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Lilly Ledbetter Triumps Over (In) Congress

Lilly Ledbetter Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act

A week ago I wrote that the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act was being put on fast track for passage by the 111th Congress. With a snap of their fingers (actually, pushing their "yes" buttons), members of Congress did just that and sent Lilly over to the Senate, where Harry Reid and other leaders are confident of having the necessary votes to choke off a Republican filibuster. (To recount, the Fai...

January 13, 2009

71 view(s)

Businesses Fear His Very Sight

ADA Americans With Disabilities Act Tom Mundy

Tom Mundy earns a princely income in California by going around to various business establishments with an eye to finding violations of the ADA (Americans With Disabilities Act), usually related to accessibility issues. In one instance, the condiments counter at a fast food joint was one inch too high to be properly accessible. So what did Mundy, who himself is disabled and in a wheelchair, do?...

January 13, 2009

58 view(s)

New Perspectives on the Unemployed

unemployed unemployment

I ran across a blog posting today by someone named Chef Sheila, but it appears as if the article itself was done by someone else judging by the first paragraph that praises "this journalist's informative piece" (unless she's vainly referring to and complimenting herself). Be that as it may, the piece is called "Meltdown 101: Unemployment by the numbers," and it starts off by factoring in categ...

January 12, 2009

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Republic Windows and Doors Offers WARN Test Case

Republic Windows and Doors severance pay WARN Act

The WARN Act (Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act) specifies that 60 days' notice must be given in firms with more than 100 full-time employees when large-scale layoffs are going to take place. The act kicks in when 50 employees at one location are laid off within a 30-day period, or when 33 percent of the workfoce is laid off, or when 500 employees are laid off (regardless of the...

January 9, 2009

56 view(s)

Dems Launch Effort Toward Pay Parity

Democrats Lilly Ledbetter Nancy Pelosi pay parity

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D.-Calif., indicated today that two labor bills are being put on the fast track for passage. Both deal with ensuring women are paid the same as men for doing the same jobs, all other factors being equal. The Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act is named for a litigant who lost her case for fair pay in 2007. The Supreme Court, though agreeing Ms. Ledbetter was probably discr...

January 8, 2009

59 view(s)

Recession, or Return to Normalcy?

bankruptcy recession

This morning I was poring over a press release from a law firm advising employers to use caution and follow labor law mandates in laying people off in hard times. The release began by lamenting a 40-percent rise in business bankruptcies in the 12-month period ending in June 2008, which saw a total of 33,822 firms seek protection, up from 23,889 in 2007. The release listed the Administrative Of...

January 7, 2009

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Construction Industry Draws Most OSHA Fire

construction industry OSHA

The Occupational Health and Safety Administration (OSHA), which has drawn a lot of fire from labor rights groups--as has the whole Department of Labor--for lax workplace regulation under the Republicans, recently posted its 2008 Top Ten List of most commonly cited standards (in other words, standards that resulted in the most citations for violations). Construction came out in the top two spot...

December 31, 2008

82 view(s)

Come Morn and Minimum Wage Rates Will Rise

minimum wage

Some eleven states and two municipalities are raising their minimum wage hourly rates on New Year's Day 2009, topped by the City of Santa Fe with its $9.92 rate (closely followed by San Francisco at $9.79). Heading the states is Washington at $8.55 an hour. For a full list, check out this site. The federal rate goes to $7.25 on July 24, 2009, but most of the January 1 state increases already ...

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About author

Girish Anand

Recent Articles

Practical articles on HR, Safety, compliance, and people operations—written for real businesses, not legal textbooks.

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Articles by Girish Anand