Articles by Girish Anand

June 6, 2018

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HHS Creates DRIVe Initiative to End Infectious Disease Threats

The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has opened a new office known as the Division for Research, Innovation and Ventures (DRIVe), which has been tasked with creating public-private partnerships to detect and battle infectious diseases before they become epidemics. "It takes too long to recognize when a disease, virus or biological threat has entered a community, to understand th...

June 6, 2018

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Republican Cabal Keeps EEOC in Democrats' Hands

Four Republicans, led by Sen. Mike Lee of Utah, have effectively kept the Obama Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) intact by refusing to allow a vote on President Trump's renomination of Commissioner Chai Feldblum, citing faith-based objections. Chai Feldblum Since Democrats say they won't vote on the pres...

June 6, 2018

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Joint Employer Rulemaking Definitely on NLRB Agenda, Chairman Says

Responding to criticism from three liberal Senators, National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) Chairman John Ring has affirmed that the agency will issue a Notice of Proposed Rulemking (NPRM) on defining joint employer relationships "as soon as possible, but certainly by this summer." John Ring, new NLRB Chair The board's...

June 5, 2018

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CMS Releases State-by-State Medicaid Scorecard

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) has released what is being called a "Medicaid & CHIP Scorecard" that attempts to compare the timeliness and quality of medical care of the two programs state by state, but a major problem is that reporting by the states is mostly voluntary. “Despite providing health coverage to more than 75 million Americans at a taxpayer cost of more ...

June 1, 2018

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NJ Statewide Obamacare Mandate Begins

New Jersey has become the second state to legislate an individual Obamacare-like health care mandate following the lead of Massachusetts, which instituted its mandate in 2006 when it passed Romneycare. The New Jersey mandate replaces the financial penalty for not having health insurance that Republicans in Congress repealed in December. In 2015 some 189,000 New Jersey residents paid $93 mill...

May 31, 2018

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All FMLA Forms Expire Tonight, But They're Still Good

The seven forms and notices published by the Department of Labor (DOL) for the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) expire tonight (May 31) at midnight, but a spokesperson says the documents are still good while permission for issuing newly dated versions is being obtained. According to a spokesperson, a request to reissue the forms without any changes but with a new expiration date was sent ...

May 30, 2018

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DHS Proposes Ending Entrepreneur Rule for U.S. Entry

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is proposing a rule to end a program that allows certain foreign entrepreneurs to be considered for parole to temporarily come to the United States to develop and build start-up businesses here, known as the International Entrepreneur Rule (IE Final Rule). In July 2017, DHS published a final rule to delay the implementation date of the IE Final Rule ...

May 30, 2018

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HHS Seeks to Modify Disclosure Rule, Establish Means to Share HIPAA Fines with Victims

Following comments made in March by Roger Severino, director of the Office for Civil Rights (OCR), the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) recently published two Notices of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRMs), seeking comments on revising the disclosure rule covering protected health information (PHI) and on sharing HIPAA Privacy Rule violation fines with victims of breaches. The current d...

May 29, 2018

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U.S. to Spend $685 Billion on Health Care Coverage for Those Under 65 in 2018

The federal government subsidizes health insurance for most Americans through a variety of programs and tax provisions. In 2018, net subsidies for non-institutionalized people under age 65 will total $685 billion, the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) and the staff of the Joint Committee on Taxation (JCT) estimate. That amount includes the cost of preferential tax treatment for work-related ...

May 28, 2018

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Starbucks Plans Racial Sensitivity Training

A preview of the May 29 curriculum for Starbucks partners | Starbucks Newsroom FROM OUR APRIL 17 POST: After the manager at a Starbucks in Philadelphia had two black men arrested for trespassing when they asked to use the restroom without purchasing anything, the company announced it will close all 8,000 of its corporate locations on May 29 for a racial bias training session. Starbucks emp...

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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.

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