Articles by Girish Anand

October 31, 2019

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Senate Vote Upholds Trump ACA Waiver Rule

One day before open enrollment begins on the Obamacare exchanges, Senate Democrats forced a procedural vote on a Trump-era regulation allowing states to design their own health care programs, and the Republican Senate held mostly firm with only Sen. Susan Collins of Maine siding with the Dems. The final vote was 52-43 affirming the regulation known as "1332 waivers." The vote was held under ...

October 28, 2019

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DOL Recovers Record $322M in Lost Wages

The Department of Labor (DOL) today announced that the Wage and Hour Division (WHD) recovered a record $322 million in wages owed to workers in Fiscal Year 2019. WHD also set a new record for compliance assistance events in FY 2019, holding more than 3,700 educational outreach events – including on-the-ground presentations and training sessions – to help job creators understand their responsibi...

October 28, 2019

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EEO-1 Pay Data Portal to Remain Open Indefinitely

UPDATE: On Oct. 29, Judge Tanya Chutkan ordered data collection to continue. On. Oct. 25, the EEOC set a final deadline for pay data collection pending court approval: Nov. 11. Previously, on Oct. 8, the EEOC sought court permission to close the pay data collection, reporting that 75.9 percent of potential filers had submitted their data. The plaintiffs in the original lawsuit that reopened the...

October 23, 2019

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Judge Orders U.S. to Pay $1.6B to Obamacare Insurers

In the ongoing saga over cost-sharing reduction (CSR) payments to health insurers, a federal judge has sided with the insurers and ordered the federal government to cough up $1.6 billion. The CSR payments were promised in the Affordable Care Act (ACA, or Obamacare) in exchange for insurers keeping premiums affordable for low-income consumers. The funds, however, were never appropriated by th...

Obamacare Premiums to Decline, Insurer Choices to Increase, CMS Says

October 22, 2019

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Today, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) announced that the average premium for the second lowest cost silver plan on HealthCare.gov for a 27 year-old will drop by 4 percent for the 2020 coverage year. Additionally, 20 more issuers will participate in states that use the Federal Health Insurance Exchange platform in 2020 bringing the total to 175 issuers compared to 132 in ...

October 22, 2019

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DOL Plans Electronic Retirement Disclosures

Consistent with President Donald J. Trump’s Executive Order 13487, Strengthening Retirement Security in America, the Department of Labor (DOL) today announced a proposed rule to allow online retirement plan disclosures to reduce printing and mail expenses for job creators and make disclosures more readily accessible and useful for America’s workers.

October 22, 2019

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NLRB Mandates E-Filing

The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) has announced a new policy requiring that all affidavits, correspondence, position statements, documentary or other evidence in connection with unfair labor practice or representation cases processed in regional offices be submitted through the agency’s electronic filing (e-filing) system. On Feb. 24, 2017, the NLRB made certain procedural amendments...

October 16, 2019

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EEOC September Litigation Blitz Returns to Normal

After two years of an upswing in fiscal-year-closing lawsuits, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) returned to a more normal pace this September with just 52 lawsuits filed, compared to 87 in 2018 and 86 in 2017, according to Bloomberg Law. A low of 31 lawsuits was recorded in September 2016, but 2019 more resembles 2012 to 2015, which saw an average of 58 lawsuits filed. T...

Texas Judge Who Ruled Obamacare Unconstitutional Nixes Transgender Rule

October 16, 2019

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Judge Reed O'Connor of the Northern District of Texas has placed a nationwide injunction on the Obama-era regulation that prohibited insurers and health care providers who receive federal money from denying treatment to anyone based on sex, gender identity or termination of pregnancy. Judge Reed O'Connor[/caption] O'Connor, wh...

October 14, 2019

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OSHA Decision to Drop Electronic Reporting Rule Survives First Court Challenge

It's one down and at least two to go on the legal front for the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) and its decision to rescind electronic injury and illness reporting for companies with 250 or more employees and for smaller companies in designated high risk industries. The Obama-era rule, crafted in 2016, was designed to capture digitally -- and then make available to the p...

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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