Articles by Girish Anand

January 14, 2018

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John Ring Nominated to NLRB

President Trump on Friday nominated business lawyer John Ring to the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) to fill the seat of the departed Philip Miscimarra, who left in December. If Ring is approved by the Senate, Republicans would retain a 3-2 majority on the NLRB through 2020. Ring is co-chairman of the labor/management relations practice at the law firm Morgan, Lewis & Brockius, whe...

IRS Releases Withholding Tax Tables for 2018

January 12, 2018

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The Internal Revenue Service has released Notice 1036, which updates the income-tax withholding tables for 2018 reflecting changes made by the tax reform legislation enacted last month. This is the first in a series of steps that IRS will take to help improve the accuracy of withholding following major changes made by the new tax law. The updated withholding information, posted today on IRS....

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On the Minimum Wage Front: The Good and the Bad

January 12, 2018

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While Walmart is using tax reform to raise its nationwide minimum wage to $11 an hour and to grant bonuses, the Red Robin restaurant chain is reacting to mandated minimum wage laws by laying off all of its busboys. Walmart CEO Doug McMillon in a press release explained why he had made the decision: “Tax reform gives us the opportunity to be more competitive globally and to accelerate plans f...

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States Can Now Add Work or Job Training Requirements to Medicaid

January 11, 2018

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UPDATE: One day after announcing states could institute work requirements for Medicaid, Kentucky became the first state to do so as CMS approved its 2016 waiver request. The state now requires able-bodied adult recipients to participate in at least 80 hours per month of “employment activities,” which include jobs training, education and community service. The Trump administration today relea...

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DOL Revives Practice of Issuing FLSA Opinion Letters

January 10, 2018

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In early January, the Department of Labor (DOL) reissued 17 opinion letters that the Obama DOL had quashed in favor of issuing broadly applicable "Administrator's Interpretations," two of which have now been rescinded by the Trump DOL. The 17 opinion letters regarding wage and hour issues were promulgated in the late days of the Bush administration in 2009, but because they had never been se...

January 10, 2018

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IRS Extends Deadline for Furnishing Form 1095-C to Employees

The IRS has extended by 30 days the deadline for providing Form 1095-C, Employer-Provided Health Insurance Offer and Coverage, to each employee. The new deadline is March 2, 2018, replacing the original Jan. 31 deadline. Form 1095-C affects Applicable Large Employers (ALEs), those with 50 or more employees, who are mandated to provide essential health benefits. The form is used by employees ...

Number of OSHA Inspectors Falls

January 9, 2018

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From President Trump's inauguration through Oct. 2, the number of field inspectors at the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) fell by 40 (4 percent of total) due to retirements, but so far few replacements have been hired, according to NBC News, which obtained the data through a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request. ...

January 9, 2018

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Some State ACA Exchanges Still Open

A handful of states are still operating their Affordable Care Act (ACA) marketplace exchanges, even after the federal exchange -- HealthCare.gov -- closed down in mid-December for everyone except those in hurricane- or wind-ravaged areas. Obamacare open enrollment has ended, but some states are still operating their exchanges. ...

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DOL Rewrites Another Obama-Era Rule, This One for Interns

January 8, 2018

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During the Obama presidency, the Department of Labor (DOL) devised a six-part test to determine whether an intern is really just that or more like an employee-in-disguise working for free. Part of that test required that the employer receive "no immediate advantage from the activities of the intern," a rule that several appellate courts found troubling and rejected in favor of their own tests. ...

January 5, 2018

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DOL Increases Across-the-Board Penalties by 2 Percent

The Department of Labor (DOL) has increased its employment law penalties by 2 percent, in accordance with the Federal Civil Penalties Inflation Adjustment Act Improvements Act of 2015. That law allows agencies to adjust penalties according to inflation by Jan. 15 of each year. Maximum penalty increases for violating minimum-wage and overtime rules are rising from $1,925 to $1,964; child labo...

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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