Articles by Girish Anand

September 2, 2016

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State OSH Programs Show Better Compliance Rate than Fed/OSHA

The Federal Annual Monitoring and Evaluation (FAME) report for 2015 found that many state Occupational Safety and Health (OSH) programs had better safety compliance rates than the federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA). Those states showed 33.3 percent of employers complying versus 28 percent on the fed level. On the flip side, many states did not meet performance goals ...

August 31, 2016

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CMS Proposes Changes to Obamacare Marketplace Beginning in 2017

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has issued its proposed annual Notice of Benefit and Payment Parameters for 2018, which proposes additional steps to strengthen the Health Insurance Marketplace. CMS said it is issuing this rule earlier in the calendar year in order to provide more certainty to the Marketplace as it continues to mature. "Right now, we are preparing to serv...

August 29, 2016

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EEOC Issues New Retaliation Guidance

Today the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) issued its final Enforcement Guidance on Retaliation and Related Issues to replace its 1998 Compliance Manual section on retaliation. The guidance also addresses the separate "interference" provision under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), which prohibits coercion, threats, or other acts that interfere with the exercise of ADA ri...

August 28, 2016

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Almost Two-Thirds of U.S. Counties Face Two or Fewer Health Insurance Choices

An analysis by the respected Kaiser Family Foundation finds that 31 percent of U.S. counties will have only one insurer to choose from when open enrollment for Obamacare commences Nov. 1. Another 31 percent will have only two, and one county -- Pinal in Arizona -- likely will have none. In 2016, only 7 percent had only one insurer choice, while 29 percent had just two. Most of the counties aff...

August 25, 2016

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Obamacare Premiums Rise Steeply

State insurance commissioners, under pressure from health insurers bleeding red on the Obamacare exchanges, have begun approving rate hikes up to 62 percent, but the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) quickly reassured consumers that taxpayers would pick up the tab. With insurance premiums to be announced steadily up to the Nov. 1 open enrollment period commencement, state commissio...

August 25, 2016

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Final Rule Issued to Facilitate State-Run IRA Programs.

The Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA) has made public a final rule that assists states in creating IRA programs for workers who do not have access to workplace savings arrangements. At the same time, in response to public comments, the department is making public a proposed rule that could facilitate a limited number of cities and other local governments to do the same. “For wor...

August 23, 2016

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NLRB Grants Employee Unionization Rights to Graduate Student Assistants

In a decision today that could drastically alter the university landscape, the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) voted 3-1 along party lines to grant employee status to graduate student assistants at Columbia University, allowing them to unionize. The ruling, reversing a Bush-era 2004 decision, affects for-profit colleges and universities but not public institutions. The NLRB has no jurisd...

August 22, 2016

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OSHA Tests Expedited Whistleblower Resolution Process

The Department of Labor (DOL) is launching a new pilot process in its Western region. The “Expedited Case Processing Pilot” allows a complainant covered by certain statutes to ask the department’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) to cease its investigation and issue findings for the department’s Office of Administrative Law Judges to consider. The move is possible only if t...

August 22, 2016

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U.S. Judge in Texas Puts Hold on Obama's Transgender School Bathroom Rule

Late Sunday, U.S. District Judge Reed O'Connor sided with Texas and 12 other states in their lawsuit against the Obama administration's directive that transgender students be allowed to use the bathroom of their choice by placing a temporary hold on the ruling. Judge O'Connor in essence said the directive was not interpretive of existing law but a mandate that was extralegal. “The Guidelines ...

August 20, 2016

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HIPAA Celebrates 20th Anniversary Today

On this day (Aug. 21) in 1996, President Bill Clinton signed into law the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA), which as its title implies protects people with pre-existing conditions when they change jobs and need new health insurance. From that date until Obamacare took over in 2014, if you left one company with a pre-existing condition, you had to obtain a Certificate...

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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