Articles by Girish Anand

August 19, 2016

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$5.5M Settlement Largest Ever for a HIPAA Security Violation

Advocate Health Care Network (Advocate) has agreed to a settlement with the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), Office for Civil Rights (OCR), for multiple potential violations of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) involving electronic protected health information (ePHI). Advocate has agreed to pay a settlement amount of $5.55 million and...

August 16, 2016

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DOL Agrees to $7 Million Settlement over Unpaid Overtime Wages

The Department of Labor (DOL) has reached a $7 million agreement to settle a longstanding dispute over unpaid overtime wages, according to the DOL's bargaining unit, American Federation of Government Employees Local 12. The unpaid overtime was due to employees' being misclassified as exempt from overtime when they were not, according to attorneys for the union. Another factor was working off t...

August 16, 2016

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Aetna Fleeing Obamacare Exchanges in 11 of 15 States It Serves

Aetna Inc., citing losses of at least $300 million this year on Affordable Care Act (ACA) health insurance policies, announced it is abandoning the Obamacare marketplaces in 11 of the 15 states it currently serves, leaving Pinal County in Arizona with no insurer willing to offer policies. After the move, Aetna will be offering policies in just 242 of the 778 counties it currently serves, and t...

August 15, 2016

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Federal Contractor Final Rule on Sex Discrimination Takes Effect Today

A final rule by the Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP) prohibiting federal contractors from discriminating against individuals based on sex, including gender identity and sexual orientation, takes effect today, Aug. 15. The bar for businesses to qualify has been set fairly low: Any business holding a single federal contract, subcontract or federally assisted construction co...

August 14, 2016

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HHS Forced to Confront Zika Threat

At the request of Governor Alejandro García Padilla, Health and Human Services Secretary Sylvia M. Burwell has declared a public health emergency for Puerto Rico, signaling that the current spread of the Zika virus poses a significant threat to public health in the Commonwealth relating to pregnant women and children born to pregnant women with Zika. The declaration is a tool that provides sup...

August 10, 2016

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EEOC Addresses Leave as a Reasonable Accommodation

In response to an increase in disability discrimination charges it has received, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) has published a document titled "Employer-Provided Leave and the Americans with Disabilities Act" (ADA) to restate its policy on the use of leave as a reasonable accommodation under the ADA. The document early on states that "some employers may not know that they ...

August 10, 2016

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EEOC to Host Executive Leadership Conference Sept. 19-20

The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) will hold its Executive Leadership Training Conference (ELC) on Sept. 19-20 at the Washington Renaissance Hotel in Washington, the federal agency announced. This year's ELC theme is: Leadership Through Times of Transition: Flexibility Meets Precision. Leaders who are flexible and able to adapt to change are successful during any presidential ...

August 8, 2016

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OSHA Wants to Hear from You

The Department of Labor (DOL) is challenging inventors and entrepreneurs to help develop a technological solution to workplace noise exposure and related hearing loss. The DOL's Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) and Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA), in partnership with the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH), have launched the "Hear and ...

August 4, 2016

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Supreme Court Blocks Transgender Bathroom Choice

The U.S. Supreme Court has placed a temporary hold on a lower court order that okayed free choice of bathroom usage by transgender individuals. The action follows a ruling last week by the 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals that voided the transgender rights interpretation by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC). That court said only Congress or the Supreme Court could reinterpret...

August 3, 2016

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Aetna Calls Off Plan for ACA Expansion, Citing $300 Million in Losses This Year

Aetna has joined UnitedHealth Group and Humana in reconsidering -- and even pulling back -- its participation in Affordable Care Act (ACA) insurance marketplaces. Facing up to $300 million in ACA policy losses this year, Aetna announced it has canceled a planned expansion into five new state exchanges for 2017. Also on the tablet are pullbacks in the 15 states Aetna currently services with ACA...

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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