http://www.elinfonet.com/ Employment Law Articles covering topics from age discrimination to WARN. Sun, 21 Mar 2010 23:03:47 EST en-us http://www.elinfonet.com/newscount.php?popID=9077 Article: 9077 Fri, 19 Mar 2010 00:00:00 EST elin@elinfonet.com (Employment Law Information Network) On March 2, 2010, President Obama signed The Temporary Extension Act of 2010 (COBRA Extension Act), which extends by one month the COBRA premium reduction provisions of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Stimulus Act). You may recall that the Stimulus Act provides for certain COBRA premium reductions for qualified individuals, and this COBRA Extension Act introduces a nuance to catch one type of qualifying event: http://www.elinfonet.com/newscount.php?popID=9076 Article: 9076 Fri, 19 Mar 2010 00:00:00 EST elin@elinfonet.com (Employment Law Information Network) With the continuing potential for an overhaul of the national health care system still a front-burner issue, employers still need to make sure that their current group plans comply with the Paul Wellstone and Pete Domenici Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act of 2008. (MHPAEA) On February 2, 2010, interim final regulations were published implementing the MHPAEA. (See 75 Federal Register 5410.) The interim final regulations apply to group health plans and group health insurance issuers for plan years beginning on or after July 1, 2010. http://www.elinfonet.com/newscount.php?popID=9075 Article: 9075 Fri, 19 Mar 2010 00:00:00 EST elin@elinfonet.com (Employment Law Information Network) Provisions of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 require that companies adhere to prevailing wage standards for workers of construction projects receiving recovery funds under that Act. Those obligations remain, and we have noticed an uptick in enforcement actions from the Department of Labor. http://www.elinfonet.com/newscount.php?popID=9074 Article: 9074 Fri, 19 Mar 2010 00:00:00 EST elin@elinfonet.com (Employment Law Information Network) On February 18, 2010, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) published its Notice of Proposed Rulemaking, soliciting comments to its proposed amended regulations under the Age Discrimination of Employment Act (ADEA). The proposed regulations address the age discrimination defense related to "reasonable factors other than age" (RFOA), and can be reviewed at http://edocket.access.gpo.gov/2010/2010-3126.htm. If the proposed regulations are adopted as they are currently drafted, they will impact employers that use testing or formulas to determine eligibility for either termination or promotions of employees. Therefore, employers should carefully evaluate these proposed regulations and assess their potential impact on the employer's decision making process for hiring, promotions, terminations and reductions in force. http://www.elinfonet.com/newscount.php?popID=9073 Article: 9073 Fri, 19 Mar 2010 00:00:00 EST elin@elinfonet.com (Employment Law Information Network) On March 2, 2010, President Obama signed into law the Temporary Extension Act of 2010 (the "Act"), provisions of which extend several assistance programs that are essential to the many persons currently unemployed in the U.S. In relevant part, the Act extended, for a second time, the program that subsidizes continued health care coverage under the Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1985 (and similar state continuation coverage laws) ("COBRA") for involuntarily terminated employees. That program, initially enacted as part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 ("ARRA") and more fully described in a prior Cooley Alert, provides that certain employees whose employment is involuntarily terminated between September 1, 2008 and December 31, 2009 (resulting in COBRA continuation coverage eligibility during that period) can continue health coverage under COBRA by paying only 35% of the ordinary COBRA premiums for up to nine months. The insurer, the employer or the health plan pays the remaining 65%, which is recovered from the federal government through a credit against payroll tax liabilities or through direct reimbursement. In December 2009, that program was extended and expanded by the Department of Defense Appropriations Act, 2010 (the "Appropriations Act"), as described in a prior Cooley Alert. http://www.elinfonet.com/newscount.php?popID=9072 Article: 9072 Fri, 19 Mar 2010 00:00:00 EST elin@elinfonet.com (Employment Law Information Network) The recent Senate refusal to approve President Obama’s nomination of Craig Becker to the NLRB may also signal the end of efforts to enact the Employee Free Choice Act. http://www.elinfonet.com/newscount.php?popID=9071 Article: 9071 Thu, 18 Mar 2010 00:00:00 EST elin@elinfonet.com (Employment Law Information Network) The U.S. Department of Labor's Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA) released the model Employer CHIP Notice on February 9, 2010. The Notice, as required under the Children's Health Insurance Program Reauthorization Act of 2009 (CHIPRA), is intended to assist employers with notifying employees about possible opportunities for premium assistance and receiving medical coverage under an employer's group health benefit plan. For background on CHIPRA, please see Littler's April 2009 ASAP, Effective Date of New Special Enrollment Period Under CHIPRA Arrives. http://www.elinfonet.com/newscount.php?popID=9070 Article: 9070 Thu, 18 Mar 2010 00:00:00 EST elin@elinfonet.com (Employment Law Information Network) According to a study by Microsoft, 70% of HR professionals have turned down job candidates because of the candidate’s online activity and reputation. On the flip side, approximately 60% of Internet users admit that their online behavior may affect their professional and personal lives. But only 15% of them actually think of the potentially negative impact when surfing the Web and posting content. http://www.elinfonet.com/newscount.php?popID=9069 Article: 9069 Wed, 17 Mar 2010 00:00:00 EST elin@elinfonet.com (Employment Law Information Network) I'm often asked for a sample social-media policy. I've posted before (see below) about online repositories for such policies and encourage readers to review as many such samples as possible before putting pen to paper and actually drafting your own. Below is a sample policy (a set of guidelines, actually) that is a good starting point for most organizations. http://www.elinfonet.com/newscount.php?popID=9068 Article: 9068 Wed, 17 Mar 2010 00:00:00 EST elin@elinfonet.com (Employment Law Information Network) The Temporary Extension Act of 2010 (“TEA 2010") was signed into law by President Barack Obama on March 2, 2010. TEA 2010 further extends by a month the COBRA premium subsidy program originally provided by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 ("ARRA”), and extended by the Department of Defense Appropriations Act, 2010 (“DOD Act”) through February 28, 2010.