Earlier today, the U.S. Department of Labor (“DOL”) announced a proposed rule to update regular rate calculations under the Fair Labor Standards Act (“FLSA”). Under the FLSA, employers must pay overtime pay to employees who work more than 40 hours in a week. The overtime pay rate is one and a half times an employee’s
When an employee leaves an organization, one issue the employer often confronts is whether to pay the employee for unused vacation time or other paid time off (PTO). The employer may seek to withhold PTO for myriad reasons: from encouraging employees to use their PTO during employment, to offsetting an employee debt, to encouraging compliance
The Employee Benefits Security Administration of the Department of Labor has just released for public consideration, and published for comment, a significant new interpretation of the term “employer” under ERISA. Under the proposal, small businesses and sole proprietors would have more freedom to band together to provide health coverage for employees in what are
On Thursday, November 2, 2017, Mimi Walters (R-California), Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-Washington), and Elise Stefanik (R-New York) introduced in the House of Representatives the Workplace in the 21st Century Act (H.R. 4219). The bill would amend the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) to include a voluntary option for employers to provide employees with
As my colleague Keith Ashmus recently noted, most employers currently ask job applicants for their salary histories. This is a reasonable question, and one that employers find useful to help attract and retain talented employees. Given recent legislative initiatives and judicial decisions on this topic, however, employers should tread carefully.
In the past few
Representative Tom MacArthur (R-NJ), a leader of the so-called “Tuesday Group” of moderate Republicans, introduced an amendment to the American Health Care Act (“AHCA”) (Kaiser Family Foundation summary) after negotiations with the Freedom Caucus, the group of conservative House Republicans. The MacArthur Amendment does several things designed to obtain conservative support for the
Within the many pages of the 21st Century Cures Act, just passed by Congress and awaiting signature by President Obama, is the Small Business Healthcare Relief Act. This creates a new health benefit plan for small employers called Qualified Small Employer Health
As the results of the November 2016 election confirmed, there is a growing push throughout the country to require employers to provide certain types of paid leave to their employees. To date, we have witnessed the imposition of paid leave requirements through ballot initiatives, legislation, and executive orders. The most popular forms of paid leave
Since Connecticut’s 2011 passage of the first law requiring employers to issue paid sick leave benefits, over 30 states, counties, and cities — mostly on the East and West coasts — have enacted similar statues. These include Massachusetts, California, Oregon, Vermont, San Francisco, Seattle, New York City, and Philadelphia. Chicago and Minneapolis have also passed
Many employers have turned to employee wellness programs to curtail rising health care costs and improve productivity. These wellness programs typically involve health screenings and/or services to aid in reducing health risks (e.g. tobacco use, blood pressure), often coupled with financial incentives for the employee’s participation.
Over the past few years, the Equal Employment Opportunity