New CHIP Notification Requirement

March 31st, 2010 Posted by Cara

The U.S. Department of Labor recently issued a notice for employers to inform workers annually of premium assistance.

 

Under the CHIP Reauthorization Act of 2009, employers who offer group health plans must notify employees each year of the right to premium assistance under the state Medicaid or program.

 

Employers must notify qualified workers by the first day of the first year falling after February 4, 2010 or May 1, 2010, and every year thereafter. Many employers have annual healthcare plans, so the date would be before January 1, 2011.

 

Workers who reside in Alabama, Alaska, California, Arkansas, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Maine, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, (more…)

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New Health Reform Law

March 26th, 2010 Posted by Amelia

According to industry experts, the healthcare reform signed into on March 23, 2010 and amended earlier today will have wide-reaching effects on employers nationwide.

 

The greatest change for pros and employers under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act will come from penalties to employers who fail to provide group health . The law technically stops short of a mandate, because it does not require that employers provide benefits to workers. However, companies that fail to offer coverage will have to pay a penalty of $2,000 per employee beginning January 1, 2014. The law makes an exception for small employers, as the first 30 workers do not count towards the penalty.

 

If the offers health care benefits, if even one employee applies for a subsidy to purchase individual health insurance, the employer may be fined $750 per person, under the law signed by President Barack Obama.

 

One important change involves how employees are enrolled in healthcare plans. Under the new system, employers with 200 or more employees will automatically enroll new employees in the group health insurance. Employees will have to intentionally opt out of the , in order to not receive healthcare.

 

The law also includes provisions to make healthcare coverage more affordable for low-income workers, according to the Society for Human Resource Management or SHRM. An employee who earns less than four times the federal poverty level will have the option of buying health insurance through a health care exchange.

 

Small business owners and employees will have the option of purchasing health insurance through an exchange, which will offer lower rates for insurance than currently available. So-called SHOP exchanges, or Small Business (more…)

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Gender-specific Profanity is Hostile Work Environment

March 24th, 2010 Posted by Amelia

A recent case highlights the necessity for employers to eliminate gender-specific vulgarity from the workplace. While some employers may still choose to allow at work, language that is defamatory towards any sex or racial group should be forbidden, even if it does not target any one individual.

 

In a case involving trucking company C. H. Robinson Worldwide Inc., sales rep Ingrid Reeves complained repeatedly to upper management about the pervasive use of crude and derogatory terms for women, including female co-workers, clients and women in general. She was also exposed daily to a radio program that was vulgar and made derogatory statements about women.  Reeves objected almost daily to her coworkers about their conduct, first in person and then by email.

 

As the only female Transportation Sales Rep, Reeves worked in an open cubical floor at C.H. Robinson with men who viewed porn in full sight of her and their supervisors.

 

Reeves complained to the branch manager, whose conduct was similarly vulgar. He claims to have discussed her complaints with the male workers, but acknowledges that no change in their actions occurred.

 

In the initial ruling, a lower court determined that vulgar, offensive language in itself is not sex . On appeal, the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals agreed, but found that pervasive sexually offensive language, especially denigrating women, created a for a female.

 

The court in Alabama had previously ruled that sex-specific is more degrading to women then to men.

 

In an important ruling for the workplace, (more…)

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New EEOC Discrimination Task Force

March 19th, 2010 Posted by Jolie

Employers need to be more vigilant in and promotions than ever before. That’s because a new EEOC has increased enforcement actions against employers who lack diversity in their workforce, calling such situations “systemic .” The agency may initiate investigations, even in the absence of an employee complaint.

 

Similar efforts against contractors have been introduced by the OFCCP or Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs.

 

To cite just two examples, the recently announced a $2 million settlement with Les Schwab Tire Centers in a case. The company was accused of not hiring qualified females for its auto care stores in Washington, Oregon, Idaho, California, Nevada, Montana and Utah since 2004.

 

In a separate case, Wal-Mart paid $11.7 million to settle a sex discrimination case involving applicants for warehouse jobs in the London, Kentucky distribution center. Hiring officials with the retail giant told female applicants that the positions were not suitable for women, and that most new hires (more…)

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Oklahoma Immigration Law

March 17th, 2010 Posted by Derrick

Oklahoma contractors must use the E-Verify system to authenticate all new hires, despite a lawsuit from small business owners and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.

 

However, another test of the Oklahoma Taxpayer and Citizen Protection Act in is likely. The state Supreme may become involved to settle this dispute.

 

The 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals recently ruled that the state can enforce this portion of the Oklahoma immigration . The Chamber of Commerce argued that only the federal government has the right to control immigration, and therefore the state was unconstitutional. This argument failed, which is no surprise considering that at least a dozen states have immigration laws.

 

Although all three judges of the appellate (more…)

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