Employment

Affordability—i.e., whether health coverage is “affordable”—occupies an important place in the Affordable Care Act’s (ACA) regulatory scheme. Under that law’s individual mandate, no penalties are imposed for failure to maintain coverage that is not affordable.

Last week we examined the reporting challenges associated with employee terminations, changes in status, and breaks in service under the monthly measurement method.

Last month, a federal court in Maryland denied an employer’s motion to compel arbitration even though the plaintiff executed an arbitration agreement the employer had included in the plaintiff's employment application.

We are often asked what, if anything, employers should tell an employee about the reasons for the employee’s termination, especially if the termination is abrupt. We tell employers to tell the truth.

The sharing or gig economy has introduced a new management paradigm for companies, more flexible schedules for workers, and a greater level of convenience and accountability to consumers.  While there are many supporters of this new economy, the individuals providing the services are caught in an undefined space – are they employees or independent contractors?

New York City’s Affordable Transit Act, which takes effect on January 1, 2016, will require most employers with 20 or more full-time employees to allow employees to apply pre-tax earnings toward qualified commuting expenses.

July 2016.  That’s when the final rule on the white collar overtime exemptions is expected to be published by the DOL – this according to the OMB’s Fall 2015 Unified Agenda and Regulatory Plan released last Thursday.

The final regulations under Code § 4980H establish two—and only two—methods for determining an employee’s status as full-time: the monthly measurement method and the look-back measurement method. Under the former (as the name suggests) an employee’s status as full-time is determined month-by-month.

The NLRB has once again held that a mandatory arbitration agreement including a class/collective action waiver violates the National Labor Relations Act.

The Department of Labor’s proposed overhaul of the white-collar exemption overtime regulations, which could expand overtime eligibility to an estimated 4.6 million workers, may not go into effect on the breakneck timeline that employers feared.

My colleague, Don Schroeder, was quoted in the Corporate Counsel article, Circuit Court Backs NLRB on Social Media Conduct, Voids Handbook Provision, in which he analyzes the NLRB’s stance on employer rules regarding worker conduct on social media.

A recent New York Times article, Many Low-Income Workers Say ‘No’ to Health Insurance, referenced a blog post written by our very own Alden Bianchi in which he outlines the complex rules regarding health insurance underwriting practices. The NYT article examines the shortcomings of employer-based healthcare coverage for low wage hourly workers.

The recently enacted Bipartisan Budget Act of 2015 repealed Section 1511 of the Affordable Care Act (ACA), which generally would have required employers with more than 200 full-time employees to automatically enroll new full-time employees in one of the employer’s health benefits plans (subject to any waiting period authorized by law).

A unanimous panel of the Second Circuit recently upheld the NLRB's well-publicized Facebook "Like" decision, which found that a sports bar violated the National Labor Relations Act when it terminated two employees for “liking” and commenting on a disparaging post from a former employee.

The battle between the NLRB and the Fifth Circuit rages on, as the Fifth Circuit again ruled that employers do not violate the National Labor Relations Act when they require employees to sign arbitration agreements containing class/collective action waivers.

In an earlier post, we reported on a troubling development in the draft 2015 instructions for Forms 1094-B and 1095-B which, if adopted, would have required sponsors of Health Reimbursement Arrangements (“HRA”) to issue separate Forms 1095-B and transmit on Form 1094-C when the HRA was integrated with fully-insured coverage.

A recent Colorado federal court decision serves as a good reminder to employers on how not to obtain a release of claims from a terminated employee.  For starters, don’t tell the employee her job is being eliminated and then run an advertisement seeking to fill her position.

The National Labor Relations Board, in one of its first applications of the Browning-Ferris decision, gave hope to non-union contracting entities engaged in franchising and subcontracting relationships.

In case you were wondering, and we that know you were, Governor Cuomo recently signed a bill that extends the 2012 amendments made to NY’s Wage Deduction Law until November 2018.  Without the extension, the amendments would have expired this week.

Few of us can honestly say that our job never disappoints us and the same can probably be said of personal relationships. But how do you know when you are in a failed employment relationship and what do you do about it?