Employment

The issue of employee misclassification was once again on display, this time in Nance v. NYP Holdings, where a New York appellate court affirmed an earlier finding that the New York Post failed to classify one of its photojournalists properly.

The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA) generally prohibits discrimination in eligibility, benefits, or premiums based on a health factor, except in the case of certain wellness programs. Final regulations issued in 2006 established rules implementing these nondiscrimination and wellness provisions.

The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission – the agency responsible for enforcing most of the federal discrimination laws – is preparing to issue new guidance addressing an employer’s obligation to reasonably accommodate pregnant workers. Will the guidance offer a new interpretation of the law or just cement what we already know?

It’s official.  The Seattle City Council has voted to raise Seattle’s minimum wage to $15 per hour by 2021.  Is this the sign of groundswell?

The IRS announced at recent bar association meeting that it is commencing a formal compliance initiative program (CIP) of selected employers and their deferred compensation arrangements that are subject to Section 409A of the Internal Revenue Code.

The IRS recently issued two Q&As on the subject of employer payment plans, the purpose of which was to again underscore that arrangements purporting to allow an employer to reimburse employees on a pre-tax basis

A Federal court in Colorado recently permitted a former employee to advance an age discrimination claim despite his prior execution of a severance and release agreement after his employment ended in connection with a reduction in force.

Earlier this month, in Webb-Weber v. Community Action for Human Services, Inc., New York’s highest court overruled several appellate court cases in holding that an employee need not identify the specific law, rule or regulation allegedly violated by his or her employer in pleading a retaliation claim under New York’s whistleblower statute.

In last week’s post, we examined the appropriateness of capping the annual hours of new “variable hour employees” as a way to limit exposure under the Affordable Care Act’s employer shared responsibility rules. (These rules are codified at Internal Revenue Code § 4980H and implemented in final regulations issued in February of this year.

Wait, are parties from both sides of the congressional aisle finally coming together to pass an employment-related law? It appears that way.

With the Memorial Day weekend approaching, many people are looking forward to hitting the beach, firing up the grill and polishing off their golf clubs, which are, for many Northeasterners, covered in cobwebs after this long winter. For employers, summer often means the arrival of (potentially unpaid) interns.

The EEOC recently invited public input on potential revisions to the regulations implementing Section 501 of the Rehabilitation Act, which governs the federal government’s employment of individuals with disabilities.

Most jurisdictions in the United States hold that continued employment constitutes sufficient consideration in exchange for entering into a non-competition agreement.

Our sister blog, Privacy and Security Matters, has recently published a terrific series of blog posts on cybersecurity for the boardroom.

Whenever Congress draws a line in the sand—such as with exposure for assessable payments under the Affordable Care Act’s employer shared responsibly rules—entities subject to regulation (here, applicable large employers) will inevitably seek ways to avoid having to comply. Also inevitably, some compliance strategies will be perfectly legitimate, while others will not.

Whether a group health plan provides minimum value is central to the application of the Affordable Care Act’s employer shared responsibility rules. The particulars of the role of minimum value in determining assessable payments due from applicable large employers are explained in detail in final regulations issued on February 12 of this year.

Retirement plan administrators routinely receive requests from employees to accept rollover contributions of amounts held in a prior employer’s qualified plan or, in some cases, an IRA.

My colleagues in the firm’s Immigration Practice recently posted an advisory on F-1 students with OPT employment eligibility, and what those students should keep in mind before October 1. If this applies to you and you find yourself in one of the below situations, read the advisory to get more info.

Beach towel - check, sunscreen - check, beach tunes playlist - check, make sure the company complies with California’s July 2014 minimum wage increase - che...wait, what?! You ask, “how is it possible that a California employment law is now part of my summer plans?!”

A recent submission in an advice column on Boston.com struck my eye and the scenario should be no surprise to the modern worker. A Massachusetts at-will worker decides to take a “mental health day” and calls in sick, despite the fact that he is not actually sick.