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Obama Administration Announces a One-Year Delay in the Enforcement of the Affordable Care Act's Employer Shared Responsibility (a/k/a "Pay-or-Play") Rules

July 3, 2013 | Blog | By Martha Zackin

In a surprise announcement posted yesterday to the White’s House website, the Obama Administration announced a one-year delay (to January 1, 2105) in the enforcement of the employer shared responsibility rules enacted into law by the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act.
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The Obamacare Delays and the Massachusetts "Fair Share" Employer Mandate: Now What?

July 3, 2013 | Blog | By Martha Zackin

As we reported in our post earlier today, the Obama administration has decided to delay implementation of the “employer shared responsibility” mandate for in order to afford employers more time to prepare for compliance.
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Equal Pay Act: Male employee's strong negotiating skills not a "factor other than sex" to justify pay differential

June 18, 2013 | Blog | By Martha Zackin

The Equal Pay Act prohibits employers from paying a female employee less than a male employee for work that requires substantially equal skill, effort and responsibility, and that is performed under similar working conditions within the same establishment.
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Unpaid Internships may be more costly than you think: follow-up to recent post

June 12, 2013 | Blog | By Martha Zackin

On June 11, in Glatt v. Fox Searchlight Pictures, Inc.., the US District Court for the Southern District of New York held that unpaid interns who worked for on the movie “Black Swan” had been improperly classified, and were entitled to pay for all hours work.
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Unpaid Internships may be more costly than you may think

June 11, 2013 | Blog | By Martha Zackin

What do fashion designer Norma Kamali, journalist Charlie Rose, Elite Model Management Corporation, and the Hearst Corporation have in common?  All have been sued by former unpaid interns, claiming that their unpaid status violated the Fair Labor Standards Act.
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Temporary and Contract Workers:

June 10, 2013 | Blog | By Martha Zackin

The Affordable Care Act’s employer-shared responsibility rules will require large employers (50 or more full-time and full-time equivalent employees) to make an offer of minimum essential coverage to at least 95% of their full-time employees or pay a non-deductible excise tax on all their full-time employees.
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New York City Passes Earned Sick Time Act; Expects to Override Mayor Bloomberg's Threatened Veto Yet Again

May 15, 2013 | Blog | By Martha Zackin

As expected, the New York City Council has passed the Earned Sick Time Act, which, if enacted, will require most City employers to provide job-protected sick leave, whether paid or unpaid, to the more than 1.6 million employees who currently do not receive this benefit.
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Five Years in the Making - IRS Releases Findings from Colleges and Universities Compliance Project

May 13, 2013 | Blog | By Martha Zackin

The IRS announced it is nearing completion of a five year long compliance project involving tax-exempt colleges and universities. The project, which began with questionnaires to 400 randomly-selected institutions, focused on reporting of executive compensation and unrelated business income.
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Staffing Industry Compliance with the Employer Shared Responsibility (aka "Pay-or-Play") Provisions of the Affordable Care Act: Five Questions

May 2, 2013 | Blog | By Martha Zackin

Under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (the “Act”), the federal government, state governments, insurers, employers, and individuals all share responsibility to make affordable health insurance coverage widely available.
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Court Closes Workers Compensation Loophole for Staffing Companies

April 30, 2013 | Blog | By Martha Zackin

A recent Massachusetts court decision upheld efforts by staffing companies and workers compensation insurers to close a loophole that allowed staffing-firm employees injured at a client company both to collect workers compensation benefits and to sue the company where they were hurt.
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EEOC Holds Both Staffing Firms and Staffing Clients Responsible Under EEO Laws

April 25, 2013 | Blog | By Martha Zackin

Recently, the EEOC filed a lawsuit against Hire Dynamics, a staffing firm (click here for the EEOC press release).  According to the complaint, after a Hire Dynamics employee filed a charge of discrimination against one of its clients, the staffing firm retaliated by failing to give the employee any further job assignments or opportunities.
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FLSA Collective Action: Supreme Court Holds Offer of Judgment Moots Claim

April 18, 2013 | Blog | By Martha Zackin

Does a “make whole” offer of judgment to the lead plaintiff in a wage and hour collective action put an end to the case?  According to the US Supreme Court, the answer is “yes”- at least on the specific facts of the case before it.
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FLSA Class Actions: Recent Seventh Circuit Decision Points To Merger Of Certification Standards

April 9, 2013 | Blog | By Martha Zackin

A significant recent Seventh Circuit decision, written by noted Judge Richard Posner, affirmed decertification of an FLSA collective action, essentially on the ground that the collective action could not satisfy the predominance standard under Fed. R. Civ. P. 23(b)(3).  You read that correctly.
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Termination of Rutgers basketball coach highlights importance of employment advice to athletic departments

April 4, 2013 | Blog | By Martha Zackin

Rutgers University announced its termination of the employment of men’s basketball coach Mike Rice. The firing occurred after a media frenzy from the release of video of practices in which Mr. Rice was observed shoving players, throwing balls at them, and using gay slurs.
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Who Owns a LinkedIn Account? An Update to Eagle v. Edcomm, Inc.

March 20, 2013 | Blog | By Martha Zackin

In October 2012, we told you about the case of Eagle v. Edcomm, Inc. pertaining to whether an employee’s LinkedIn account belongs to the employee (Linda Eagle) or to her employer (Edcomm).
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Mayor Bloomberg Vetoes Legislation Prohibiting Discrimination Against Unemployed

February 25, 2013 | Blog | By Martha Zackin

As we predicted in an earlier blog post, Mayor Michael Bloomberg has vetoed legislation aimed at prohibiting discrimination against New York City’s unemployed.
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New FMLA Forms Now Available

February 15, 2013 | Blog | By Martha Zackin

February 6, 2013 was the 20th anniversary of the signing of the Family and Medical Leave Act. In celebration, the United States Department of Labor released the results of a survey on the law’s use and impact.
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New York City on the Verge of Prohibiting Discrimination Based on an Individual's Unemployment Status

February 14, 2013 | Blog | By Martha Zackin

New York City employers beware: The New York City Council has once again acted to expand the nation’s broadest anti-discrimination law – this time to prohibit discrimination against New York City’s unemployed.
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Update #2 on Fiscal Cliff Commuter Tax Benefits

January 17, 2013 | Blog | By Martha Zackin

On January 4 and 14, we blogged about the American Taxpayer Relief Act of 2012’s (ATRA) increases in the pre-tax contribution that commuters may make towards van pools as well as transit passes.
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Top Issues for Employers in 2013: Social Media & Independent Contractors

January 15, 2013 | Blog | By Martha Zackin

Employment lawyers anticipate that employers’ social media policies and their use of independent contractors will be hot button issues in the New Year, much like they were in 2012.
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