Preview / Hot News
SSA REMINDS EMPLOYERS ABOUT NEW FSA LIMITS
April 10, 2013
The Social Security Administration has issued a reminder to employers about the new Flexible Spending Arrangement (FSA) limits under the Affordable Care Act (ACA). Under the requirements of the ACA, employers must limit employee salary reduction contributions to a health FSA to $2,500 per year ...
FALLING OFF LADDERS CAN KILL: NEW PREVENTION RESOURCE
April 8, 2013
Falls are the leading cause of death in construction. In 2010, there were 264 fall fatalities (255 falls to lower level) out of 774 total fatalities in construction. To raise awareness among employers and workers about common fall hazards in construction and how falls from ladders, scaffolds ...
PRESBYTERIAN HEALTHCARE SUED FOR DISABILITY DISCRIMINATION
March 26, 2013
The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) has filed a disability discrimination lawsuit against Presbyterian Healthcare Associates Corp., one of the largest health care institutions in North Carolina, for violating federal law by refusing to hire an applicant because of an impairment ...
PROPOSED RULE EXTENDS FLSA COVERAGE TO HOME HEALTH WORKERS
March 25, 2013
The Fair Labor Standards Act was enacted in 1938, establishing standards for minimum wage and overtime pay. It requires employers to pay covered employees who are not otherwise exempt at least the federal minimum wage and overtime pay of one-and-one-half-times the regular rate of pay. But not all ...
IRS RELEASES THE DIRTY DOZEN TAX SCAMS FOR 2012
March 20, 2013
The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) has issued its annual “Dirty Dozen” ranking of tax scams, reminding taxpayers to use caution during tax season to protect themselves against a wide range of schemes ranging from identity theft to return preparer fraud. The Dirty Dozen listing, ...
EMPLOYEE FIRED FOR DISCUSSING WAGES RECOVERS $107K
March 18, 2013
The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) has found that a Texas engineering firm unlawfully fired an employee for discussing salary information with co-workers, and ordered the company to offer reinstatement and to pay back wages for the time out of work. Under the Board Order , which issued ...
WORKER CLASSIFICATION SETTLEMENT PROGRAM EXPANDED
March 14, 2013
The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) has expanded its Voluntary Classification Settlement Program (VCSP) allowing more employers to take advantage of this low-cost option that allows them to reclassify their workers as employees for future tax periods. As noted in previous Hot News articles, ...
NEW FORM I-9 RELEASED BY THE USCIS
March 11, 2013
On March 8, 2013, the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) released a new Form I-9, Employment Eligibility Verification. The revised Form I-9 has several new features, including new fields and a new format that is supposed to reduce errors. The instructions to the form also more ...
EMPLOYER HEALTH CARE NOTICE DELAYED
February 25, 2013
The start date for the written health care notice that employers must provide to employees under the Affordable Care Act (ACA) has been delayed. On January 24, 2013, the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) announced that the notice requirement will not take effect on March 1, 2013 as previously ...
PRESIDENT CALLS FOR MINIMUM WAGE INCREASE
February 21, 2013
In his recent 2013 State of the Union address, President Barack Obama called for Congress to raise the federal minimum wage from $7.25 to $9.00 an hour in 2015, and index it to inflation thereafter. In support of his request, the President has released a fact sheet detailing his plan to ...
