Growth Hacker’s Blog

A business owner’s guide to effective, compliant workforce management

Annual Benefit Limits Waiver Deadline

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) issued guidance for health care plans seeking to renew waivers on annual benefits. For plan years starting between September 23, 2010 and September 22, 2011, plans could not limit annual coverage of essential...

Summary of Benefits Coverage Requirement

Starting September 23, 2012, insurance companies must provide a Summary of Benefits Coverage (SBC) form to individual policy holders and to their insured employer plans. Employer plans (self-funded and insured) must provide a SBC for open enrollment periods on or...

Expiration Date of Current Form I-9

On August 13, 2012, the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) released a bulletin regarding the expiration date of Form I-9. The bulletin stated: “Until further notice, employers should continue using the Form I-9 currently available. This form should...

Form I-9 to Expire Aug. 31, 2012

The current Employment Eligibility Verification Form, commonly referred to as Form I-9, expires Aug. 31, 2012. Once it expires, what should employers do?All U.S. employers must complete and retain a Form I-9 for all citizens and noncitizens they hire for employment in...

The NLRB’s Social Media Policy Memorandum

On May 30, 2012, the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) Acting General Counsel Lafe Solomon issued a memorandum regarding social media policies in the workplace. The General Counsel's memorandum is applicable to both unionized and non-unionized work...

Form 5500 Record Keeping Requirements

Under the Department of Labor's (DOL) electronic filing regulations, plan administrators are required to keep a paper copy of the filed Form 5500 report, including schedules and attachments, in the plan's records. The DOL stated a paper copy of the electronic filing...

New Deportation Rule

On June 15, 2012, President Obama announced an Executive Order that allows some undocumented youths to avoid deportation and receive work permits to remain in the United States (U.S.). Students in the U.S. who are in deportation proceedings or those who would have...

Employment Nondiscrimination Act

On June 12, 2012 the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) held a hearing to discuss the merits of the bipartisan Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA). ENDA would create comprehensive employment based anti-discrimination protections for...

Proposed Federal Minimum Wage Increase

On June 6, 2012, Republican Jesse Jackson introduced the Catching Up to 1968 Act of 2012, a bill to raise the federal Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) minimum wage from $7.25 per hour to $10.00 per hour (beginning 60 days after enactment). The Bill also proposes that...

Supreme Court Upholds Individual Health Insurance Mandate

The U.S. Supreme Court announced its much-anticipated decision on the Obama administration’s health care reform law on June 28, 2012, ruling 5-4 that the controversial individual mandate, which requires virtually all Americans to buy health insurance, is...

U.S. Supreme Court Rejects Overtime Claims

U.S. Supreme Court Rejects Overtime Claims in FLSA RulingBy Allen Smith 06/18/12Rejecting the U.S. Department of Labor’s interpretation of Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) regulations, the U.S. Supreme Court on June 18, 2012, ruled 5-4 in Christopher v. SmithKline...

EEOC Guide to Arrests and Convictions in Employment Decisions

On April 25, 2012, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC or Commission) issued its Enforcement Guidance on the Consideration of Arrest and Conviction Records in Employment Decisions Under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, as amended, 42...

OSHA Annual Summary Posting Deadline

By February 1, 2012, an employer subject to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) recordkeeping provisions for 300 logs regarding workplace injuries and illnesses must post its 2011 annual summary (Form 300A).

Social Security and Medicare Tax for 2012

The employer tax rate for social security remains unchanged at 6.2%. On wages paid and tips received before March 1, 2012, the employee tax rate for social security is 4.2%. On wages paid and tips received after February 29, 2012, the employee tax rate for social...

NEP on Recordkeeping

As a reminder, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) launched its “National Emphasis Program (NEP) on Recordkeeping” last year after various studies revealed that many companies were underreporting or incorrectly reporting workplace-related injuries...

Social Security Benefit Increase

On October 19, 2011, the Social Security Administration (SSA) announced the monthly Social Security and Supplemental Security Income (SSI) benefits will increase in 2012. The 3.6 percent cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) will begin with the January 2012 benefit...

OSHA Whistle-Blower Claims

Published in the Federal Register on November 3, 2011, the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) announced Sarbanes-Oxley Act whistle-blower claims may now be filed orally. The final rules revise existing regulations and public comments must be...

IRS Mileage Rate

The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) optional standard mileage rate of 55.5 cents/mile for business miles expires on December 31, 2011. The IRS has not yet announced if the rate will be different in 2012.

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