With the holiday season officially upon us, many employers are finalizing plans to host a party for their employees. These festivities offer a time for colleagues to celebrate the year’s accomplishments, to extend season’s greetings, and to bond with one another in a less formal environment. Sometimes, though, the holiday cheer can turn into a
Workplace Trends
Limited Relief for Employer Reporting Under the Affordable Care Act
By Sarah Ivy on
Posted in Employee Benefits, Workplace Trends
On November 18, 2016, the IRS recently announced limited relief for employer reporting on Forms 1094 and 1095 for the 2016 tax year. The relief extends the deadline for furnishing statements to individuals, but does not extend the deadline for filings with the IRS. The IRS also provided penalty relief for some filers. The relief…
The Affordable Care Act – What Now?
By Sarah Ivy on
Posted in Employee Benefits, Workplace Trends
Now that we have all had some time to absorb the national election results, many are wondering how the Affordable Care Act will change during a Trump presidency. While there is a great deal of uncertainty surrounding the future of the ACA, our recommendation to those currently covered by the Act is to continue to…
New Pennsylvania Law Allows Use of Payroll Debit Cards
By Adam R. Long on
Posted in Wage & Hour, Workplace Trends
We have been following litigation in Pennsylvania challenging the use of payroll debit cards by employers to pay employees. In one such case, the Pennsylvania Superior Court recently ruled that an employer violated the Pennsylvania Wage Payment and Collection Law (WPCL) by requiring employees to accept their wages on a payroll debit card, rather than…
OSHA’s New Reporting Rules to Make Employers Famous
By Joe Sileo on
Posted in Workplace Trends
By existing OSHA regulations, most employers (those with more than 10 employees) are required to complete and maintain records pertaining to serious work-related injuries and illnesses, using the OSHA 300 Log, OSHA 301 Incident Report and OSHA 300A Annual Summary. Certain employers in low-risk industries as determined by OSHA (such as law offices, realtors) are…
New FLSA Regulations are Still on Track Despite House Vote
By Micah T. Saul on
Posted in Wage & Hour, Workplace Trends
On September 28, 2016, the United States House of Representatives passed a bill that would postpone implementation of the FLSA’s new salary threshold for “white-collar” overtime exemptions. As we noted earlier this month, the Department of Labor’s regulation will more than double the minimum weekly salary requirement to $913 and is set to take effect…
NLRB Raises Price of College Tuition
By Adam Santucci on
Posted in Unions, Workplace Trends
In yet another reversal of precedent, the National Labor Relations Board has ruled that students who perform work for a university for which they are compensated can form and join labor unions under the National Labor Relations Act. Key to the Board’s holding was that these students, including teaching assistants and research assistants, were more…
OSHA Hits Employer with Hefty Fine for Failing to Protect Employee from Assault by Client
By Joe Sileo on
Posted in Employer Liability, Workplace Trends
A national home health care provider, doing business in York Pennsylvania as Epic Health Services, was recently issued a citation and significant fine by The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) in connection with an assault of an employee by a client.
Even a sanitized version of the facts is disturbing. The employer provides health…
Your employee tells you he’s using medicinal marijuana . . . now what?
By Denise Elliott on
Posted in Discrimination & Harassment, Workplace Trends
Since the passage of the Medical Marijuana Act (“MMA”), we have received many questions from employers regarding the MMA’s impact on employment law; one of the most frequent questions being – what do I do if an employee tells me he/she is using medical marijuana? While the answer to this question will partly depend on…
Judge Puts Breaks on Department of Labor’s “Persuader Rule”
By Micah T. Saul on
Posted in Unions, Workplace Trends
The United States Department of Labor issued regulations earlier this year finalizing the “Persuader Rule.” Under the new Rule, employers and consultants (including lawyers) would be required to report labor relations advice and services under the Labor-Management Reporting and Disclosure Act’s “persuader activity” regulations when such advice and services are offered in the context of…