President Obama signed H.R. 2029, the Consolidated Appropriations Act for 2016, on December 18, 2015. Title 1, Section 101 of this Act includes a two year delay of the excise tax on high cost employer-sponsored health coverage, nicknamed the “Cadillac Tax.” The tax was scheduled to take effect January 1, 2018, but is now delayed [...]
A recent federal case out of the Eastern District of Michigan highlights the importance of good record keeping, particularly in regard to wage and hour liability under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). That law requires employers to pay overtime premium pay for all hours worked in excess of 40 hours in a workweek. Non-compliant [...]
A 2015 Ohio Supreme Court case serves as a reminder to Ohio’s employers to properly classify their workers as either “employees” or “independent contractors.” In State ex rel. WFAL Constr. v. Buehrer, the Court determined that WFAL Construction improperly classified workers as independent contractors. As a result, WFAL owed back workers’ compensation premiums due to [...]
An important issue for Ohio’s employers is when they may be required by law to provide religious accommodations for their employees. The Ohio Civil Rights Act prohibits employers from discriminating against individuals based on religion in regards to promotion, tenure, discharge, pay, fringe benefits, job training, classification, referral, terms, conditions, and privileges of employment, or [...]
A recent decision from Franklin County Common Pleas Court Judge David Cain reminds us that Judges do have sense of humor. Judge Cain was confronted with an inmate’s lawsuit alleging corrections officers caused him to soil his pants. The inmate sought $2 million in damages for harassment, embarrassment and emotional distress. Judge Cain dispensed with [...]
The IRS has issued Notice 2015-87, which provides further guidance on health reimbursement arrangements (“HRAs”) and the application of other provisions of the Affordable Care Act (“ACA”). The Notice clarified that an employer may not reimburse an employee who buys an individual health insurance plan (on the open market or from the ACA Exchange) for [...]
Nowadays, many people own and frequently use a smartphone to take photos or record videos, among many other functions. Employers may have an interest in prohibiting video or photograph of its trade secrets or other confidential information. However, a December 24, 2015 decision issued by the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) could impact whether these [...]
In one of its final opinions of 2015, a Sixth Circuit panel of judges concluded in a 2-1 decision that an employer could be bound by a collective bargaining agreement (“CBA”) even if the employer never signed the CBA or expressly authorized another agent to sign on its behalf. In Bd. of Trs. Local 392, [...]
The U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Ohio recently issued a decision which impacts Ohio’s public employers. In Ohio v. United States (2016), the Court held in part that Congress intended the Transitional Reinsurance Program to apply to both state and local government employers which offer qualifying group health plans in the same [...]
On August 27, 2015, the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) issued its anticipated decision in Browning-Ferris Industries, Case 32-RC-109684, significantly expanding its standard for assessing joint-employer status for private-sector entities. The National Labor Relations Act (NLRA) governs labor relations between private sector employers sufficiently engaged in interstate commerce and their employees. Under the NLRA, a [...]