Jeffrey A. Gruen
A little known fact to many employers is that the healthcare reform adopted by President Obama earlier this year, also known as the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, requires employers to provide break time for nursing mothers. The U.S. Department of Labor issued a fact sheet on July 15, 2010 providing employers additional guidance about the new law.
06.30.10
Erek M. Sharp
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services ("HHS") announced on June 29, 2010 that it will begin accepting applications to participate in the Early Retiree Reinsurance Program established under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act ("PPACA"). In connection with this announcement, the agency has posted on its website the "official" versions of both the Early Retiree Reinsurance Program application and instructions, and the address to which completed applications should be sent. In addition, HHS posted a document entitled "Application Submission Do’s and Don’ts" which provides practical information that plan sponsors should read prior to submitting completed applications for certification. Of particular note, plan sponsors are required to use the new, "official" application (which does contain a few changes from the draft application) and applications must be submitted in hard copy. Applications that deviate from the "official" application format will not be accepted. Finally, late in the day, HHS also posted an updated list of FAQs which provides new information that should be reviewed prior to submitting an application.
06.22.10
Jeffrey A. Gruen
In October 2009, the Protecting Older Workers Against Discrimination Act (POWADA) was introduced in the Senate. This Bill was designed to overturn Gross v. FBL Financial Services, Inc., a 2009 U.S. Supreme Court decision in which the Supreme Court heighted the burden for plaintiffs alleging age discrimination under the Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA).
06.22.10
Cynthia K. Courtney
On June 17, 2010, the United States Supreme Court issued its much-anticipated decision in City of Ontario v. Quon, holding that a police department did not violate the Fourth Amendment when it searched an employee’s text messages for a legitimate work-related purpose. The Court decided the case on narrow grounds, refusing to reach the issue of whether the employee had a reasonable expectation of privacy in electronic communications sent on an employer-owned device. Even though this decision does not apply directly to private-sector employers, it does touch on several key issues that suggest the following useful guidance:
06.08.10
Day Pitney LLP
Effective October 1, 2010, two new laws are strengthening the protections available to family violence victims in the workplace and require virtually all employers in Connecticut to provide employees who are victims of domestic violence with up to 12 days of family violence leave per calendar year. On June 7, 2010, Governor M. Jodi Rell signed House Bill 5497 (P.A. 10-144), a comprehensive domestic violence bill that adopts a number of recommendations made by the bipartisan Speaker of the House of Representatives’ Task Force on Domestic Violence, including two specific provisions affecting Connecticut employers.