By: Alan M. Levy On November 4, 2011, Wisconsin ceased requiring that employers withhold state income tax on the imputed cost of their employees’ health insurance premiums for children who were dependents as defined by federal, but not by state law. Last year’s federal health care legislation provided that the children of employees participating in […]
By: Alan M. Levy Long-awaited final rules for providing investment advice to participants and beneficiaries of 401(k) plans and other retirement programs which utilize participant-directed individual accounts were issued by the U.S. Department of Labor (“DOL”) on October 25, 2011. They will be effective December 27, 2011. A by-product of defined contribution plans supplanting defined […]
By: John E. Murray On November 1, 2011, Wisconsin will become the 49th state to have a concealed carry statute of some sort. The new law may lead to policy changes for some Wisconsin employers. However, the experiences of states with similar laws suggest that the new law is unlikely to represent a seismic change […]
By: John E. Murray On October 5, 2011, the NLRB delayed the effective date of its new posting rule. The rule had been scheduled to take effect on November 14, 2011. The effective date has now been postponed to January 31, 2012. Once the rule takes effect, most private employers will be required to post […]
By: Kristofor L. Hanson The Department of Labor and the National Labor Relations Board have announced proposed rule changes that will significantly alter union-election procedures and reporting requirements for employers and their labor consultants. These changes, in large part, are designed to implement by administrative rule many of the measures of the failed Employee Free […]
By: Alan M. Levy On May 26, 2011, by a 3-1 majority, the National Labor Relations Board members appointed by the current administration ruled that a union could place a 16-feet tall, 12-feet wide inflatable rat outside a hospital with a sign saying that a non-union subcontractor on the premises was a “rat employer.” They […]
By: Jonathan T. Swain Kristofor L. Hanson In order to put something under union Christmas trees this year, the National Labor Relations Board (the “Board”) and its Acting General Counsel have taken the initial steps to require both union and non-union employers to post notices of employees’ rights under the National Labor Relations Act (“NLRA”), […]
By: Thomas W. Mackenzie On November 2, the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) issued a press release announcing its intent to prosecute a charge that an employer’s social media policy violates the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA). The NLRB issued a complaint through its Hartford office which alleges that an employer violated the NLRA by […]
By: John E. Murray Many employers have attendance policies under which employees accrue points or occurrences for unexcused absences and other attendance infractions. As employees accrue more points, they receive increasingly severe levels of discipline. However, after a certain period of time, generally 12 months, points are expunged from an employee’s attendance record for disciplinary […]
By: John E. Murray On April 13, 2010, the Department of Defense issued a proposed regulation on “Labor Relations Costs.” In its current form, this proposed regulation would prevent federal contractors and subcontractors from using federal funds to persuade their employees, or the employees of any other entity, to join or not join a union. […]