Author: Michael Rubenstein

14 Jun

Culture is what employers ‘do when no one is looking’

Employers advertise their values to attract like-minded talent, but if organizations don’t practice what they preach, they risk watching that talent walk right out the door. Second to compensation, company culture is one of the primary reasons employees leave a company, according to the 2018 Jobvite Job Seeker Insights Survey. A good fit is so […]

14 Sep

Potential #MeToo-motivated laws address more than just sexual harassment

The #MeToo movement has spawned several bills, many of which are aimed at prohibiting private arbitration of sexual harassment claims or outlawing confidentiality provisions in settlement agreements addressing sexual harassment claims. However, not all of these proposed new laws are directed exclusively at sexual harassment claims. For example, in California, a bill that is currently awaiting the […]

10 Sep

Exchange Notices Can Lead to IRS Letter 226J ACA Penalties

It’s no secret the IRS has been actively enforcing the Affordable Care Act’s Employer Mandate. To date, the IRS has identified a total of 49,259 employers that did not comply with the ACA for the 2015 tax year alone. So far, that’s more than 30,000 Letter 226J tax notices that have been issued with penalty assessments for more than […]

08 Sep

What employees want: More time off, better bosses

Employees want jobs with more paid time off and would sacrifice a high salary for a good boss, according to new data from HR services provider Randstad. The data, released this week, is the result of a small survey conducted in July of 763 employees across the United States. Randstad found that 63% of employees wouldn’t consider […]

07 Sep

White House looks to relax rules for workplace retirement plans

If it were easier for small businesses to band together to offer sponsored retirement plans, would more workers begin saving? The White House is betting so, signing on the eve of Labor Day an executive order aimed at lowering the barriers for small companies to participate in multi-employer plans. “Small business employees don’t deserve to […]

07 Sep

Employers’ old excuses for wage, hour compliance no longer work

Many companies at one time or another get overtime compliance wrong, at least to some degree. It’s an expensive topic. Liability under federal law for failing to correctly pay overtime comes at the hefty price of all unpaid overtime for two years (three when it’s willful, and even longer under some state laws), multiplied by […]

30 Aug

Insurers Plan ACA Expansion for 2019

There has been a lot of talk about the future of the Affordable Care Act (ACA). With the midterm elections coming soon, Americans have stated that healthcare is top priority. For many health insurance companies, the ACA also has been top of mind as they struggled with the changes in the law that made it more challenging for them […]

30 Aug

Fewer Americans without health plans since Obamacare debut

Fewer Americans lack health insurance — but the gap remains wide, especially in some pro-Trump states. The number of uninsured declined to 28.3 million in the first quarter, down from 29.3 last year — and 48.6 million in 2010, the year the Affordable Care Act was signed into law by then-President Barack Obama, according to […]

23 Aug

The future of work is here. Is HR ready?

While meeting with a client recently, she said something that’s stuck with me. “We need to stop talking about the future of work and start actually taking action,” she said, “because it’s here.” She’s right. We’re at an inflection point with a labor market that’s as tight as it’s been since the Great Recession and […]

21 Aug

Midterm Elections Won’t Affect The Employer Mandate

Since President Trump took office, a top priority has been to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act (ACA) and his administration continues its attempts to undermine the law. With midterm elections less than 90 days away, we can expect the ACA will once again take center stage. Much is at stake. The upcoming midterm elections are […]