Chambers Awards LMV Top Rating

Group Health Plans, Self-Insured Employers Forced To Begin Registering For Medicare Secondary Payer Reporting Requirements

Click link to the left to view full advisory.

On March 31, 2009, IRS issued Notice 2009-27 which provided surprisingly succinct and helpful guidance for administering the COBRA-subsidy. The Notice begins with an excellent four page summary and overview of the COBRA-subsidy sections of the ARRA. It continues with twenty-three pages of FAQ arranged under the following topics: Involuntary Termination; Assistance Eligible Individual; Calculation of Premium Reduction; Coverage Eligible for Premium Reduction; End of Premium Reduction Period; Recapture of Premium Assistance; Extended Election Period; Payments to Insurers Under Federal COBRA; and Comparable State Continuation Coverage.

The entire notice is accessible at http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-drop/n-09-27.pdf.

Mandatory Changes to I-9 Form

Effective tomorrow, April 3, 2009, employers are required to use the new Form I-9, Employment Verification Form, when verifying and re-verifying employment eligibility for all employees. For identification purposes, the new form has a revision date of "2/2/09" in the bottom right hand corner. The new Form I-9 is available in English and Spanish. However, only employers in Puerto Rico may have employees complete the Spanish version for their records. Employers in the 50 states and other U.S. territories may use the Spanish version as a translation guide for Spanish-speaking employees, but must complete the English version and retain the English version in their records.

In addition to the new form, employers must follow the new regulations for completing the I-9 which narrows the list of acceptable documents that can be used for identity and, most significantly, prohibits employers from accepting expired documents as proof of identity.

The new I-9 form is available at www.uscis.gov/files/form/I-9_IFR_02-02-09.pdf.s.

• OFCCP Sends Corporate Scheduling Announcement
  Letters

• Standards for Systemic Compensation Discrimination
• Voluntary Guidelines for Self-Evaluation of Compensation
  Practices
• What are the Implications of These Rules?

• Don't Forget Disposition Codes
• Don't Base Employment Decisions On Protected
  Characteristics

   Verdict of at Least $19.1 Million

• Proposed Regulations for California’s Mandatory

  Harassment Training Law

• EEOC Implements Final Revisions To EEO-1 Report

• OFCCP Proposes Regulations to VEVRAA

• OFCCP Announces Record Financial Recoveries In Fiscal

   Year 2005

• Physician Behave Thyself

• Social Workers, Caseworkers, & Medical Coders: Exempt
   from Overtime?

• Department of Labor Investigates Off-the-Clock Work

• Donning, Doffing, Walking & Working

• AFL-CIO Declares December 10, 2005 National Organizing
  Mobilization Day

• Illegal Worker Entitled To Worker’s Compensation

•  How The AFL-CIO Rift May Affect You

•  Arbitration Agreements Invalidated

•  New York State Health Department Announces
   Smoking Study Results

•  Are Your Managers Entitled To Overtime Compensation?

•  How The AFL-CIO Rift May Affect You

•  A Recent Federal Court Decision Might Change The Way
   You Hire

•  Think Twice Before Relying On E-mail To Distribute

    Employment Policies

•  Pharmacists Not Entitled to Overtime

•  Public Employees Do Not Check Their Constitutional

   Rights At the Door

•  Sexual Stereotyping is Sex Discrimination

•  When Hiring, Choose the Qualifications You Can Live With

•  A Completed FMLA Certification: When It Absolutely,

   Positively Has to Be There (Or Else You’re Fired)
•  Physician Heal Thyself (or at least Behave Thyself)

•  It’s Hard to Shake the Past

•  Don’t Try and Play Doctor When Your Employees Return
   from FMLA Leave

•  Don’t Test the Limits With Your Employment Testing

•  Do You Have A Well Stocked Arsenal?

•  Is Considering Whether An Old Dog Can Learn New Tricks

   Age Discrimination?

•  Can Employers Make Women Wear Makeup?
•  “Oh Yeah, I Forgot To Mention That I Tried To Kill Someone
   A Few Years Back”
•  Hospital Loses The Race to Outsource Employees

•  Being a Culturally Insensitive Jerk Creates Company
   Liability

•  Employer Liability for Customer Harassment

•  Keeping Employees Honest About FMLA Leave

•  Plaintiff’s Cooperation With EEOC Investigation A

   Prerequisite to Suit

•  Age Difference Of 5 Years Can be Significant In An Age

   Discrimination Case

•  Employers Have a Duty to Consider Accommodations for

    Employees Considered or Perceived to Have Disabilities

•  Ninety-Day Right to Sue Under Title VII and ADEA Runs

    From Reasonable Time After Employees had Actual

   Knowledge that the EEOC had Terminated its Investigation.