12 high-impact fed rules that will affect HR this year
January 7, 2010 by Jim GiulianoPosted in: Employment law, Special Report
Congress and various federal agencies are enacting a dozen new rules and procedures that will affect how you do business in 2010.
- Extension of the COBRA subsidy. Employees who are involuntarily separated will continue to have rights to a COBRA subsidy — and you’ll continue to have to do the paperwork and notifications. Expect it: now.
- New regs requiring your company disclose all retirement plan fees and and expenses to participants. These regs are in the “final rule” stage, meaning it’s almost a done deal. Expect it: September 2010.
- More Family Medical Leave Act (FMLA) changes. Yes, your firm just had to account for new changes to the FMLA when it comes to military personnel. But the Feds aren’t done yet – they’ve vowed to review both those changes and the FMLA overhaul from Jan. ’09. No timetable yet.
- Changes to the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA). This major (and costly-to-comply-with) rule isn’t immune from new scrutiny, either. Expect to make changes in HIPAA provisions covering: access, portability and renewability. Expect it: September 2010.
- Updated recordkeeping regs for the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). Plan on having to keep more thorough records on how you pay your people – you guessed it – in the name of “greater transparency.” No timetable yet.
- An increase in wage-hour audits. Be sure your entire payroll papertrail is in order. DOL just hired 250 new investigators to enforce wage-hour laws. Expect it: Early 2010.
- A spotlight on foreign workers. Firms that use workers with H-2B visas can expect more scrutiny – the Employment and Training Administration is proposing rules regarding labor certification for these folks. Expect it: after a February rule on agricultural workers.
- A new definition of “temporary” workers. Along the same lines, the DOL wants to ensure people who are hired as temporary actually are. No timetable yet.
- Greater accountability on affirmative action. Current regs will be revised to ensure your company complies with affirmative action reqs, particularly as it concerns veterans. Expect it: November 2010.
- New rules for union info disclosure. Companies with unionized employees will soon have to go to greater lengths to report on the arrangements they make to persuade folks to join or not join a union. Expect it: November 2010.
- A new standard on slip, trip and fall hazards. Beware: The Occupational Safety and Health Administration promises the rule will cover “every nonconstruction worker in the U.S.” Expect it: March 2010.
- The return of an old recordkeeping task. Prepare to resurrect those logs your company had to check when recording musculoskeletal disorders. OSHA’s bringing it back. Expect it: January 2010.
January 8th, 2010 at 9:44 am
The government’s got to make it look like it’s doing something!
January 11th, 2010 at 10:27 am
It would be really great if these regulations really benefited employees in the long run. However, it seems the cost of lawsuits, fines, keeping up with these regs etc. drives businesses out of the US where these laws do not apply, labor is cheaper, etc. Not a very good outcome for the US economy…
January 11th, 2010 at 11:25 am
Let’s see, can we think of any more ways to “grow” the only employment sector with increases in employment during these difficult times?
Overheard in the halls of Congress:
“Yes we can, yes we can! Let’s create some more regulations and make ourselves feel sooooooooo good”.
January 11th, 2010 at 12:00 pm
Glad to see that the Transparency pledge the president made doesn’t apply to him, but everyone else instead …
January 11th, 2010 at 12:39 pm
It is not just so they can “feel good” that the are “doing something”. This administrate of “lawyers” and NO business people just don’t GET IT. And then again, maybe they do. This may be part of their PLAN to drive America into bankruptcy and force us into a Transformation. If you remember Presidential Candidate Obama saying, “We are 5 days away from Transforming the United States of America.
Visit link: http://rt.com/Politics/2009-04-20/Crisis_as_a_way_to_build_a_global_totalitarian_state.html
For more stories on news, politics, business, sport, science and art do not forget to check RT web-site!
January 11th, 2010 at 3:17 pm
I have been searching for more information regarding the DOL changes to “temporary worker” status. Can anyone point me to a link? Much appreciated!
January 11th, 2010 at 9:44 pm
I wish these people worked in a business. It would be nice to be able to focus on caring for the people who work for a business and make sure the do have what they need. Instead, more time will be spent on checking more compliance boxes. These are designed for the very few businesses who are unethical. They should keep the majority of businesses who do an amazing job caring for people and their communities in mind.
January 12th, 2010 at 9:29 am
This is what happens when we allow a bunch of lawyers to run our businesses. Its our fault and we only have ourselves to blame because we allow it.
January 12th, 2010 at 9:45 am
Unfortunately, there are too many employers out there who are not complying with current laws and regulations. I’ve seen it too many times, employees terminated unjustly, made to work uncompensated overtime, gypped out of FMLA, etc. Sure, there are lots of employers who toe the line, but there are also many who don’t!
January 12th, 2010 at 10:52 am
Can someone please provide me a link to number 12? I don’t recall ever seeing that regulation.
January 12th, 2010 at 1:27 pm
How’s that Obama “change” working for you now? Remember the 2010 elections when they come up and definitely 2012.
January 12th, 2010 at 5:34 pm
Some of this is just smart anyway… but I don’t appreciate the forced adminstrative nightmares. Are the Feds gonna increase my wage and hire me a full staff??
January 12th, 2010 at 5:58 pm
The Feds are making it harder and harder for Employers. I am aware that there are many companies who do not KNOW how to handle all this red tape, and quite frankly, do not have the funds to hire the type of office help that can keep up with it all. In that case, a payroll service that specializes in taking on the HR duties needs to be brought on board, but that again,just another expense that has to be passed on to the customers. If a profit is not generated, there is no reason to be in business. I am not talking of the BIG corporations here, people can choose to invest in them or not, but the smaller businesses and the small professional offices……..and that is the bread and butter of the USA…..The Government puts all these laws into place and forces the business to jump through the hoops…..and then taxes them on top of it all.
Personally, I can’t see why businesses have to pay taxes anyhow. A business is not a person. The profits get either reinvested to make the business bigger so they can hire more people, or the profits are taxed when they are distributed to the owners or shareholders………The tax the business pays just becomes another expense of doing business and is passed on to the consumer. Doesn’t make much sense.
January 13th, 2010 at 7:21 pm
It is absurd to claim the rights of businesses are being trampled in order to protect workers. Corporations and their interests pretty much run this country and it is their greed and short-sightedness that has contributed substantially to the position we currently find ourselves in, not only economically but environmentally as well. Although I certainly don’t need more work coming across my desk I am willing to accept the fact that as an HR professional it is my responsibility to proactively make sure my company is in compliance with all legal mandates. Personally, I find it very sad that companies need to be regulated into treating their employees with even a minimum amount care, especially when it comes to safety concerns.
January 14th, 2010 at 8:22 am
Good companies need little regulation because they value human resources as their most important asset. It makes socio-economic sense to do so. The problem with the additional regulation is that it adds costs to those companies and does nothing to improve the overall welfare of the majority of American workers. The costs to implement and administer can only be handled through cuts elsewhere and guess where the vast percentage of those financial resources will be derived? Companies generally cut the workforce.
Meanwhile the companies who are identified as having “greed and shortsightedness” continue to do as they have, or relocate overseas.
Whether the regulations are ignored, companies relocate or the costs of doing business result in further cuts to employment, it’s the American worker who suffers. The irony of developing more rules to protect them, in reality, hurts them.
January 14th, 2010 at 11:36 am
Niclole……..you sound like my daughter. Why do you insist that it is the businesses (Corporations!!) that run this country…….with their greed and short-sightedness……I don’t know why the very thing that has supplied jobs and economic growth for many many years has suddenly become the EVIL thing that needs to be swept from the earth before they ruin the environment and the economy. And at the same time, the Government (who, of course, does not run this country?) ignores the people and their wants like we are a bunch of idiots that need to have our noses wiped. Too much regulation is just that. TOO MUCH REGULATION. We used to be regulated by the Unions, now it is the Government AND the Unions if this Administration has its way. Pretty soon there will be no businesses……..and no jobs.
January 15th, 2010 at 11:29 am
Well said Jagger!!! It is completely beyond my comprehension how the lefties just can’t seem to grasp this concept! When it is finally too late, they will still find a way to blame the business’s–the only thing keeping this country running at this point… Of course, where will the govt get it’s money when all the business’s are out of business due to being regulated to death??? Get a grip Nicole–98% of all business’s are doing things the right way! Govt propoganda focuses on the other 2% so that they can justify the rediculous regulations they continue to pile on. How long will it take before people realize this???
January 16th, 2010 at 1:44 am
HH; why are you picking on the lefties? I’m left handed and I’m proud of that. All you right handed folk come across as so superior. Why? Because you can use scissors? Climb off that high horse and recognize that you right handed people are no better.
January 25th, 2010 at 9:31 pm
Some of the folks here need to get serious. This blog is for HR professionals not Obama haters! Some gov’t regs are ridiculous but it has always been that way…left, right, red, blue, dem or repub. How did Obama cause ALL of the problems and he’s only been in office 1 year?? Get real PLZ. GEESH. This has been the case since the establishment of these agencies.
January 27th, 2010 at 4:47 pm
Can we stop bashing and stick to HR issues and how to help each other with new regulations that are here and will be coming. I can hear government bashing everytime I turn on the TV or radio and would like to have a site where I can go to for help, not more of the same.
February 2nd, 2010 at 11:58 am
It’s obvious that governmental control is now on the increase. To me, it is not because the government is trying to “take more control” but rather to minimize corporate “hi-jinks” to mess over the common worker. How many companies are not paying overtime correctly, or not at all. Why would the DOL hire 250 more investiators? Because they know the employees are getting “messed over”.