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Raising Minimum Wage in 2025: Impact on businesses
In the upcoming 2020 presidential elections, raising the federal minimum wage from $7.25 to $15 by the year 2026 has been one of the hot topics of discussion rattling the political circle.
President Trump Signs Executive Order on Payroll Tax
On August 8th, the President issued a memorandum and signed an executive order concerning payroll taxes. This order instructed the Secretary of the Treasury to build a plan to defer the withholding, deposit, and payment of the 6.2% Social Security tax on employees’ wages or compensation, for the period of September 1, 2020, through December 31, 2020.
What the Supreme Court’s new LGBTQ ruling (Bostock v Clayton County) means for business owners
On June 15, 2020, the supreme court ruled that Title VII of the 1964 Civil Rights Act protects lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) Americans from being discriminated against by an employer because of their sexual orientation or gender identity.
States grant immunity from Covid-19 lawsuits
As retail shops, restaurants, and bars gradually reopen, many business owners fear customers and employees may sue them for contracting Covid-19 on their premises. To ease their fears, Congress has been working on passing a new bill that provides immunity to Coronavirus-related lawsuits.
Great News! New PPP Flexibility Bill Makes Using Loans Easier
It’s official! The President has signed into law new rules to govern the PPP (Paycheck Protection Program), making it much more flexible, much more ‘do-able’ to spend the funds in a way that makes sense for your business and more easily meet terms of loan forgiveness.
Q&A’s Recalling Furloughed Employees and Possible Families First Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRA) Implications
Q. How long does a furlough stay a furlough? When does it become a layoff?
Employers are required to post notices for FFCRA in workplace
Beginning April 2, 2020, Employers with less than 500 employees will be required to post notice of the new provisions of the Families First Coronavirus Response Act in a conspicuous place on their premises.
Under the CARES Act: Federal Pandemic Unemployment Compensation (under Section 2104)
TITLE II – ASSISTANCE FOR AMERICAN WORKERS, FAMILIES, AND BUSINESSES (Unemployment Insurance Provisions, A.K.A. ‘Relief for Workers Affected by Coronavirus Act’)
Families First Coronavirus Response Act: Q&A’s
What is the effective date of the Families First Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRA), which includes the Emergency Paid Sick Leave Act and the Emergency Family and Medical Leave Expansion Act?
Basic Information about FFCRA for Employers
The Families First Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRA or Act) requires certain employers to provide their employees with expanded family and medical leave for specified reasons related to COVID-19.[1] The Department of Labor’s (Department) Wage and Hour Division (WHD) administers and enforces the new law’s paid leave requirements. These provisions will apply from the effective date through December 31, 2020.
Basic Information about FFCRA for Employees
The Families First Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRA or Act) requires certain employers to provide employees with expanded family and medical leave for specified reasons related to COVID-19. The Department of Labor’s (Department) Wage and Hour Division (WHD) administers and enforces the new law’s paid leave requirements. These provisions will apply from the effective date through December 31, 2020.
Summary of COVID-19 Relief Legislation (H.R. 6201) Temporary Expansion of Family and Medical Leave Act
H.R. 6201 would require employers with fewer than 500 employees to provide up to 12 weeks of job-protected leave, ten weeks of which would be paid. Leave would be for “qualifying need related to a public health emergency.”
Government announces new tax credits forsmall and midsize businesses
The U.S. Treasury Department, Internal Revenue Service (IRS), and the U.S. Department of Labor (Labor) announced that small and midsize employers can begin taking advantage of two new refundable payroll tax credits, designed to immediately and fully reimburse them, dollar-for-dollar, for the cost of providing Coronavirus-related leave to their employees.
Families First Coronavirus Response Act
On March 18, 2020, the U.S. Senate passed the Families First Coronavirus Response Act (H.R. 6201). This federal legislation will, among other things
Coronavirus: FMLA & Paid Sick Leave
Effective April 2, 2020, but employers are encouraged to start observing the new provisions ASAP. The Department of Labor will soon develop full eligibility requirements for each type of leave and accompanying pay.
Are Predictable scheduling laws the future?
The first legal challenge to predictable scheduling laws failed on February 18th, 2020.
New Marijuana Laws Impact Workplace Drug Policies
Last year, Nevada became the first state to ban employers from refusing to hire job applicants that fail a marijuana drug screening test. Recreational marijuana use has been legal in the state since 2016 for adults 21 and over.
New Law Prohibits Employers from Asking for Wage History
Pursuant to Public Act 101-0177 the Illinois Equal Pay Act now bans employers and employment agencies from asking about applicants’ past wage and compensation histories.
New Legislation for D.C. employers
On April 1st, the government of the District of Columbia enacted a new law requiring all D.C. employers to contribute an amount of 0.62% of all D.C. employee wages to the Universal Paid Leave Implementation Fund.
2019 Labor Law Changes Employers Need to Know
This year many states have passed new laws which has forced employers to increase budgets, design new safety measures to control substance abuse in the workplace, and provide training.
Six recruitment laws every employer needs to know
In the frenzy to hire a new team member, it’s not uncommon for laws and regulations to be overlooked. In this article, we cover six laws you can’t afford to miss, like “ban the box” and pay disclosure laws.
Affordable Care Act (ACA): the employer mandate (“Play or Pay”) responsibilities for business owners
On January 1, 2015, the Affordable Care Act’s (ACA) employer mandate provision established new shared responsibility for employers. The shared responsibility provision requires employers with 50 or more full-time employees, or full-time equivalent employees, to offer a group health plan that provides minimum value and is considered affordable.
Cadillac Tax: Excise tax begins in 2020
The Cadillac tax is a 40% excise tax on high cost employer-sponsored health plans. The Cadillac tax begins in 2020, and is being implemented to help curb the costs associated with health care in the United States.
Massachusetts Paid Family and Medical Leave
On March 29, 2019, the Executive Office of Labor and Workforce Development published a new regulation declaring Massachusetts employers are now required to provide paid family and medical leave (PFML) benefits to its Massachusetts-based workers.