President Obama signed legislation on March 2, 2010 extending the COBRA premium reduction subsidy to apply to those covered individuals “involuntarily terminated” on or before March 31, 2010.
Prior to that the COBRA premium reduction subsidy was set to expire and apply to only those covered individuals “involuntarily terminated” on or before February 28, 2010. The good news is that, with this most recent extension of the subsidy, there was not a significant lapse of time between expiration and renewal before the Administration acted. Thus, this extension will not likely require employers to issue revised COBRA notices retroactively.
Notably, the recently passed legislation clarifies and amends the ARRA providing that an involuntary termination, occurring on or after March 2, 2010 but no later than March 31, 2010, which follows a qualifying event based upon a reduction of hours during September 1, 2008 through March 31, 2010 will also be considered a qualifying event for purposes of the COBRA subsidy legislation.
As a reminder, the last extension of the COBRA subsidy under the Department of Defense Appropriations Act for Fiscal Year 2010 (DOD Act) required Employers to do the following:
Those who were eligible for the ARRA COBRA subsidy on or after October 31, 2009 or who experienced a qualifying event on or after that date were to be provided with information regarding the subsidy extension no later than February 17, 2010.
Individuals who were eligible for the ARRA COBRA subsidy but were dropped from coverage for failure to pay a COBRA premium or who paid the full premium after exhausting the subsidy needed to be provided with information regarding the extension as well as the ability to make retroactive premium payments at the reduced subsidized rate. Those notices were to be provided by February 17, 2010. In addition, those individuals were permitted to pay the reduced rate for retroactive coverage by February 17, 2010 OR within 30 days after the date the employer/plan administrator issued the notice of extension.
Those employees who paid the full amount of the premium after exhausting the subsidy were permitted to receive a credit for the amount they had overpaid as a result of the DOD Act extending the subsidy to individuals “involuntarily terminated” on or before February 28, 2010.
With this most recent extension of the COBRA subsidy, Employers/Plan Administrators should immediately review existing COBRA notices to ensure that information about the subsidy extension is included for those individuals who experience qualifying events from now through March 31, 2010. These notices continue to be required in accordance with the general COBRA notification rules.
If you have any questions about the recent extension, COBRA administration or any other employee benefit related matter; please contact SmithAmundsen LLC’s employee benefits counsel, Rebecca Dobbs at 630.587.7928 or via email at rdobbs@salawus.com.
By: Julie A. Proscia, SmithAmundsen LLC
Giving criticism, even when it is constructive, is uncomfortable. As a consequence, managers tend to “forget” to perform annual evaluations or engage in “little white lies” when they actually do evaluate the employees performance. An unwarranted positive or even neutral performance evaluation is detrimental to an employer for both internal morale and an external defense to litigation. When an employer glosses over problem areas the employee has no motivation to correct the improper behavior and is shocked when they are later selected for termination. This shock then turns to anger which frequently results in the employee grasping for a reason for the termination, that could not possibly be their own performance, and this reason then often results in the employer defending costly litigation that could have of easily of been prevented with regular accurate performance evaluations.
Over a year ago the Obama Administration welcomed labor with open arms. Last January President Obama euphorically stated to union bosses “WELCOME BACK TO YOUR WHITE HOUSE.” Today, that euphoria has greatly subsided. The BIG promise made to labor was (and still is) the Employee Free Choice Act or EFCA whereby unions could organize an employer’s workforce without a secret ballot election. In other words, EFCA would allow labor to organize with a simple majority of workers executing a union authorization card. In light of recent political events, significant union organizing reform may not come any time soon.
With EFCA or without EFCA organized labor believes it must do something about the ever increasing decline of union representation in the private sector. Less than 7.2% of all U.S. private sector workers are represented by a union. Take away the transportation and construction industries and that percentage drops to less than 5%. There is no question that organized labor must fight for a remarkable change in the law to make it easier for it to organize workers. To counter this trend organized labor believed an Obama Presidency, coupled with both the House and Senate controlled by the Democrats, would surely provide the “once in a lifetime” opportunity to pass EFCA and create unions through a simple card-check process.
The Center for Human Resource Management and the Illinois Chamber of Commerce are pleased to offer $100 scholarships toward the Illinois HR Excellence workshop, HRM’s Strategic Role in Contributing to Organizational Effectiveness on 3-18-2010. Dr. Sandy Wayne, an award winning instructor and researcher has designed this workshop to be dynamic and interactive.
Scholarship applications are due by March 8, 2010. Recipients will be notified by March 11, 2010.
If you have any questions about the application process contact Jean Drasgow at jdrasgow@illinois.edu
On Feb. 18, 2010, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) issued a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) to more clearly define the meaning of the “reasonable factors other than age” (RFOA) defense under the Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA). The RFOA defense is an affirmative defense asserted by the employer in order to demonstrate that its challenged policy or action was based on “reasonable factors other than age.” This particular NPRM follows two United States Supreme Court cases addressing the RFOA defense: Smith v. City of Jackson and Meacham v. Knolls Atomic Power Laboratories.
In Smith, the court authorized recovery for disparate impact claims of discrimination holding that the RFOA test, rather than the business-necessity test, is the appropriate standard for determining the lawfulness of a practice that disproportionately affects older individuals. Subsequently, in Meacham, the Supreme Court held that an employer bears both the burdens of production and persuasion for a RFOA defense in an ADEA disparate-impact claim.
BARNES & THORNBURG LLP EFCA SURVEY - HOW WILL EFCA IMPACT YOU?
The Employee Free Choice Act (EFCA), a bill currently under consideration by Congress that proposes to amend the National Labor Relations Act with the asserted intent of establishing an efficient system enabling employees to form, join or assist labor organizations, is on the minds of many business executives and human resource directors because of the enormous impact it could have on companies throughout the United States.
To better assess how EFCA will impact the business community, we invite you to participate in Barnes & Thornburg’s EFCA Preparedness Survey, which is designed to measure the level of concern and preparedness of companies likely to be affected by this legislation moving through Congress.
Local Veterans On Site at New Hines VA Fisher House For Donation Ceremony to Support Nation’s Service Men and Women
CHICAGO, Feb. 10 /PRNewswire/ — State Farm, a committed supporter of the military, presented Fisher House Foundation with a $50,000 donation as a way of saying “thanks for being there” to our nation’s service men and women. The donation was reflective of personal “thank you” notes America sent to ThanksForBeingThere.com where they expressed gratitude to those who have made an impact in their lives. For every “thank you” message sent State Farm donated $1 to Fisher House Foundation.
Fisher House is a military support organization that is there for military families whose loved ones are undergoing treatment at military or Veterans Affairs (VA) medical centers throughout the country and overseas in Germany. Chicagoland veterans and State Farm employees who have served in the military or have family members in active duty gathered at the Hines Fisher House today for the donation ceremony.
By: Nancy E. Joerg, Esq., Senior Attorney and Shareholder, Wessels Sherman Joerg Liszka Laverty Seneczko P.C.
1. If you have anyone who works directly with the independent contractors, don’t call that individual a “Manager” or a “Director” as those are words of supervision which indicate control and direction. You should instead use a word like “Coordinator.” Check your website, applications, and all printed material to make sure you are not inadvertently referring to your independent contractors as employees in any way!
2. Try to only use independent contractors who are incorporated in good standing so. Incorporation will not make your company bullet proof, but it is certainly a very strong fact for independent contractor status.
Check the Secretary of State’s website on a yearly basis to verify that each corporation is in “good standing.” In Illinois, the website is www.cyberdriveillinois.com. Pick a date that you will remember (like your birthday), and then each year on that date, check each independent contractor’s corporation to verify it is in good standing. Print out the proof of good standing and put it in the independent contractor’s file. Read the rest of this entry »
The Illinois Department of Labor (IDOL) is the only entity that can lawfully determine whether a contractor is in actual violation of the Illinois Prevailing Wage Act (IPWA). 820 ILCS 130 et. seq. In the context of prevailing wage law, the term “violation” is often maligned. Far too often individuals, groups and entities (public and private) misuse the term violation to an extent that creates problems and issues when bidding and securing public work.
Illinois’ Administrative Labor Code defines “violation” under the IPWA as:
New Requirements for Illinois Employers Enrolled in E-Verify – Have you filled out the New Form?
By Jeffrey Risch and Sara Stertz, SmithAmundsen LLC
Employers need to be aware, Illinois now requires additional documentation for those employers enrolled in E-Verify. Pursuant to the Illinois Right to Privacy in the Workplace Act, new requirements for E-Verify participants went into effect on January 1, 2010. If an employer in Illinois enrolls for E-Verify the employer MUST attest to such with the State of Illinois through a form provided by the Illinois Dept. of Labor that:
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Employer Support of the Guard and Reserve
If you have questions about the USERRA law or ESGR, please contact COL Tom Murgatroyd, (Ret), Illinois ESGR Field Committee Executive Director at 217-761-3642 or tom.murgatroyd@us.army.mil.
