Compliance Resources to Help you Stay Current

The Western Australian Minimum Conditions of Employment Act 1993 provides minimum entitlements for employees of all non-national system employers.

Businesses in Western Australia which are run by a partnership, sole trader or other unincorporated entity (not run by a company) and which employ workers are called non-national system employers. Only the federal laws about parental leave, notice of termination and discrimination apply to non-national system employers. The remainder of the federal industrial laws does not apply to non-national system employers. State awards and/or state industrial laws about minimum conditions of employment, unfair dismissal, record keeping and workplace agreements will continue to apply to non-national system employers.

The Unemployment Extension Bill or the Unemployment Compensation Extension Act of 2010, signed by President Barack Obama, extends unemployment insurance benefits to people who remained unemployed for more than six months prior to November 30, 2010. This bill will pay benefits retroactively, to over 2.5 million people whose payments were cut off last June when Congress did not extend the expiring unemployment benefits. The Extended Benefits Program (EB) provides an additional 13 to 20 weeks of benefits to workers receiving unemployment insurance in states having a specific unemployment rate.

The Americans with Disabilities Act Amendments Act (ADAAA) is a civil rights law that protects individuals with disabilities from discrimination in the workplace, school and other situations. The law does not provide funding for services or accommodations.

The Health Insurance Marketplace Modernization and Affordability Act (HIMMA) is a federal measure whose purpose is to safeguard consumers by expanding healthcare access and reduce costs through the creation of small business health plans and modernization of the health insurance marketplace.

Health insurance is impacted in several ways:

Though the bill’s purpose is to make insurance affordable for small businesses, enforcement does not allow states to authorize coverage of benefits, services, or categories of providers for individuals, small groups, or large groups.
Insurers can to sue states that do not comply.
The bill sets a ceiling on, but no floor under, what states can do to protect insurance consumers.

Overview

HIMMA amends the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA) to allow small businesses to band together to buy health insurance. These group plans will help small employers and the self-employed get a better deal in the health insurance. They would be exempt from most state laws and regulations governing health insurance.
 

Negative Impact of the Bill

Source

http://www.rhrealitycheck.org/policy-watch/health-insurance-marketplace-modernization-and-affordability-act

http://www.familiesusa.org/issues/private-insurance/enzi/

http://www.familiesusa.org/issues/private-insurance/enzi/himma-summary.html

http://www.govtrack.us/congress/bill.xpd?bill=s109-1955

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/1629115/posts

http://www.themiddleclass.org/bill/health-insurance-marketplace-modernization-and-affordability-act-2006

The Small Business Health Fairness Act of 2005 is a bill to amend Title 1 of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA) to provide for the establishment of Association Healthcare Plans (AHPs), to improve access and choice for entrepreneurs with small businesses with respect to medical care for their employees.

The COBRA or Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act was passed in 1985 by the U.S. Congress. The Act’s most important regulations cover provisions for health benefits to workers and their families who lose their jobs. This part of the Act has gone through several changes in recent years since the recession hit, specifically its provisions for subsidy eligibilities. This article describes the background, key provisions and recent changes to this important Act.

The economic crisis across the globe has resulted in a spate of job losses. Companies have resorted to bulk lay-offs to save their bottom-line or stay afloat. But companies are bound by federal and state employment laws that protect against discrimination, whistle blowing and layoff notices.

When an employee is laid-off, he or she needs to understand very well if it is justified or any kind of unfair treatment is meted out to them. Five laws protect the interests of laid-off employees.

• Discrimination Laws
  • Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964
  • Title I and Title V of the Americans with Disability Act of 1990
  • The Age Discrimination in Employment Act of 1967
  • The Older Workers Benefit Protection Act
• Big Company Layoffs
  • The Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act
• Handbooks, Severance not binding
• Severance Releases
• Layoff Lawsuits

Human Resources are known to be as enforcers of the management. They are not understood as professionals who can actually make difference to the business. They are projected as not easily approachable. But overtime the role of HR is fast changing. If your company is thinking on these lines, then it is time to understand what the shortcomings are and how to deal with it

Last year has seen a spate of job losses owing to the economic situation across the globe. The ratio of job cuts to job created is hugely skewed. This has resulted in huge applications for the few jobs that are available. The sudden developments have left people at loss of ideas to deal with daily life. They are ending up venting their frustration by filing litigation againt their former employers if they find that the reason for lay-offs are not justified. Corporates who are already battling to keep their business afloat in these tough times are left with additional burden of handling grievances of their ex-employees. The articles speaks on how corporates can avoid this situation by way of methodically approaching any decisions concerning job cuts.

Human Resources Department – as in the name a department to take care of the resources of the company. There are several revenue generating departments in a company but HR though does not garner significant revenue, in a way becomes the public face of the company. Looking back HR work has graduated from mundane data entry and data management to being more involved in a strategy oriented role which augments the growth of the company. There are new areas that have come in to lift HR to the next level. Technology and methodologies like competency mapping, employee engagement etc have catapulted HR into a strategic role.

But HR deals with intangibles, so is it right to quantify HRD?