Employment Law E-Newsletter—Volume 8
COBRA Subsidy Extended - Important Deadline Approaching
The COBRA Subsidy established under the TARP legislation has been extended for persons who experience a qualifying event (while the regulations are not totally clear, the DoL states that it is interpreting the extension to provide that the loss of employment - NOT the loss of benefits - must occur before February 28, 2010) through February 28, 2010 and the length of the subsidy has been extended from 9 to 15 months. COBRA-covered plans must provide the updated General Notice to all qualified beneficiaries (not just employees). COBRA-eligible employees who were terminated in December, 2009, must be given the General Notice AND provided a full 60 days from the date the updated notice is provided to make an election.
Persons who were "assistance eligible" as of October 31, 2009 and those who were terminated and lost health care coverage on or after October 31, 2009 must be provided with a Premium Assistance Extension Notice by February 17, 2010. Persons who are in a "transition period" must be provided this notice within 60 days of the first day of the transition period. The "transition period" is the period that begins immediately after the end of the maximum number of months (generally 9) of premium reduction available under the original subsidy legislation. An individual is in a transition period only if the premium reduction provisions would continue to apply due to the extension from 9 to 15 months and they otherwise remain eligible for the premium reduction.
EEOC Issues GINA Regulations
The EEOC has now issued its proposed regulations under the Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act of 2008 ("GINA") which bars the obtaining or use of genetic information in an employment context. Title II of GINA, which protects applicants and employees from discrimination based on genetic information, restricts employers` acquisition and disclosure of genetic information, and defines "genetic information" to include medical history. This means that the family medical history questions that are typically asked during health insurance enrollment this season are non-compliant with GINA.
The recently issued guidelines also prohibit health plans and employers from offering any financial rewards to any worker for participating in a health risk assessment that requests information about their family medical history. This prohibition could impact any "reward" you may offer employees who participate in your wellness program.
In addition to setting forth 6 exceptions to the general ban on gathering genetic information, the regulations deal with confidentiality, treatment of and limitations on disclosure for genetic information and GINA’s relationship to other areas such as HIPPA, the ADA and the FMLA.
ICE Steps Up Employer Enforcement - Are You Compliant?
The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services has announced stepped up enforcement directed at employers. It has notified 1,000 employers to get ready for I-9 audits and advised of its intention to inspect 25,000 H-1B applications/visas. The Department of Labor has also announced its intention to step up investigations of Public Access Files required for H-1B petitions.
New Attorney, Kamber, Settles in at FLB
Deirdre J. Kamber joined the Firm as an associate attorney in the Labor and Employment group last fall. Ms. Kamber earned her Bachelor’s degree from Brandeis University, a distinguished Master’s degree in International Relations from the University of Limerick, Ireland, and her Juris Doctorate from Hofstra University School of Law. Her practice focuses on the fields of employment, labor and health care privacy including federal and state anti-discrimination laws, wages and statutory benefits, military reemployment, labor relations, school law, HIPAA, unemployment compensation and contracts. She is a certified HIPAA professional. In addition to her law practice, Ms. Kamber serves as Diversity Chair for the Society for Human Resource Management Lehigh Valley (SHRM) and frequently speaks about employment issues.
Want more information about these topics or other Employment Law Issues? Contact Kathy Mills or Deirdre Kamber at 610-797-9000.
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