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I just attended my third legal update on employment law this year. Yes, this photo represents how I feel (and probably look) after 3 legal updates in 3 weeks!
Several law firms conduct legal updates at the beginning of each year and I usually attend 3-4 of them because I find each firm offers a little information the others don’t provide. Here are a few of the tidbits:
Insurance Eligibility — We’ve gone around in circles about the eligibility period over the past couple of years. Initially, the Feds said eligible employees had to be covered on day 90 of their employment and California said on day 60. Then, California backed down last year and decided to follow the Federal guidelines. Now the Feds have changed it again to finally match what most of you wanted… coverage can begin on the 1st of the month following 90 days of employment. This is assuming you have a standard 90-day orientation/introductory period used for new employees. However, don’t just start delaying coverage because your actual insurance policy still rules. Talk with your broker about updating your eligibility at your next renewal.
OSHA Posting — All companies must post your OSHA Log 300A from February 1st through April 30th each year. This is your summary of work-related injuries and illnesses occurring the previous year (2014). Even if you didn’t have anything to report, you must still post this log with zeroes in the appropriate places.
Commissions — This is more of a heads-up for you. Based on a recent court case, it’s possible you may have to start calculating commissions over shorter periods. The court stated commissions were “wages” and therefore must be paid at least twice per month, the same as the requirement for other wages. This isn’t being forced just yet but it will be an interesting twist to commission plans if they have to be paid out that frequently.
Insurance Stipends — It turns out IRS doesn’t like it when companies reimburse employees for a personal insurance policy and they are working on putting a stop to it. You can pay people a higher wage/salary with the hope they will purchase insurance you aren’t providing but you can’t make that increase dependent on them getting insurance. More on this as it develops.
Independent Contractors (IC) — I’ve previously discussed the dangers of misclassifying people as ICs when they should be hired as employees. A new development popped up regarding the Affordable Care Act (aka Obamacare). If those ICs are later determined to be employees and that misclassification affects your company’s requirements under this Act, you may get hit with additional penalties for not providing health insurance for them.
As a side note… no, the minimum wage has NOT changed. California’s minimum wage law resulted in an increase to $9/hour last July and will increase again next January to $10. The city of San Diego’s minimum wage law was put on hold until we vote on it in 2016 so, if you’re thinking the new minimum wage is $9.75/hour, you’re paying more than required.
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