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New White Paper
Tells HR How to Meet COBRA and Other Obligations Under Stimulus Act
March 9, 2009 (Nashville, TN) -- With the first phase of the Obama
administration’s American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA), better known
as the Economic Stimulus Act, taking affect, employers suddenly face a host
of questions about its impact on their workplace policies and procedures.
A new white paper, available for free download at HRhero.com, explains
everything Human Resources professionals need to know about the law’s effect
on COBRA, unemployment insurance, tax credits and relief, health information
privacy, visas, executive compensation, and whistleblowers.
To download What the Obama Stimulus Plan Means for Employers: COBRA,
Benefits, and More, interested parties should visit
http://www.hrhero.com/whitepapers/?wposp.
“The stimulus act creates many new protections and benefits for workers,
which will ultimately land in the lap of HR to administer or oversee,” says
Dan Oswald, president of M. Lee Smith Publishers LLC and Director of the
company’s web site, HRhero.com. “For example, the law partially subsidizes
the health insurance premiums for terminated employees under COBRA, but not
all ex-employees are eligible. HR has to consider when the employee was
terminated, how well the former employee was compensated, and other factors.
There are also notice requirements and enrollment rules that can get
tricky.”
“This report details what’s in the law that affects Human Resources and
explains what they need to do now by way of policy-making and notifying to
make sure they don’t violate the law’s requirements.”
In addition to detailing benefit subsidies, What the Obama Stimulus Plan
Means for Employers: COBRA, Benefits, and More explains:
• Make Work Pay: The stimulus bill includes the Make Work Pay credit, worth
6.25% of earned income, which employees will see as a reduction in the
amount of income tax withheld from paychecks – an adjustment employers will
have to make to payroll
• Unemployment Compensation: Benefits have been extended and expanded. In
states that accept the terms of the plan, the package provides for
modernization of compensation systems.
• Work Opportunity Tax Credit: The stimulus package expands the WOTC program
by adding two new categories.
• Visas: Companies receiving TARP money wouldn’t be allowed H-1B visas to
hire workers for 2 years unless they meet certain requirements.
• Whistleblowers: Employers that get grants, contracts or another payments
associated with the stimulus act will find their employees covered by
expanded whistleblower protections.
• Confidential health information: Expanded HIPAA privacy and security
requirements on health plans and new health information technology
requirements
About HRhero.com
HRhero.com was created by M. Lee Smith Publishers LLC to help human resource
professionals find quick answers to their employment law and management
questions. Armed with this knowledge, you'll be better able to maintain a
productive workplace and avoid devastating lawsuits.
Started in 1975 with the publication of the still-successful Tennessee
Journal, M. Lee Smith Publishers today offers more than 130 nationally
acclaimed newsletters, videos, software, books, and directories to
attorneys, human resources professionals, and other business executives.
To provide the most authoritative and timely information to these
communities, the company’s 50 state-specific Employment Law Letters are
edited by many of the nation's largest and most prestigious law firms, and
its videos and other products for human resources professionals are created
in partnership with some of America's leading experts.
Contact:
Pete McPherson, pmcpherson@mleesmith.com
800-274-6774
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