The Internal Revenue Service is encouraging small businesses to take advantage of tax-saving opportunities included in recently enacted federal legislation, including the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, the Hiring Incentives to Restore Employment Act and the Affordable Care Act. Read more

The U.S. Congress is considering legislation to extend eligibility for unemployment insurance benefits and subsidized COBRA through December 31, 2010; the same legislation also closes tax loopholes for wealthy investment fund managers and foreign operations of multi-national companies. Read more

The Department of Defense has published its final rule addressing protections for federal contractor employees who disclose information to government officials regarding waste, mismanagement, danger to public health or safety, Read more

Corporate lawyers are projecting a big year of litigation next year, reports the law firm of Fulbright & Jaworski, LLP.

According to Fulbright’s 6th Annual Litigation Trends Survey of corporate law d Read more

The U.S. Dept. Read more

Hawaii Governor Linda Lingle’s list of bills she will likely veto includes a number of bills that would be detrimental to local employers or businesses.

The list of intended vetoes includes legislation that wo Read more

A manager who was demoted after a voluntary polygraph showed “deception” on his part and who subsequently resigned can proceed with his lawsuit against the company for violations of the Employee Polygraph Protection Act, a federal district court rules.

During an investigation into alleged employee misconduct, the manager was asked to submit to a voluntary polygraph test. Read more

The U.S. Dept. of Labor has issued its final rule aimed at protecting the personal privacy of laborers and mechanics employed on federal construction contracts under the Davis-Bacon Act and the Copeland Anti-Kickback Act.
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Although the Dept. Read more

A bill aimed at requiring private contractors and service providers receiving government funds to pay workers a “living wage” is likely to be pushed in the upcoming session of the State Legislature according to the Hawaii Democratic Party web Read more

Federal contractors and subcontractors will be required to begin using the U.S. Read more

The Dept. of Homeland Security filed a motion on Nov. 6 asking a federal district court to lift its preliminary injunction on the controversial no-match regulation now that its supplemental final rule has been published in the Federal Register. Read more

The Internal Revenue Service, the Dept. of Labor’s Employee Benefits Services Administration, and the Dept. of Health and Human Services are seeking comments for rules under the recently enacted Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act.
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The Dept. of Labor proposes to revise regulations under the Davis-Bacon Act and the Copeland Anti-Kickback Act to better protect the personal privacy of laborers and mechanics employed on covered federal construction contracts.
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A company which received a letter from the Social Security Administration indicating that 48 employees did not match the information in SSA’s database did not have just cause to terminate 33 of the workers when they did not timely comply with the company’s requirement to get new social security cards, the Ninth Circuit hol Read more