Compliance

DOL pulls fiduciary rule proposal

Investment advisor advocates are breathing easier after the Department of Labor announced Monday that it has pulled its current proposal on the definition of a fiduciary off the table. The agency will take up the issue in early 2012 and repropose a fiduciary definition after more industry input. For now, the move provides a reprieve for advisors who were worried that the current proposals would encumber firms with costly restrictions on how they deliver advice to…

Donna Mitchell
By Donna Mitchell
Editor
Financial Planning

New law prohibits discrimination regarding “genetic information”

On September 7, 2011, California Gov. Jerry Brown signed into law an act prohibiting discrimination based upon "genetic information." The new law becomes effective on January 1, 2012 and, in the context of employment discrimination, covers California employers who regularly employ five or more workers. California already prohibits discrimination in the context of employment, housing and the provision of business services when such discrimination is based upon certain "protected" characteristics, including race, sex, age, disability and…

Lessons learned from a dependent verification audit

A little over a year ago, I wrote a column about my plans to jump on the dependent eligibility verification audit bandwagon, along with thousands of other employers eager to remove ineligible dependents from their health insurance plans to hedge against ever-rising health care costs.

Arizona tomato firm fined for hiring illegal workers

[IMGCAP(1)] PHOENIX | Fri Aug 26, 2011 7:44pm EDT (Reuters) – The United States' largest year-round grower of greenhouse tomatoes has pleaded guilty to knowingly hiring undocumented workers in Arizona and been fined $600,000, authorities said on Friday. Eurofresh Inc, which grows hydroponic tomatoes at facilities in Willcox and Snowflake, Arizona, will also be required to remain on probation for five years, the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Arizona said. …

Employee sues former company over discrimination

A former Arab American employee of PricewaterhouseCoopers has filed suit against the firm, claiming he was terminated after he told an internal newsletter that he thought “there is room for improvement” in PwC’s diversity practices.

Michael Cohn
By Michael Cohn
Editor-in-chief, AccountingToday.com

Elderly NY Teacher Fired: Was it Age Discrimination?

If you're a small business, age discrimination is something that you should be sure to avoid. After all, wrongful termination or mistreatment of employees because of their age can result in lawsuits, as illustrated by a recent lawsuit filed by a New York teacher who was fired allegedly because of her age.

By Cynthia Hsu
Esq.

Aiming high

The job of being a retirement plan fiduciary may soon be a more lonely experience. Or maybe it will just seem that way under the Department of Labor's 408(b)(2) regulations. Earlier this year, the agency extended the compliance date for the new disclosure rules under ERISA section 408(b)(2) from July 16, 2011, to Jan. 1, 2012, meaning retirement plan service providers have more time to prepare before they are required to disclose to plan sponsors that they are indeed acting as a plan fiduciary. Further, the extension pushes back the transition rule for providing initial disclosures from 60 days after the effective date to 120 days after the effective date. Thus, for calendar-year plans, initial disclosures don't need to be made until April 30, 2012.

Richard Stolz
By Richard Stolz
Principal, Stolz Communications
Stolz Communications

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