Compliance Stuff

  On January 21, 2025, President Donald Trump issued an Executive Order targeting diversity, equity, and inclusion (“DEI”) and diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility (“DEIA”) initiatives. On February 5, 2025, Attorney General Pam Bondi released a memorandum furthering the policy initiatives behind Trump’s Executive Order. Companies are now assessing their potential risk given the new administration’s clear policy to eliminate what it is referring to as “anti-discrimination” initiatives both within the federal government and private sector. Companies are likewise determining what they can do proactively to avoid becoming targets. This article explains why having an adequate compliance program, specifically a strong internal reporting mechanism is a key piece of that puzzle. Under his January 21, 2025 Ending Illegal Discrimination and Restoring Merit-Based Opportunity Order, Trump: orders all executive departments and agencies to end illegal private-sector DEI preferences, ...

  An employer's number of full-time employees is crucial to the determination of whether penalties should apply and the calculation of those penalties.  The IRS approved the use of two different determination methods: Monthly Measurement Method and the Look-Back Measurement Method.   Each method considers an employee's “hours of service”.  Hours of service includes hours worked, paid PTO, paid holiday, disability or other similar leave of absence (except when an employee is receiving compensation under a workers' compensation or a state wage replacement program or from an arrangement in which the employer did  not  contribute.   Employers must use the same measurement method for all employees other than for the following employee classifications: (i) hourly v. salaried, (ii) employees in different states; (iii) union v. non-union; and (iv) employees in different union groups.   Monthly Measurement Method (MMM):     Similar to how employe...