The health care bill debate seems all consuming. At least in terms of press coverage.
But yesterday, the House of Representatives passed a defense
spending bill (H.R. 3326) that, according to the DC
Employment Law Update: "prevents most defense
contractors and subcontractors from forcing their employees or
independent contractors
to sign, as a condition of employme...
Connecticut is chock-full of defense contractors. Which is why an amendment that was slipped into the Senate defense appropriations bill should now be one that is closely followed by those contractors.
This week, the Senate approved of an amendment that will prohibit 
defense contractors from requiring their employees sign arbitration agreements as a condition of their employment.
Lost in the shuffle of the COBRA subsidy extension have been new restrictions that prohibit some defense contractors from using mandatory arbitration provisions with their employees.
The Washington Employment Law Update does an excellent job at recapping the relevant provisions and points out that there w...
Over the weekend, the Senate passed a defense spending bill that included -- among many other things -- an extension of the COBRA premium subsidy provision that's about to expire. (You can find the entire bill at the website of the Library of Congress; search for the bill number, H.R. 3326, then skip ahead to Section 1010). The House already passed the bill, and it's been sent to the President for signing.
Currently, the COBRA subsidy allows those who are involuntarily terminated from September 1, 2008, through December 31, 2009 to receive a subsidy of 65% of their COBRA premium payments for up to nine months. The subsidy went into effect on March 1, 2009, which means ...
Twas the night before Christmas
With a whole bunch of laws,
A new COBRA was stirring,
with a health bill (and flaws?)
Congress sure has been busy the last few days. This Christmas Eve morning, the Senate passed a landmark health care bill. No doubt, it will continue to be tweaked and modified as the House and Senate seek to reconcile their respective bills.
I don't think you will find anyone who believes it is perfect and without flaws. But the passage today ensures that employers are going to have some new work cut out for them in 2010 as the provisions...
