It Still Ain’t Over. Canada Immigration Proposes Yet Further Temporary Foreign Worker Program Requirements

The Background
Ever since the ‘Royal Bank Scandal’ in 2013, the Canadian immigration system continues to implement further guidelines, restrictions, requirements and constraints for employers hiring and employing foreign workers. Many of the changes are with regard to ‘Labour Market Impact Assessments’ (LMIAs, formerly LMOs), under the jurisdiction of Employment and Social Development Canada (ESDC), but they all ultimately impact the ability to recruit and retain foreign workers.
Previous Changes to the System
Among other measures implemented […]

By | October 7th, 2014 ||

United States: Federal District Court Holds That Plan's One-Year Limitations Period Is Unenforceable Under State Law

On the heels of the Supreme Court’s decision in Heimeshoff v. Hartford Life & Acc. Ins. Co, a federal district court in New York has held in Halpern v. Blue Cross/Blue Shield of Western New York, 12-CV-407S (W.D.N.Y., Sept. 4, 2014) that a group health benefit plan’s shorter one-year limitations period is unenforceable because section 3221(a) of New York Insurance Law allowed for a two-year limitations period. Despite the fact that the New York’s […]

By | October 6th, 2014 ||

United States: The Affordable Care Act—Countdown To Compliance For Employers, Week 12: The Treatment Of Unpaid Leaves Of Absence Under The Look-Back Measurement Method

Final regulations implementing the Affordable Care Act’s employer shared responsibility rules furnish employers with two alternative methods—the monthly measurement method and the look-back measurement method—for identifying full-time employees. (The Act’s employer shared responsibility standards are codified in Internal Revenue Code § 4980H; the final regulations can be accessed here.) For each method, the final regulations provide standards governing breaks-in-service that are unique to Code section 4980H. For employers choosing to apply the look-back measurement […]

By | October 6th, 2014 ||