ONE MORE TIME... FEDERAL COBRA SUBSIDY AND UNEMPLOYMENT BENEFITS EXTENDED YET AGAIN
By: Rebecca L. Dobbs
Late on April 15, 2010, as expected, President Obama signed into law the Continuing Extension Act of 2010.
The Act extends the 65% federal COBRA subsidy to those terminations occurring on or before May 31, 2010. Prior to the Act’s passage, the federal subsidy had expired and was no longer applying to terminations occurring after March 31, 2010. The Act provides relief for those individuals who experienced terminations between April 1, 2010 and April 15, 2010, the date of the Act’s passage. Employers will need to review whether any employees were terminated during that short time period, and if those employees were already provided with continuation notices, revised notices will likely need to be sent.
In addition, the Act extends the period that individuals can apply for Federal Emergency Unemployment Compensation from April 5, 2010 to June 2, 2010. The period which individuals can claim and be paid for these benefits is extended from September 4, 2010 to November 6, 2010. The Federal Additional Compensation (the extra $25 per weekly benefit on state and federal unemployment compensations) was also extended for the same time period.
The Act also extended the Medicare physician payment update from March 31, 2010 to May 31, 2010 preventing a 21% drop in Medicare physician payment rates.
Employers should also be aware, that this may not be the last extension we see. There is currently legislation before Congress seeking to extend these benefits yet again.
If you have any questions about this or any other employee benefit related matter; please contact our employee benefits counsel, Rebecca Dobbs at 630.587.7928 or via email at rdobbs@salawus.com.
ADA – AS AMENDED: APRIL 12, 2010 FEDERAL RULING SHEDS VALUABLE LIGHT
By: Jeffrey A. Risch
One day following disclosure of his condition to his employer’s President, an HIV-positive employee of a uniform rental company was abruptly fired. In the legal action that since followed, Judge Ruben Castillo denied the Defendant employer’s motion to have the case dismissed due to the necessary legal interpretation of the term “disability” under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) as amended on January 1, 2009. See Horgan v. Simmons, N.D. Ill., No. 09 C 6796, April 12, 2010 Memorandum and Decision.
The Defendant employer (Morgan Services, Inc.) argued that although Plaintiff employee (Kenneth Horgan) suffered from a physical impairment, he nonetheless failed to properly plead a substantial limitation of a major life activity and therefore failed to state a legally recognized “disability” under the ADA. Judge Castillo disagreed. In his ruling, Judge Castillo emphasized that although Congress left intact the ADA's core definition of what constitutes a protected “disability” under the ADA when it passed the January 1, 2009 Amendments, it made “significant changes” in how the definition was to be interpreted going forward.
In addition to his unlawful discharge claim under the ADA, Judge Castillo allowed the Plaintiff employee to pursue an ADA violation under a theory of “impermissible medical inquiry.” The Plaintiff alleged that the Company’s President demanded to know whether “something medical was going on” and when Plaintiff disclosed his HIV diagnosis the President allegedly followed-up with questions regarding Plaintiff’s prognosis and related T-cell count. Plaintiff successfully pleaded an “impermissible medical inquiry” claim in large part due to the allegation that the Company’s President continued to question the condition despite Plaintiff’s assurances that he could still perform the job satisfactorily.
The lesson learned… First off, it’s way too early to predict the final outcome of this particular case. However, employers (including front-line supervisors and managers) should now more than ever appreciate and understand the complexity of the Americans with Disabilities Act As Amended. The stakes are just too darn high!
Chair of SmithAmundsen's Labor & Employment Practice Group, Jeffrey Risch regularly counsels employers on a variety of medical issues arising in the workplace. Jeffrey may be contacted at 312.894.3302 or via email at jrisch@salawus.com.
USCIS CONTINUES TO ACCEPT H-1B PETITIONS FOR FISCAL YEAR 2011
By: Jacquline Lentini McCullough
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (“USCIS”) recently announced that it will continue to accept H-1B nonimmigrant petitions for the 2011 fiscal year cap. USCIS will monitor the number of petitions received for both the 65,000 regular cap and the 20,000 U.S. Master’s degree or higher cap. As of April 9th, USCIS received approximately 13,500 H-1B petitions towards the 65,000 general cap, and approximately 5,600 petitions for individuals with advanced degrees.
USCIS has received a lower number of initial H-1B cap petitions compared to last year. It is believed, however, that the cap will be met sooner than last fiscal year due to improvements in the economy. Last fiscal year 2010, the H-1B quota was not met until December 2009.
USCIS will provide regularly scheduled updates on the processing of H-1B petitions to be counted against the 2011 cap. The updates can be found at www.uscis.gov. When USCIS receives the necessary number of petitions to meet the cap, it will issue an update announcing the “final receipt date” to the public. The final receipt date will be based on the date USCIS physically receives the petition, and not the date that the petition was postmarked. This means that the date the USCIS informs the public that the cap has been reached may differ from the actual final receipt date.
For more information, please contact Jacqueline Lentini McCullough at 630.587.7910 or via email at jlentini@salawus.com.