New guidance from the IRS provides additional information for employers that are subject to the requirement under Health Care Reform to report the value of the health insurance coverage they provide employees beginning with 2012 Forms W-2 (generally furnished to employees in January 2013).

The requirement continues to be optional for smaller employers filing fewer than 250 Forms W-2 in the preceding calendar year unless and until further guidance is issued (but be sure to comply with any state-specific requirements regarding reporting the cost of health coverage provided to adult children).

The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) recently announced that a record 99,947 employment discrimination charges were filed in 2011.

Charges alleging retaliation under all the laws the EEOC enforces were the most numerous (37.4% of all charges), closely followed by charges involving claims of race discrimination (35.4%). While the numbers of charges with race and sex discrimination allegations declined from the previous year, charges with the two other most frequently-cited allegations, disability and age discrimination, both increased.

The agency’s enforcement of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) produced the highest increase in monetary relief among all of the laws. Back impairments were the most frequently cited impairment under the ADA, followed by other orthopedic impairments, depression, anxiety disorder and diabetes.

For the first full fiscal year of enforcement, the EEOC received 245 charges under the Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act, which prohibits discrimination on the basis of genetic information, including family medical history.

The EEOC’s full report on its litigation and enforcement statistics can be found here.

The IRS announced a number of improvements to help make this tax season easier for taxpayers. Continue reading →

When snow and slippery conditions may make it difficult for employees to travel to work, these three key areas may relate to your company when bad weather hits. Continue reading →

How does safety pay dividends to the business owner? Time and resources spent on developing a culture of safety repays the business in the long run. Continue reading →

The IRS has announced that taxpayers have until April 17 to file 2011 tax returns. The IRS encourages taxpayers to e-file as it is the best way to ensure accurate tax returns and get faster refunds. Continue reading →