HR Planning Managment and Compliance: Be aware of upcoming effective dates
November 1: Daylight Saving Time. This year, Daylight Saving Time ends on Sunday, November 1, when clocks will be set back one hour at 2:00 a.m. Shift workers who are on duty at that time will actually work an additional hour, for a total of nine hours of work. Employees must be paid for all nine hours. They are also entitled to overtime pay for all hours worked during the week in excess of 40, including the extra hour worked during the conversion to standard time.
November 21: Employment provisions of the Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act of 2008. On May 21, 2008, the Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act of 2008 (GINA), P.L. 110-233, was signed into law by President George W. Bush. The law, which was designed to encourage Americans to take advantage of genetic testing without fear of discrimination, applies to private employers with 15 or more employees. Among the general requirements:
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- Employers may not discriminate based on individuals' genetic information when making employment-related decisions;
- Employers may not request, require or purchase genetic information about an employee or an employee's family member;
- Employers must maintain genetic information on separate forms and in separate medical files, as under the Americans with Disabilities Act; and
- Employers are prohibited from disclosing genetic information about an employee.
The employment provisions (Title II) of GINA were scheduled to take effect 18 months after enactment, which is November 21, 2009.
December 7: Interim rules on the health insurance provisions of the Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act of 2008. Interim final rules interpreting the health insurance provisions of the Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act of 2008 (GINA) take effect on December 7, 2009. See January 1, 2010, below, for additional information.
January 1, 2010: Health insurance provisions of the Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act of 2008. Under the health insurance provisions of the GINA, group health plans and issuers in the group market cannot increase group premiums, deny enrollment, impose preexisting condition exclusions, or do other forms of underwriting based on genetic information. They also may not request, require or buy genetic information for underwriting purposes, or ask individuals and family members to undergo a genetic test. The provisions took effect on May 21, 2009, for non-calendar year plans. For calendar-year plans, they are effective on January 1, 2010.
January 1: Michelle’s Law. Beginning after October 9, 2009, dependent college students who must take a medically necessary leave of absence from a post-secondary education institution, causing him or her to lose full-time student status, must be allowed to preserve their health coverage under Michelle’s Law. Michelle’s Law takes effect for calendar year health plans on January 1, 2010.
January 1: Paul Wellstone and Pete Domenici Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act of 2008. The Paul Wellstone and Pete Domenici Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act of 2008 expands the federal mental health parity measure (effective 1998) for plan years beginning after October 3, 2009. While the law does not require group health plans to offer mental health or substance use disorder benefits, it does require those that do to offer similar terms and conditions as they offer for medical and surgical benefits. The terms mental health benefits and substance use disorder benefits mean benefits with respect to services for mental health conditions or substance use disorders as defined by the terms of the plan and in accordance with applicable federal and state law. For calendar year plans, the expanded law takes effect January 1, 2010.
February 17: Privacy section of the Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health Act. The Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health (HITECH) Act portion of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, enacted February 17, 2009, modifies and expands HIPAA privacy requirements. The general effective date of the privacy section of the HITECH Act is February 17, 2010.
Reprinted with permission. © CCH
(Submitted Oct. 2009)
<p>Important employment-provision effective dates are coming up, including the Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act of 2008, Michelle's Law and other federal legislation that expands HIPAA requirements.</p>
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