Doug Holmes, Author at UWC: The Voice of Business

WIOA Final Rule include No new employer quarterly wage record reporting – Increased information exchange with Education

By Doug Holmes|2025-08-12T09:01:42+00:00August 19th, 2016|Categories: Unemployment Insurance|

On August 19, 2016 the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act; Joint Rule for Unified and Combined State Plans, Performance Accountability, and the One-Stop System Joint Provisions; Final Rule was released by the US Department of Labor and the US Department of Education. See https://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/FR-2016-08-19/pdf/2016-15977.pdf The final rule responds to a number of comments, including comments submitted [...]

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Florida Supreme Court Decision Removing Attorney Fee Limitation Projected to Increase Workers’ Comp Rates by at Least 15%

By Doug Holmes|2025-08-12T09:03:22+00:00August 19th, 2016|Categories: Workers' Compensation|

The impact of the Florida Supreme Court decision in the Castellanos case http://www.floridasupremecourt.org/decisions/2016/sc13-2082.pdf finding the statutory limitation on attorney fees to be unconstitutional prompted the NCCI rate fling with an increase of 15% associated with the decision. Most of the overall rate filing increase of 19.6% that would be effective for new and renewal business October [...]

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US DOL Releases Final Regs on State Agency Drug Testing of UI Applicants

By Doug Holmes|2025-08-12T09:04:07+00:00August 3rd, 2016|Categories: Unemployment Insurance|Tags: DOL, drug testing, final rule|

The final DOL regulations defining the circumstances under which UI applicants may be tested for controlled substances as a condition of being paid unemployment were released today. See https://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/FR-2016-08-01/pdf/2016-17738.pdf . The final regulations continue a very narrow interpretation of an already narrow statutory provision describing the circumstances under which a state may perform drug tests. The [...]

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Colorado Amendment 69 Would Set Up Single Payer System

By Doug Holmes|2025-08-12T09:05:13+00:00March 19th, 2016|Categories: Workers' Compensation, Workforce Issues|

According to some recent polling in Colorado it appears that Colorado Amendment 69, which would increase employer paid payroll taxes to establish a new state single payer system, has substantial support and it could pass as an initiative in Colorado. In addition to the increased payroll tax that it would impose, passage would raise questions about [...]

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Oklahoma Commission Declares Opt-Out Unconstitutional and Unenforceable

By Doug Holmes|2025-08-12T09:05:28+00:00March 1st, 2016|Categories: Uncategorized|

In an extended opinion released February 26, 2016, the Oklahoma Workers’ Compensation Commission held Based upon these findings and conclusions we hold that the Oklahoma Employee lnjury Benefit Act, in establishing and defining the conditions to be a Qualified Benefit Plan at section 203, denies equal protection to injured workers in oklahoma, and that Section 203, [...]

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US DOL Seeks Comments on Reemployment Eligibility and Reemployment Services Reporting Requirements

By Doug Holmes|2025-08-12T09:06:15+00:00March 1st, 2016|Categories: Unemployment Insurance|Tags: REAs|

The US Department of Labor on February 29th published Information Collection Regulations for comment in the Federal Register concerning the required reporting of Reemployment Eligibility Assessments (REAs) and Reemployment Services. See https://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/FR-2016-03-01/pdf/2016-04477.pdf. The proposal would modify the requirements so as to limit the required reports to individuals provided these services. Specifically, the proposed regulations would require [...]

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Appointments to Maritime Advisory Committee for Occupational Safety and Health (MACOSH) Announced – terms limited

By Doug Holmes|2025-08-12T09:06:42+00:00February 23rd, 2016|Categories: Uncategorized|

On January 20, 2016, Secretary Perez selected 15 members and a Special Agency Liaison to serve on the Maritime Advisory Committee for Occupational Safety and Health (MACOSH). On April 29, 2015, the Secretary of Labor previously announced the renewal of MACOSH, and the MACOSH charter was signed on April 30, 2015, with an expiration date after [...]

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President Obama’s Proposed FY 2017 Budget Would Impose $63 billion in Unemployment Tax Increases on Employers

By Doug Holmes|2025-08-12T09:07:10+00:00February 22nd, 2016|Categories: Unemployment Insurance|

President Obama’s proposed FY 2017 budget would impose increases in state and federal unemployment taxes estimated by the US Treasury to total $63 billion over the next ten years and make the increased tax base permanent and indexed. See https://www.treasury.gov/resource-center/tax-policy/Documents/General-Explanations-FY2017.pdf for details. Building on the FY 2016 proposal, the budget includes an increase in the FUTA [...]

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National Advisory Committee On Safety and Health Meeting March 4th to Hear Comments on OSHA Draft Guidelines

By Doug Holmes|2025-08-12T09:36:26+00:00February 22nd, 2016|Categories: Uncategorized|

On March 4, 2016 from 2:00 to 5:00 the National Advisory Committee on Safety and Health will meeting in Room N–5437A, Conference Rooms A–B, U.S. Department of Labor, 200 Constitution Avenue NW., Washington, DC 20210. to consider and make recommendations on OSHA’s draft Safety and Health Program Management Guidelines. The draft guidelines may be found at [...]

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Workers’ Compensation Issues in President Obama’s FY 2017 Budget

By Doug Holmes|2025-08-12T09:36:31+00:00February 16th, 2016|Categories: Uncategorized|

The following new and significant items related to workers compensation were included in the President’s Budget proposal for FY 2017 Social Security Administration The budget re-proposes the development of a process to collect workers’ compensation (WC) information in a timely manner from states and private insurers in order to correctly offset SSDI benefits and reduce SSI [...]

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