BW INSIGHTS

2020 Legislative Session - Week 3

By BrownWinick | 01.31.2020

House and Senate Republicans introduced their school funding proposals for the coming year. The House bill, HSB 587 would allocate $100 million for K-12 education—a 2.5% increase from last year. That’s slightly below the $103 million Governor Kim Reynolds called for in her Condition of the State address. The Senate measure, SSB 3096, would... Read More

Estate Planning Considerations for the New Year

By Robert Hodges | 01.24.2020

It's a new year and a new decade. It's the right time to review and update your estate plan. BrownWinick’s Estate Planning Group has three key goals — to ensure our clients and their families: are protected during life (powers of attorney); have a plan for minor children (guardians); and transfer assets in an efficient and organized manner (wills... Read More

2020 Legislative Session - Week 2

By BrownWinick | 01.24.2020

With subcommittee and committee work underway, moves to regulate vaping products are gaining steam on both sides of the aisle. In response to a new federal law raising the minimum age to purchase tobacco and vaping products from 18 to 21 years old, Iowa lawmakers are working toward codifying the change at the state level. Senate State Government... Read More

The U.S. Department of Labor Issues Guidance on Joint Employer Rule

By BrownWinick | 01.21.2020

The U.S. Department of Labor issued some much-needed guidance regarding the application of the federal Fair Labor Standards Act’s Joint Employer rule. The rule becomes effective on March 16, 2020. In the joint employer scenario where another person is benefitting from the employee's work, the Department is adopting a four-factor balancing test... Read More

2020 Legislative Session-Week 1

By BrownWinick | 01.17.2020

The first week of the 2020 Iowa legislative sessionstarted Monday with the swearing-in of a new House Republican leadership team. Rep. Pat Grassley (R-New Hartford) was officially named Speaker of the House, while Rep. Matt Windschitl (R-Missouri Valley) was sworn in as Majority Leader. Grassley listed workforce-related issues as his top concerns,... Read More

Waterloo Bans the Box - Other Employers Need to Think Outside It

By BrownWinick | 12.20.2019

On a final vote on November 4, 2019, the Waterloo City Council narrowly passed a city ordinance intended to help people with criminal histories find jobs by reducing the effect of the stigma of an arrest or conviction. The “Fair Chance Initiative” goes into effect on July 1, 2020. These types of measures, commonly called “ban the box” initiatives,... Read More

Another Final Rule from the DOL Regarding the FLSA - Effective January 15, 2020

By BrownWinick | 12.20.2019

Previously, the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) released its Final Rule on September 24, 2019, updating the earnings requirements for exempt employees under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). Please see prior blog post. Now, the DOL has published another Final Rule (on 12/16/19) that may impact how overtime is determined for non-exempt (hourly)... Read More

The NLRB Bears Gifts for Employers - Just in Time for the Holidays

By BrownWinick | 12.19.2019

NLRB Rulings Shake Up Previous Standards On December 16, the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) issued two decisions which overrule previous standards regarding workplace confidentiality and work email usage for personal communications. We expect employers will see these as welcome changes. Read on for more good cheer. Apogee Retail LLC d/b/a... Read More

Electronic H-1B Lottery for FY2021 Announced

By BrownWinick | 12.09.2019

In an effort to streamline processes, U. S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced on December 6, 2019 that it will be implementing an electronic registration process for the lottery selection of H-1B cap subject petitions. Under the new process, employers seeking H-1B workers will complete a registration process to determine... Read More

HIPAA Fee Limitations for Record Requests

By Drew Larson | 11.21.2019

Health care providers and staff commonly receive medical record requests from current or former patients of their practice for a variety of reasons. The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (“HIPAA”) allows for patients to request copies of their own records, with a few limitations, but notably, the regulations also limit... Read More