Davis Brown Law Firm

Last night the Senate Judiciary Committee voted (bipartisan 13-5) to pass Bill 744, the Border Security, Economic Opportunity and Immigration Modernization Act for vote on the Senate floor. A vote is expected in early June…more

You may have woken up today to media reports of large employers exploring the idea of dropping traditional health plans in favor of very limited health care plans as a way to lessen the burden imposed on large employers for…more

Today the Department of Labor released guidance and model notices for employers to use when informing employees of the availability of health insurance on the statewide exchange…more

At Davis Brown's recent Employment Law Seminar, a hot topic was the structure and utilization of Paid Time Off and leave donation programs. Iowans tend to be generous givers. We step forward, we raise the barn, bake a pie,…more

Most of the time, people are pleased to accept an inheritance. However, there are many reasons to not want the inheritance. For example, in small estates, you may receive a home that comes subject to a mortgage, and you can’t…more

In 2014 non-grandfathered plans will not be allowed to have an out of pocket maximum greater than that allowed for high deductible health plans…more

As a follow up to my session “Work Safe: Preventing Injuries and Workplace Violence" at the recent Employment Law Seminar, I’ve put together what I feel to be two key takeaways from the presentation. 1) Workplace…more

Last Friday the IRS released additional proposed regulations implementing the minimum value requirement for coverage sponsored by employers with 50 or more FTEs. The proposed rules provide that amounts contributed by employers…more

The Office of Civil Rights for Health and Human Services is launching a nationwide review of the language access policies of critical access hospitals following a 10 state review in 2012. These reviews will include an…more

Last week, during the firm’s Annual Employment Law Seminar, we offered a session on complex issues under the FMLA. The session made two things totally clear…more

Most non-union employers think that the National Labor Relations Act is not applicable to their work force. Unfortunately, if that is what you think, your local NLRB office will be happy to point out how wrong you are. As we…more

We expected it would happen, and now the time has come. The IRS has sent out furlough notices to the entire IRS workforce notifying employees that the IRS will shut down completely on the following days: May 24, June 14, July 5,…more

Earlier this week the Agencies issued a revised Summary of Benefits & Coverage (“SBC”) template for use in describing health plan coverage that begins on or after January 1, 2014 and before January 1, 2015…more

Companies, both big and small, take a variety of approaches when it comes to protecting intellectual property. Some companies focus on product development and marketing with little focus on protecting intellectual assets, while…more

The April 15th deadline for federal individual income tax returns is less than a week away, meaning lots of people who haven't filed yet are scrambling to finish (or file for an extension). Rushing to get the return filed can…more