Client Alerts

For the National Labor Relations Board, 2011 has been a year of controversial actions. Yet, on December 23rd, the NLRB announced that it was postponing – for the second time – the effective date of one of its most controversial actions in 2011: its new rule requiring all employers to post a "Notification Of Employee Rights Under The National Labor Relations Act."

Amendments to the Michigan Employment Security Act were signed into law by Governor Rick Snyder on Monday, December 19, 2011, and became effective at that time.   Notable provisions in the amendments include several changes to the eligibility criteria for unemployment benefits.

On December 21, 2011, the Securities and Exchange commission ("SEC") adopted amendments to its rules in order to conform its definition of an "accredited investor" to the requirements of the 2010 Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act (the "Dodd-Frank Act"). Release No. 33-9287, December 21, 2011, available at http://www.sec.gov/rules/final/2011/33-9287.pdf.  The Dodd-Frank Act requires that the value of a person's primary residence be excluded from the net worth calculation used to determine the person's "accredited investor" status for purposes of determining eligibility for investing in certain securities offerings that are exempt from registration. The prior rule defined "accredited investor" to include a person with a net worth of $1 million, including the value of the person's primary residence.

On December 21, 2011, the National Labor Relations Board adopted a final rule that amends the process for union representation elections.  Employers had criticized the proposed rule as permitting labor unions to engage in "ambush elections."

On December 2, 2011, EPA announced proposed standards to address air emissions from existing and new boilers and commercial and industrial solid waste incinerators (CISWI).

On November 30, 2011, the National Labor Relations Board ("NLRB" or "Board") plans to vote on whether to adopt changes to union representation elections that were proposed earlier this year.  Although the changes were initially proposed with the intent "to reduce unnecessary litigation, streamline pre- and post-election procedures, and facilitate the use of electronic communications and document filing," the proposed final rule will be "limited to several provisions designed to reduce unnecessary litigation."  However, the Board has not disclosed which provisions of the proposed rule that may include

On October 28, 2011, the Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC") voted unanimously to adopt a new rule requiring certain advisers to hedge funds and other private funds to report information for use by the Financial Stability Oversight Council (FSOC) in monitoring risks to the U.S. financial system.

The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) and the Department of Labor (DOL) have launched a new program to permit employers that have classified workers as independent contractors to switch the classification to employee through a low-cost settlement program. The IRS will allow employers to change past worker classification issues by making a minimal payment and avoid substantial payroll tax obligations for prior years that would be assessed by the IRS under an audit.

The Internal Revenue Service has recently announced cost-of-living adjustments applicable to dollar limitations for retirement plans (and other items) for 2012.  Many of the retirement plan limitations will change for 2012 because the increase in the cost-of-living index met the statutory thresholds that trigger their adjustment.  In many cases, this is the first time in three years the limitations have changed.

After five years of pendency, Congress passed free trade agreements for Panama, Columbia, and South Korea.  These free trade agreements (FTA) greatly open up markets for companies based in all three countries.  This Client Alert focuses on the Korea and United States Free Trade Agreement and its likely impact on international business between these two nations.