Catching up from the past week . . .
This is an article worth reading from the Boston Globe: “Temps become permanent fixtures.” According to the article, the “permanent temp” represents a growing trend in the workplace which can present benefits challenges for the employer:
A major drawback to many temporary assignments, however, remains the lack of health insurance and other benefits. Lawmakers and policymakers are only beginning to look at whether the nation needs to change its benefits system — based on the assumption of longtime service to a single employer — to address the growing temporary work force. Meanwhile, some companies are revamping benefit plans to cover temp employees, in part because of the growing role of short-term labor in corporate work forces.
Securities class action lawsuits declined in 2003 according to this report from the Stanford Law School Securities Class Action Clearinghouse. Thanks to the Securities Law Beacon for the pointer.
I guess I missed this news last week: “Wanted: Psychologist to ease pressure of working at SEC.” The Securities Litigation Watch has the job posting here and some humorous comments about the development here.
Roth CPA.com has a summary of new Revenue Ruling 2004-55 dealing with the taxation of employer-paid, short-term and long-term disability plans.
And, finally, how about this very “fun” Revenue Ruling 2004-37 (via Benefitslink.com) on “determining the source of a pension payment to a nonresident alien individual from a defined benefit plan where the trust forming part of the plan is a trust created or organized in the United States” and is “qualified”? (Read that as a cure for insomnia!)
A good article on off-shore outsourcing in the legal field is here.