Management and HR professionals are faced with stiff competition for talent these days. After a sometimes lengthy recruitment and onboarding process, the employment relationship normally begins on a good note. But when the company loses money because employees are lured away to other jobs, it must hire and train their replacements. Further, employees may take trade secrets or other confidential information or capitalize on relationships they've forged with their former employer's prospective clients, customers, suppliers, and even other employees.

Staffing and hiring during the pandemic are especially chaotic. Many employers that don’t traditionally use temporary staff are seeking to fill short-term gaps in the workforce or simply want employees for a short time because it’s unclear what the business structure will look like once the pandemic business issues have shifted. Employers also may want to use temporary staff to avoid paying benefits and similar items. But temporary isn’t always temporary in the eyes of the law.

Have you noticed how much notice issues regarding federal continuation coverage seem to be cropping up everywhere—such as in the news, the courts, and the administrative agencies? Well, the latest matter involves part of the regular evaluation of paperwork requirements conducted by the Internal Revenue Service (IRS). In a December 7, 2020, notice published in the Federal Register (85 Fed. Reg. 78935), the IRS requested comments on notice requirements for continuation coverage applicable to group health plans under the Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act (COBRA).