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While wrangling over benefits is a cornerstone of union negotiations, looming threats facing several big companies—including coping with the requirements of The Affordable Care Act– exacerbate the conflicts, as we reported today in CFO Journal. ... With major tenets of the health law in place for the long haul, labor and management will have to figure out the “subtle, million-and-one smaller points of the bigger package,” he said, such as the excise tax on high-cost plans, or Cadillac tax. Companies could terminate their health care plans, or move employees to higher deductible plans. (Johnson, 6/30)

As courts and regulators increase their scrutiny of the relationship between businesses and independent contractors, employers are turning to a range of tactics to classify workers, taking them off the formal payroll and lowering costs. ... All this is happening against the backdrop of a broader shifting of risk from employers to workers, who shoulder an increasing share of responsibility for everything from health-insurance premiums to retirement income to job security. Alleged misclassification of workers has been one of the primary battlegrounds of this shift. (Weber,6/30)

The home-care sector is keeping an eye out for an expected move by the White House to make up to 5 million more people eligible for overtime pay. Some say it could benefit fee-based employees while others believe it could cause employers to scale back on hiring specialized workers. A new rule from the Labor Department would more than double the threshold at which employers can avoid paying overtime, to $970 a week, by next year. (Sandler, 6/30)