A new final rule from the Labor Department makes it easier for small businesses to join together to offer their workers 401(k) plans. The rule goes into effect on Sept. 30. As a result of the new rule, smaller companies can now leverage the bigger scale of a combined group of businesses to negotiate lower fees on their 401(k) plans. Under the rule, companies in different industries, for example marketing firms and landscaping companies, can create

It’s a real drain on a business when you can’t get clients to pay. It’s ideal when you can take matters into your own hands and see results, but when you’ve tried everything else, sometimes you need to hire a collection agency. A collection agency is helpful if you haven’t been able to successfully contact the debtor on your own, if several debts have been difficult to collect or if a debt is too big to

The U.S. Supreme Court has issued a ruling that is likely to make it harder for the public to access confidential business records. The court ruled on a longtime exemption under the federal Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), known as Exemption 4, which allows the government to withhold “trade secrets and commercial or financial information obtained from a person [that is] privileged or confidential.” While federal law doesn’t define the term “confidential,” courts have regularly said

Suits claiming that business websites and/or mobile apps aren’t fully accessible to people with disabilities are increasing rapidly. In 2019, a quarter of such suits were brought against companies that had already been sued under the same cause of action. The suits were brought under the federal Americans with Disabilities Act. The key to protecting your business from such lawsuits is to ensure that your website complies with Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 2.0. In a recent

The Lanham Act, a federal law that prohibits scandalous and immoral trademarks is unconstitutional, according to a ruling by the U.S. Supreme Court. Registering a trademark has its benefits. Someone who owns an registered trademark can use it in commerce and enforce it. Registering a trademark provides “constructive notice of the registrant’s claim of ownership,” thereby protecting the owner against certain defenses if a patent infringement action arises. With a registered trademark, the owner has constructive