U.S. Representative Mimi Walters (R-CA) last week introduced bill H.R. 4219, "Workflex in the 21st Century Act," which, if passed, will create a voluntary program through which employers can opt to offer employees a...more
11/13/2017
/ Compensation & Benefits ,
Employee Benefits ,
Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) ,
Flexible Work Arrangements ,
Legislative Agendas ,
Paid Leave ,
Paid Time Off (PTO) ,
Preemption ,
Proposed Legislation ,
Wage and Hour ,
Work Schedules
The Committee on Ways and Means yesterday released the proposed Republican tax reform bill, titled the "Tax Cuts and Jobs Act." Although the proposed bill makes major changes to individual and corporate tax provisions in many...more
11/3/2017
/ 457(b) Plans ,
Business Taxes ,
Compensation & Benefits ,
Deferred Compensation ,
Employee Benefits ,
Executive Compensation ,
Fringe Benefits ,
Individual Retirement Account (IRA) ,
Internal Revenue Code (IRC) ,
IRS ,
Retirement Plan ,
Roth Conversions ,
Roth IRA ,
Tax Deductions ,
Tax Exempt Entities ,
Tax Rates ,
Tax Reform ,
Trump Administration
The IRS has released Announcement 2017-11 to provide relief to taxpayers from requirements for loans and hardship distributions for participants of qualified retirement plans who have been adversely affected by Hurricane...more
9/1/2017
/ 401k ,
403(b) Plans ,
457(b) Plans ,
Employee Benefits ,
Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) ,
Future Tax Treatment ,
Hardship Distributions ,
Hurricane Harvey ,
IRS ,
Loans ,
Natural Disasters ,
Retirement Plan
The U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) recently released a draft model form for plan participants to request disclosures from group health plans and insurers about restrictions on mental health coverage. The form is designed to...more
A plaintiffs' class action law firm in St. Louis made national headlines last August when it filed a series of breach of fiduciary duty lawsuits under ERISA, the federal employee benefits law, against the fiduciaries of...more
5/15/2017
/ 401k ,
Breach of Duty ,
Class Action ,
Educational Institutions ,
Employee Benefits ,
Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) ,
Fiduciary Duty ,
Investment Management ,
Mutual Funds ,
Retirement Plan ,
Transaction Fees
As widely reported, the U.S. House of Representatives has passed the American Health Care Act (AHCA), a bill that, if enacted, would make the first major legislative changes to the Affordable Care Act (ACA). Modified to...more
5/8/2017
/ Affordable Care Act ,
American Health Care Act (AHCA) ,
Cadillac Tax ,
CBO Report ,
Employer Mandates ,
Essential Health Benefits ,
Flexible Spending Accounts ,
Health Insurance ,
Health Insurance Exchanges ,
Health Savings Accounts ,
Medicare ,
Premium Subsidies ,
Proposed Legislation ,
Repeal ,
Trump Administration
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has finalized regulations designed to help stabilize the individual and small group health insurance markets and, in particular, the health insurance exchanges...more
The House Ways and Means and Energy and Commerce Committees have released, in two parts, budget reconciliation legislation, the first steps of Congress' proposal to "repeal and replace" the Affordable Care Act. Reconciliation...more
3/8/2017
/ Abortion ,
Affordable Care Act ,
Cadillac Tax ,
Cost-Sharing ,
Employer Mandates ,
Health Insurance ,
Health Savings Accounts ,
Healthcare Reform ,
Individual Mandate ,
Medicaid ,
Proposed Legislation ,
Repeal ,
Tax Credits ,
Trump Administration ,
Ways and Means Committee
When Donald Trump won the presidential election in November, management-side labor and employment lawyers everywhere scrambled to figure out what the changing administration would mean for our nation's employers and our...more
1/23/2017
/ Affordable Care Act ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
EEO-1 ,
Employee Benefits ,
Employer Mandates ,
Employment Discrimination ,
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) ,
Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) ,
Gender Discrimination ,
Gender-Based Pay Discrimination ,
Health Insurance ,
Healthcare ,
Healthcare Reform ,
Joint Employers ,
LGBTQ ,
Minimum Salary ,
NLRB ,
Over-Time ,
Section 7 ,
Transgender ,
White-Collar Exemptions
The Internal Revenue Service has largely ended its determination letter program by which sponsors of individually designed retirement plans can obtain confirmation that their plan documents are tax-qualified. The IRS has...more
Several ERISA breach of fiduciary duty class actions involving allegedly excessive retirement plan fees were filed this week against higher education institutions including colleges, universities, and medical schools. The...more
8/12/2016
/ 403(b) Plans ,
Breach of Duty ,
Class Action ,
Colleges ,
Educational Institutions ,
Employee Benefits ,
Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) ,
Fees ,
Fiduciary Duty ,
Investment Management ,
Medical School ,
Retirement Plan ,
Universities
The U.S. Treasury Department has issued two sets of proposed regulations, under Sections 457 and 409A of the Internal Revenue Code, relating to deferred compensation plans of state and local governments and tax-exempt...more
6/23/2016
/ Comment Period ,
Deferred Compensation ,
Federal Employees ,
Internal Revenue Code (IRC) ,
IRS ,
Paid Time Off (PTO) ,
Section 409A ,
Severance Agreements ,
State Employees ,
Tax Exempt Entities ,
U.S. Treasury
Pennsylvania became the latest state to legalize medical marijuana when Governor Tom Wolf signed the Pennsylvania Medical Marijuana Act into law last week. The statute, which had bipartisan support, establishes a medical...more
The U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) has finalized regulations describing the circumstances in which a person who provides investment advice in connection with a retirement plan or individual retirement arrangement (IRA) acts...more
ERISA does not allow a state to compel a self-insured group health plan to compile and report medical claims data for inclusion in a state-wide all-payer health care database, the U.S. Supreme Court has ruled in a landmark...more
Federal contractors and subcontractors are prohibited from discriminating against employees or job applicants for inquiring about, discussing, or disclosing their compensation or the compensation of others now that the final...more
9/16/2015
/ Employment Discrimination ,
Equal Pay ,
Federal Contractors ,
Gender-Based Pay Discrimination ,
Hiring & Firing ,
NLRA ,
Obama Administration ,
OFCCP ,
Pay Secrecy ,
Subcontractors ,
Wage and Hour
The Internal Revenue Service has issued a new notice addressing issues relating to future rules governing the calculation and payment of the so-called “Cadillac tax” under the Affordable Care Act. Beginning in 2018, the ACA...more
The U.S. Departments of Treasury, Labor (DOL) and Health and Human Services (HHS) have issued interim final regulations and Frequently Asked Questions and Answers on the cost-free coverage of preventive services under the...more
8/3/2015
/ Affordable Care Act ,
Burwell v Hobby Lobby ,
Closely Held Businesses ,
Contraceptive Coverage Mandate ,
Corporate Governance ,
Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Health Insurance ,
Healthcare ,
Hobby Lobby ,
Preventive Health Care ,
Privately Held Corporations ,
Religious Institutions ,
U.S. Treasury
The U.S. Supreme Court ruled today that all states must license marriages between two people of the same sex on the same terms that apply to opposite-sex couples and must recognize same-sex marriages that are validly...more
In a much-anticipated decision, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled today that individuals who enroll for coverage in a health insurance exchange may qualify for a subsidy to make that coverage more affordable, regardless of whether...more
The U.S. Departments of Labor, Health and Human Services, and the Treasury have jointly issued a new set of FAQs that clarifies the application of the rules establishing cost-sharing limits. For 2016, non-grandfathered group...more
The U. S. Department of Labor (DOL) has reissued long-awaited proposed regulations describing the circumstances in which a person who provides investment advice in connection with a retirement plan or individual retirement...more
Monday, the Internal Revenue Service issued preliminary but much-anticipated guidance on the so-called Cadillac tax imposed by the Affordable Care Act (ACA). The new notice offers very few concrete answers to employer...more
With the news of the breach of security at Anthem health plans, many employers have been wondering whether their employees are affected and how they should respond. The breach extends to members in Anthem-affiliated plans and...more
In M&G Polymers v. Tackett, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that ordinary contract principles govern whether a collective bargaining agreement vests retirees in health coverage (and the contributions they are required to pay for...more