The Federal Trade Commission’s (FTC) ban on noncompetition covenants (“noncompetes”) could significantly impact the design and administration of employee benefits and executive compensation arrangements....more
7/16/2024
/ Employee Benefits ,
Employment Contract ,
Executive Compensation ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Final Rules ,
Forfeiture ,
Non-Compete Agreements ,
Restricted Stocks ,
Restrictive Covenants ,
Severance Agreements ,
Unfair Competition
After months of suspense and intrigue on whether SECURE 2.0 would make it to the finish line and become law, the U.S. Congress ended the suspense by attaching SECURE 2.0 to the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2023 funding...more
Employers that provide 401(k) plans on documents that have been “pre-approved” by the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) beware: there is yet another annual notice requirement that may need to be added to your compliance list!...more
New regulatory guidance from three federal agencies that enforce private-sector benefits laws will make employers’ daunting 2021 health benefit to-do lists slightly - but only slightly - more manageable heading into 2022....more
8/24/2021
/ Affordable Care Act ,
Consolidated Appropriations Act (CAA) ,
Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Employer Group Health Plans ,
Health Insurance ,
Mental Health Parity Rule ,
New Guidance ,
Reporting Requirements ,
Surprise Medical Bills ,
U.S. Treasury
More than a year into the COVID-19 pandemic, employers are happy to be more focused on vaccine issues than on issues relating to furloughs and layoffs.
As record numbers of vaccinations take place daily, many employers...more
4/22/2021
/ Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) ,
Best Practices ,
CARES Act ,
Civil Rights Act ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Employee Assistance Programs ,
Employee Incentive Plans ,
Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) ,
Employment Policies ,
Incentives ,
Infectious Diseases ,
Paid Time Off (PTO) ,
Title VII ,
Vaccinations ,
Wellness Programs ,
Workplace Safety
Employers in all industries have faced unprecedented business challenges during 2020, and responding to those challenges has often entailed adjustments to the size and composition of workforces through targeted or...more
It has been said that when something seems too good to be true, it probably is. One recent practical example of this aphorism can be found in the loan forgiveness provisions applicable under the Paycheck Protection Program...more
Deadlines are an inescapable aspect of administering employee benefits plans, and even in the midst of a pandemic that seems to have slowed the progress of days to a crawl, time is always in short supply. Fortunately, the...more
5/5/2020
/ Benefit Plan Sponsors ,
CARES Act ,
COBRA ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
EBSA ,
Employee Benefits ,
Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) ,
IRS ,
Retirement Plan ,
Time Extensions
The COVID-19 pandemic is a public health and economic cataclysm, and few employers have been able to escape its impact on their business operations and employees. In their efforts to better manage their workforces during this...more
As part of the Trump administration’s ongoing efforts to mitigate the impact of the novel coronavirus (and the illness it causes, COVID-19) pandemic, on March 20, 2020, the U.S. Department of the Treasury and the Internal...more
In a few short weeks, the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) has driven massive change in day-to-day activities for most Americans, and that change appears likely to accelerate. Travel restrictions, social distancing...more
The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA) has proven to be quite resistant to attempts to dismantle it, but on December 14, 2018, a federal judge in Fort Worth, Texas, may have finally accomplished what the...more
Having missed a historic opportunity to choose an exciting name for federal tax legislation, Texas Representative Kevin Brady and his fellow Republican tax drafters did not skimp on the substance of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act...more
11/6/2017
/ Business Expenses ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Defined Benefit Plans ,
Employee Benefits ,
Executive Compensation ,
Health Savings Accounts ,
Internal Revenue Code (IRC) ,
Legislative Agendas ,
Reimbursements ,
Retirement Plan ,
Tax Reform
Before Hurricane Harvey unleashed its devastation on Texas and Louisiana, Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) Administrator Brock Long said, “People need to be the help before the help arrives.” With Hurricane Irma now...more
The creation and implementation of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA or Obamacare) was a long, strange trip beset throughout by policy disagreements, shifting political winds, backroom legislative dealings,...more
Regardless of one’s preferred metaphor, the Supreme Court of the United States is adept at ducking, punting, and otherwise avoiding messy and socially divisive interpretive issues. Every once in a while, the parties even help...more
5/17/2016
/ Affordable Care Act ,
Contraceptive Coverage Mandate ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Employer Group Health Plans ,
Freedom of Religion ,
Nonprofits ,
Popular ,
Religious Freedom Restoration Act (RFRA) ,
Remand ,
SCOTUS ,
Vacated ,
Women's Rights ,
Young Lawyers ,
Zubik v Burwell
In the wake of the National Labor Relations Board’s (NLRB) decision in Whole Foods Market, Inc., 363 NLRB No. 87 (Dec. 24, 2015), hospitals and healthcare providers will need to revisit their employee recording policies. This...more
3/14/2016
/ Audio Recording ,
Health Care Providers ,
Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) ,
Hospitals ,
NLRA ,
NLRB ,
PHI ,
Protected Concerted Activity ,
Video Recordings ,
Whole Foods ,
Workplace Communication
On the first day of decisions since the unexpected passing of Justice Scalia, the Supreme Court of the United States ventured into the thorny area of preemption under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) and...more
On January 20, 2016, the Supreme Court of the United States addressed the first of several ERISA-related cases on its October 2015 docket, reversing the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals and concluding that the trustees of...more
For the many employers and health care providers that have thus far been spending their holidays poring over the Affordable Care Act’s (ACA) new tax forms and their cryptic instructions in anticipation of the inaugural round...more
Despite a marked lack of success for efforts in Congress and through the courts to repeal the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2010 (ACA) completely, or substantially interrupt its implementation, the Bipartisan...more
For many employers, the employer mandate under the Affordable Care Act (ACA) is already a reality. Having now worked out some of the administrative kinks associated with providing the health plan coverage required by the...more
On June 25, 2015, the Supreme Court of the United States ruled that tax credits are available to individuals in states that have a federal Exchange under Section 1321 of the Affordable Care Act (the Act or the ACA). In a...more
On May 18, 2015, the Supreme Court of the United States rendered a much anticipated (by ERISA attorneys, at least) decision in Tibble v. Edison International, clarifying a relatively narrow but still significant issue...more
This morning, Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield, one of the largest health insurers in the country, notified its policyholders, members, and business partners that it was recently the target of an external cyber attack that...more