By Stephen Wilkes, Kimberly Shaw Elliot and Seth Gaudreau In uncertain times like these where the novel coronavirus or COVID-19 seems to be impacting everything, broker-dealers, investment advisory...
Articles
Planning and Implementing a Temporary Layoff in the Age of COVID-19
During these uncertain times, layoffs, both long term and temporary, are on the rise. Naturally, it is very important for employers to plan layoffs carefully, even when they must be implemented...
The Families First Coronavirus Response Act
by Roberta Watson, Barry Salkin and Virginia Peabody Effective no later than April 2, 2020, the Emergency Paid Sick Leave Act (the “Sick Leave Act”) and the Emergency Family and Medical Leave...
Five Steps to Help Avoid Mistakes in Light of COVID-19
Allowing employees to telecommute is an excellent accommodation. While this option supports continued business productivity, be sure to properly track the time worked so that you do not expose your...
SEC Proposed Amendments to Advertising and Solicitation Rules
In early November 2019, the Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC") released proposed amendments to the advertising rule and solicitation rule under the Investment Advisers Act of 1940 ("Advisers...
The Impact of the SECURE Act on Estate Planning and Administration
Just before the end of 2019, the "SECURE Act," a bill that includes many changes to the federal tax code that apply to qualified retirement plans, such as a 401(k) or IRA, ("retirement assets") was...
Massachusetts Advances Regulations Imposing Fiduciary Duty on Broker-Dealers
In November 2019, the Commonwealth of Massachusetts issued revised regulations imposing a fiduciary standard upon broker-dealers, although the regulations would not apply to a broker-dealer who is a...
The Change in the Equal Pay Landscape and its Impact on Employers
On December 6, 2019, the Second Circuit held that an employee does not have to show that she received less pay for equal work in order to prevail in an unequal pay claim. Instead, she only has to...
EEO-1 Component 2 Data Collection Reinstated, Again
In yet another turn of events in the ongoing EEO-1 Component 2 data collection saga, the EEOC’s self-declared cessation to collect the Component 2 data has been overturned by Judge Tanya Chutkan of...
DOL Finalizes Overtime Rule
The U.S. Department of Labor finalized its overtime rule which will become effective on January 1, 2020. Notably, the DOL increased the threshold for the FLSA overtime exemption from $23,660 to...
EEO-1 Report Update – Component 2 Data Filing Deadline Quickly Approaching
Earlier this year the EEOC announced it would reinstate the collection of EEO-1 Component 2 data, thus requiring employers to submit pay data broken own by job category, sex, race, and ethnicity....
Sweeping Changes to Connecticut’s Sexual Harassment Laws Will Have a National Impact
Connecticut recently made several noteworthy changes to its sexual harassment laws designed to help eliminate harassment, prevent retaliation against claimants and expand protection when claims are...
Follow-up on SEC Guidance Regarding Broker-Dealers and Investment Advisors
On June 5th, the SEC issued a four-part package of guidance with respect to the activities of broker-dealers and investment advisors. We prepared an Investment Management Law Alert focusing on one...
Dramatic Changes to New York’s Harassment Prevention Law
It is now much easier for employees in New York to assert claims of workplace harassment. In the past, in order to bring a claim of workplace harassment in New York, employees were required to...
SEC Issues Final Regulation BI
The SEC, by a 3-1 party line vote, issued in a timely fashion its final regulations with respect to broker-dealer conduct, referred to as Regulation Best Interest ("Regulation BI"). The SEC's...
IRS Releases Round Two of Proposed Regulations for Qualified Opportunity Funds
On April 17, 2019, the Internal Revenue Service ("IRS") issued the second round of proposed regulations with respect to qualified opportunity funds ("QOFs"). While the first round of proposed...
Update on Requirement to Report EEO-1 Wage and Hour Data
As previously reported in our Alert published on March 7, 2019, a federal judge has ordered the EEOC to provide guidance regarding the collection of wage and hour data ("Component 2 data"). On...
Massachusetts Issues Proposed Regulations and Toolkit for Paid Family and Medical Leave Act
On March 29, 2019, the Massachusetts Department of Family and Medical Leave (“DFML”) re-issued draft regulations on the Massachusetts Paid Family and Medical Leave Act (“PFML”). DFML will hold at...
EEO-1 Pay Data Collection Requirement Reinstated – OMB’s Stay Vacated
In September 2016, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission ("EEOC") expanded its collection efforts to include summary W-2 pay data and total hours worked by race, ethnicity, and gender from...
New York State’s New Employment Discrimination Law: GENDA
On February 24, 2019, New York state's Gender Expression Non-Discrimination Act ("GENDA") went into effect. GENDA prohibits all employers with four or more employees from discriminating against...
Reminder for Massachusetts Employers: If You Care about your Noncompete…
There is generally a gnashing of teeth when a key employee leaves for a competitor, and that gnashing may evolve into weeping when an employer finds that its noncompetition protections are...
Using Required Minimum Distributions to Make Charitable Contributions – Some Things That You Need to Know
If you are 70½ years of age or older, have a standard IRA and are interested in making qualified charitable distributions, the following will be of interest to you. By making donations directly...
EEOC Delays Filing Due Date
The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission ("EEOC") announced that it has delayed the filing due date for the EEO-1 Report. The EEO-1 Report is a compliance survey mandated by federal statute and...
Nevada Issues Proposed Regulations Regarding Fiduciary Standards
While the SEC works on finalizing its proposed Regulation Best Interest, there continues to be significant activity at the state level that will cover, in varying degrees, the same subject matter....
Is the Partial Government Shutdown Affecting Your Company?
As the partial federal government shutdown continues, more companies are being affected, directly and indirectly, and business owners, executives and human resources professionals need to be very...
The Pendulum Has Swung in Response To #MeToo
Much has been written about the #MeToo movement over the past several months, and, justifiably, this will continue to be the case until such time as sexual harassment is no longer plaguing our...
Duty Of Loyalty
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A Penny Wise And a Pound Foolish: Lessons Learned from the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission v. Dolgencorp, LLC, d/b/a Dollar General Corporation serves as a critical lesson of what can happen when managers are not properly prepared. The Sixth Circuit...
Court Rejects Severance Pay Claim of Employee Terminated for Refusing Transfer
The D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals (the "D.C. Circuit"), in Peck. v. SELEX Systems Integration, Inc., has affirmed a district court's judgment that a terminated employee was not eligible for...
Don’t Overlook Age Discrimination: Lessons Learned from the EEOC’s Report
The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission ("EEOC") recently issued a report about age discrimination that reads like a wake-up call. Essentially, 50 years have passed since the passage of the Age...
Workplace Sexual Harassment: New York Sets The Standard That Others Should Follow
Accounts of workplace harassment involving employees, entertainers, athletes, and students has been well-publicized in 2018. This publicity has led to the widely-known "#MeToo movement." Some states...
OCIE Identifies Common Deficiencies Relating to Best Execution
On July 11, 2018, the Office of Compliance Inspections and Examinations ("OCIE") of the Securities and Exchange Commission published a Risk Alert relating to best execution deficiencies on the part...
“Grand Bargain” Minimum Wage Increase in Massachusetts
Massachusetts has enacted a "grand bargain" minimum wage law that will gradually increase the state's minimum wage from $11 per hour to $15 over the next five years. Simultaneously, it will phase...
Recent DOL Settlement Agreements with ESOP Trustees
The spate of recent settlements between the U.S. Department of Labor ("DOL") and trustees of employee stock ownership plans ("ESOP") is a signal that trustees and other fiduciaries should reassess...
Fiduciary Implications Of Flexible Retirement Income Solutions With Fiduciary Checklist and Q&A
View Printable PDF Executive Summary Although comprehensive retirement income solutions may be top of mind, partial solutions used on their own, or in combination with other retirement income...
Recent FINRA Notices Seek Comment on Proposed Amendment to Quantitative Suitability and Efficacy of Supervision Rule
On the heels of the Security and Exchange Commission's (the "Commission") April 18, 2018 release of the proposed Regulation Best Interest rule package ("Regulation BI") (which was covered in our...
DOL Issues Temporary Enforcement Policy with Respect to Investment Advice Fiduciaries
Today, the Department of Labor ("DOL") issued Field Assistance Bulletin 2018-02 (the "FAB"), which indicates that both the DOL and the IRS will continue to rely upon its previously announced...
Another Win for the Plan Fiduciary – Fifth Circuit Follows Dudenhoeffer Standards in RadioShack Case
On February 6, 2018, the Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit in Singh v. RadioShack Corp. aligned with the Second Circuit and affirmed the dismissal of Plaintiffs' proposed class action. The...
SEC Proposes Three Related Releases on Retail Investor Matters
I. Introduction After a delay of almost eight years from the date that the SEC is authorized under the Dodd-Frank Act to provide for fiduciary standards for broker-dealers and investment advisers,...
Department of Labor to Pilot Self-Reporting Wage Violation Program
The Department of Labor's Wage and Hour Division (WHD) has announced a new program that seeks to improve the often lengthy and difficult resolution process following an employer's violation of the...
Tax Cuts and Jobs Act; The New Federal Divorce Law
This article, authored by Regina Mandl, Esq. and quoting Barry Salkin, Esq., was published in the February 26, 2018 issue of Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly. I never have had a client who has said that...
FINRA Rules Going into Effect in 2018
There are a host of new and amended rules promulgated by the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority ("FINRA") that will be going into effect throughout 2018. This Alert summarizes these impending...
Massachusetts Securities Division Files Suit to Enforce Fiduciary Rule
In a recent Alert, we discussed how several states are charting their own course while the U.S. Department of Labor ("DOL") proceeds with its review of the Fiduciary Rule, the Best Interest Contract...
SEC Offers Amnesty Under Share Class Selection Disclosure Initiative
In our January 18, 2018 Law Alert on share class selection, we expressed our opinion that share class selection is likely to remain an enforcement focus for the Security and Exchange Commission (the...
Tax Reform: Unintended Consequences for Broker-Dealers
The "Act to provide for reconciliation pursuant to titles II and V of the concurrent resolution on the budget for fiscal year 2018" (the "Tax Act") - formerly known as The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act -...
Recent Developments – States Proceed with Their Own Fiduciary or “Best Interest” Standards
States Proceed with Their Own Fiduciary or "Best Interest" Standards While the U.S. Department of Labor ("DOL") continues with its mandated review of the Fiduciary Rule and related exemptions,...
Regulatory Focus on Share Class Selection in 2018
In recent years, the Office of Compliance Inspections and Examinations ("OCIE") of the Security and Exchange Commission ("Commission") has increasingly scrutinized share class selection by...
FINRA Shares Examination Findings
The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) recently released the results of its exam program to assess compliance with securities rules and regulations. FINRA conducts cyclical examinations...
FINRA’s New Qualification and Registration Rules Effective October 1, 2018
Last month, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) approved a new set of rules proposed by the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) intending to consolidate and simplify...
Calculating Regulatory Assets Under Management
A question we frequently receive from our advisory firm clients is whether they are accurately calculating and reporting regulatory assets under management ("RAUM"). RAUM, as a metric, was first...