The Department of Labor (“DOL”) has announced the inflation-adjusted penalties for certain health and welfare plan violations. The new amounts are effective for penalties assessed after January 15, 2023. The table below shows the previous penalty amounts and the new...
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New Questions Arise Concerning the Extent of Liability for Plan and Service Provider Following “Heinous” Plan Participant Identity Theft
By Barry Salkin and Jordan Mamorsky Any case that analyzes the scope of liability for ERISA plan sponsors and service providers following a cybersecurity incident and/or identity theft will be heavily scrutinized because of a scarcity of case law and regulatory...
Only One Notice Required for Intermittent FMLA Leave
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit, in Render, v. FCA US, LLC, has ruled that only one FMLA-qualified notice is required from an employee for intermittent FMLA leave. Law. The FMLA entitles eligible employees to up to 12 weeks’ leave: (i) for one’s own...
Proposed IRS Regulations Would Make Permanent the Availability of Remote Spousal Consent Elections
By Barry Salkin Longstanding Internal Revenue Service (“IRS”) regulations with respect to spousal consent to a waiver of benefits require an election to be witnessed in the physical presence of a notary public or plan representative. Due to the coronavirus pandemic,...
2024 ACA Out-of-Pocket Limits
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has announced the inflation-adjusted maximum out-of-pocket (OOP) limits that will apply to non-grandfathered plans for plan years beginning in 2024. The OOP limit includes the plan’s deductible and cost sharing...
Congress Enacts Respect for Marriage Act
By, Barry Salkin, Roberta Watson and Jon Schultze n the ordinary course, we would not be advising clients that a statute that a Supreme Court held unconstitutional nine years ago was being removed from the United States Code. However, since the Dobbs decision...
ERISA Group Health Plan’s Self-Help Provision is Enforceable
The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, in Mull v. Motion Picture Industry Health Plan; Board of Directors of Motion Picture Industry Health Plan, has determined that an ERISA-covered group health plan has the right to recoup payments made to a participant to cover...
DOL Rule Permits Consideration of Climate and ESG Factors and Codifies Proxy Voting Responsibilities
By Stephen Wilkes, Izzy Goldowitz and John Sohn On November 22, 2022, the Department of Labor (“DOL”) issued a final rule modernizing and revising the long-standing Investment Duties Regulation. Among other things, the final rule clarifies that ERISA plan fiduciaries...
Secure Act 2.0 Brings a Litany of Retirement Changes
By Roberta Watson, Barry Salkin and Alex Olsen The SECURE Act 2.0 of 2022 (“SECURE 2.0”, or the “Act”) became law as part of the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2023. SECURE 2.0 builds on the Setting Every Community Up for Retirement Enhancement Act of 2019 (i.e.,...
IRS Publishes Registered Apprenticeship Guidance
By Stephen Wilkes and Seth Gaudreau On November 30, 2022, the Internal Revenue Service (“IRS”) and the Department of the Treasury (“Treasury”) published Notice 2022-61 (the “Notice”) in the Federal Register. Among the provisions of the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022...