Office Holiday Parties: A Time For Cheers, Not Tears
Office Holiday Parties: A Time For Cheers, Not Tears - David Gabor, Employment Law Webinar, November 19, 2015 - View David Gabor's presentation here
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U.S. Department of Labor Publishes Interpretive Bulletin and Proposed Safe-Harbor Regulation Regarding State Retirement Savings Plans
On Monday, November 16, 2015, the U.S. Department of Labor issued two new pieces of regulatory guidance. The DOL released Interpretive Bulletin, IB 2015-02 (the "IB") explaining the Department's view as to how ERISA's preemption and certain other rules would apply to...
ACA Reporting Requirements for Multiemployer Plans
IRS has released the final forms and instructions for satisfying the reporting requirements of the Affordable Care Act ("ACA"). In particular, the final instructions offer guidance on how applicable large employers ("ALEs") should complete Form 1095-C for full-time...
HHS’s Office of Civil Rights to Launch New Round of HIPAA Audits
The Department of Health and Human Services' Office of Civil Rights ("OCR") will begin audits early next year to gauge covered entities' compliance with HIPPA's security and privacy requirements for Protected Health Information ("PHI"). Background. HIPAA establishes...
IRS Grants Relief for many Integrated HRAs in Final Instructions for ACA Reporting Forms
The IRS has issued final instructions for Forms 1094 and 1095 (collectively, the "Forms"). Notably, the final instructions eliminate the requirement that employers report the coverage provided to employees under Health Reimbursement Arrangements ("HRA") that are...
Defensive Plan Building, Otherwise Known as “Minimizing Legal Risks in the Design, Implementation and Administration of Employee Benefit Plans”
I can't even recall how many times I have written - on this blog and elsewhere - on what I call "defensive plan building," which is the idea that plans should be designed, built out and operated with the risk of litigation and liability exposure carefully considered...
Federal Court Provides Test for Whether Severance Pay Policy is an ERISA Plan
In Okun v. Montefiore Medical Center, the Second Circuit Court of Appeals created a three-part test to determine whether a severance pay policy is an "employee welfare benefit plan" as defined in ERISA. Law. The Supreme Court established the standard for determining...
Final Revised SBC Regulations Issued
IRS and the Departments of Labor and Health and Human Services have issued final revised regulations that identify the standards for the Summary of Benefits and Coverage ("SBC") requirement under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act ("ACA"). Under the ACA,...
EPCRS’s Makeover
Plan sponsors must operate their plans in compliance with notoriously complex rules set forth in the Internal Revenue Code (IRC) none more so than those relating to automatic contribution and automatic escalation features in 401(k) plans. If an error is not corrected,...
DOL Releases New FMLA Forms
The U.S. Department of Labor ("DOL") has released updated Family and Medical Leave Act ("FMLA") forms. The new FMLA forms, which expire May 31, 2018, contain "safe harbor" language that tell persons providing medical information not to disclose any genetic...