Employee Benefits

The Employer Shared Responsibility Provisions (commonly known as the “employer mandate”) under the Affordable Care Act (ACA) require covered large employers to pay an assessment under the Internal Revenue Code if they fail to offer health coverage to their full-time employees that meets certain standards. Those standards include a requirement that the coverage be affordable for full-time employees.… Continue Reading

Tuesday, July 26, 2022, 12:00 – 1:30 PM ET

The recent Supreme Court decision overturning Roe v. Wade and state laws banning abortion in the wake of the decision have raised significant employee benefit and other issues for employers. This webinar will address measures that employers are considering and implementing in response to these developments, and the legal and practical issues they present.… Continue Reading

On June 9, 2022, the Philadelphia City Council passed an ordinance that would require covered employers to make available to eligible employees a commuter transit benefit program. The bill is currently awaiting the Mayor’s signature, which many expect will occur shortly.  To read more about this development, please see our Alert on this development.… Continue Reading

This week, in Hughes et al. v. Northwestern University et al., the U.S. Supreme Court held that the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) imposes a duty of prudence on fiduciaries that includes a continuing duty to monitor investments and remove imprudent investments in a reasonable time. The defined contribution plans at issue each allowed participants to choose their individual investment mix from a menu of options selected by the plan administrators.… Continue Reading

On September 7, the House Ways and Means Committee released bill text that includes a new national, universal paid medical and family leave plan. This bill represents just one portion of the expected $3.5 trillion social spending bill that will advance President Biden’s legislative agenda.

The bill is extensive, but employers should be particularly aware of the following provisions:

  • Beginning in July 2023, the bill provides up to 12 weeks of federal benefits to replace lost wages due to time off for medical leave or caregiving for an ill family member.
… Continue Reading

As previously reported here, under the American Rescue Plan Act, certain employers have until May 31, 2021 to notify eligible individuals of their potential right to subsidized COBRA coverage. Eligible individuals are those who lost group health plan coverage due to a reduction of hours or an involuntary termination of employment and who are still within the possible maximum COBRA coverage period, even if they never elected COBRA or initially elected it and let it lapse.… Continue Reading

The whirl of changes in employee benefits rules that have resulted from the pandemic include the temporary opportunity for employees to carry over unused amounts contributed to a dependent care flexible spending account from one year to another. The IRS has issued a new notice on these rules that clarifies how these rules apply in view of the increase in the maximum limit on dependent care assistance for 2021 to $10,500.… Continue Reading

On May 18, the IRS released Notice 2021-31. The notice contains detailed guidance on subsidies employers must provide COBRA beneficiaries pursuant to the American Rescue Plan Act (“ARP”), and uses a Q&A format to illustrate several specific examples and potential issues regarding the subsidies. For employers, one of the many issues of interest addressed in this notice is the determination of which employee departures qualify as involuntary terminations triggering COBRA assistance.… Continue Reading

Employers with employee health plans subject to the Affordable Care Act (ACA) should take note that, earlier this week, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) announced that its Office for Civil Rights (OCR) will begin enforcing Section 1557 of ACA to prohibit discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity.… Continue Reading

As previously reported here, the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 (ARP) was passed and signed into law on March 11, 2021, and had significant and immediate impacts on employee benefit plans, employers, and other plan sponsors and plan administrators. Last week, the United States Department of Labor issued guidance about the new COBRA subsidy rules under the ARP, but some significant questions remain unanswered.… Continue Reading