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The Affordable Care Act—Countdown to Compliance for Employers, Week 28: The Logic, Calculus, and Limits of “Skinny” Plans

June 16, 2014 | Blog

It was just over a year ago that the Wall Street Journal published an article entitled, “Employers Eye Bare-Bones Health Plans Under New Law,” which highlighted a compliance strategy to minimize employer exposure for assessable payments under the employer shared responsibility provisions of the Affordable Care Act (the “Act”)
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California Employers Catch One of Those Rare Wage and Hour Class Action Breaks From the California Supreme Court

June 11, 2014 | Blog

Sometimes California employers do get a win when battling in the minefield of California’s wage and hour laws. So California employers, please pause to rejoice in this moment because you know you may not get another one for a while.
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Questions You Should Be Asking About Employment Practices Liability (EPL) Insurance

June 10, 2014 | Blog

Every firm has employees, as well as individuals that it has “failed” to hire, or promote, or recognize and reward to the extent that the individuals believes befitting. This is what makes it difficult to completely avoid employment disputes and possible litigation.
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Dangers of Misclassifying an Employee as an Independent Contractor Highlighted Once Again in New York Appellate Court Decision

June 10, 2014 | Blog

The issue of employee misclassification was once again on display, this time in Nance v. NYP Holdings, where a New York appellate court affirmed an earlier finding that the New York Post failed to classify one of its photojournalists properly.
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The Affordable Care Act—Countdown to Compliance for Employers, Week 29: Wellness Programs, Smoking Cessation and e-Cigarettes

June 9, 2014 | Blog

The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA) generally prohibits discrimination in eligibility, benefits, or premiums based on a health factor, except in the case of certain wellness programs. Final regulations issued in 2006 established rules implementing these nondiscrimination and wellness provisions.
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EEOC Will Release Enforcement Guidance Addressing an Employer’s Obligation to Reasonably Accommodate Pregnant Workers; Employers Should Continue to Pay Careful Attention to These Accommodation Requests

June 9, 2014 | Blog

The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission – the agency responsible for enforcing most of the federal discrimination laws – is preparing to issue new guidance addressing an employer’s obligation to reasonably accommodate pregnant workers. Will the guidance offer a new interpretation of the law or just cement what we already know?
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Minimum Wage Groundswell? Seattle, Others Raise Their Statutory Minimum Wage Rates

June 3, 2014 | Blog

It’s official.  The Seattle City Council has voted to raise Seattle’s minimum wage to $15 per hour by 2021.  Is this the sign of groundswell?
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IRS Begins Audit of Deferred Compensation Plans Subject to Section 409A

June 2, 2014 | Blog

The IRS announced at recent bar association meeting that it is commencing a formal compliance initiative program (CIP) of selected employers and their deferred compensation arrangements that are subject to Section 409A of the Internal Revenue Code.
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The Affordable Care Act—Countdown to Compliance for Employers, Week 30: The IRS Tells Us that Employer Payment Plans (Really, Really, Really) Don’t Work

June 2, 2014 | Blog

The IRS recently issued two Q&As on the subject of employer payment plans, the purpose of which was to again underscore that arrangements purporting to allow an employer to reimburse employees on a pre-tax basis
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Waivers of Age Discrimination Claims in Reduction in Force Cases Continue to Face Intense Scrutiny

May 29, 2014 | Blog

A Federal court in Colorado recently permitted a former employee to advance an age discrimination claim despite his prior execution of a severance and release agreement after his employment ended in connection with a reduction in force.
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Employees Need Not Identify Specific Law, Rule or Regulation Violation in Pleading Retaliation Claim Under New York’s Whistleblower Statute

May 28, 2014 | Blog

Earlier this month, in Webb-Weber v. Community Action for Human Services, Inc., New York’s highest court overruled several appellate court cases in holding that an employee need not identify the specific law, rule or regulation allegedly violated by his or her employer in pleading a retaliation claim under New York’s whistleblower statute.
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The Affordable Care Act—Countdown to Compliance for Employers, Week 31: ERISA Section 510 and Limiting Employee Hours

May 27, 2014 | Blog

In last week’s post, we examined the appropriateness of capping the annual hours of new “variable hour employees” as a way to limit exposure under the Affordable Care Act’s employer shared responsibility rules. (These rules are codified at Internal Revenue Code § 4980H and implemented in final regulations issued in February of this year.
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Congress Poised to Pass the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act; Modernize the Nation’s Workforce Development Program

May 23, 2014 | Blog

Wait, are parties from both sides of the congressional aisle finally coming together to pass an employment-related law? It appears that way.
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School is Almost Out and Summer Interns are (Still) In

May 23, 2014 | Blog

With the Memorial Day weekend approaching, many people are looking forward to hitting the beach, firing up the grill and polishing off their golf clubs, which are, for many Northeasterners, covered in cobwebs after this long winter. For employers, summer often means the arrival of (potentially unpaid) interns.
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EEOC Invites Public to Comment on Regulations Aimed at Clarifying what it Means to be a “Model Employer” of Individuals with Disabilities

May 20, 2014 | Blog

The EEOC recently invited public input on potential revisions to the regulations implementing Section 501 of the Rehabilitation Act, which governs the federal government’s employment of individuals with disabilities.
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Pennsylvania Court Refuses to Enforce Non-Competition Agreement; Holds that Continued Employment Alone is Insufficient Consideration; What Does Your Jurisdiction Say on this Issue?

May 20, 2014 | Blog

Most jurisdictions in the United States hold that continued employment constitutes sufficient consideration in exchange for entering into a non-competition agreement.
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Cyber Risks for the Boardroom: A Five-Part Series on what Directors Need to Know

May 19, 2014 | Blog

Our sister blog, Privacy and Security Matters, has recently published a terrific series of blog posts on cybersecurity for the boardroom.
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The Affordable Care Act—Countdown to Compliance for Employers, Week 32: Why Capping Annual Hours at 1560 Does Not Work

May 19, 2014 | Blog

Whenever Congress draws a line in the sand—such as with exposure for assessable payments under the Affordable Care Act’s employer shared responsibly rules—entities subject to regulation (here, applicable large employers) will inevitably seek ways to avoid having to comply. Also inevitably, some compliance strategies will be perfectly legitimate, while others will not.
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The Affordable Care Act—Countdown to Compliance for Employers, Week 33: The Impact of Value-Based–Plan Designs and Reference Pricing Models on Minimum Value

May 12, 2014 | Blog

Whether a group health plan provides minimum value is central to the application of the Affordable Care Act’s employer shared responsibility rules. The particulars of the role of minimum value in determining assessable payments due from applicable large employers are explained in detail in final regulations issued on February 12 of this year.
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Rollover Contributions: What Plan Administrators Need to Know

May 9, 2014 | Blog

Retirement plan administrators routinely receive requests from employees to accept rollover contributions of amounts held in a prior employer’s qualified plan or, in some cases, an IRA.
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