Before employers implement their proposed workforce changes resulting from the finalization of the new overtime rule, released September 24, 2019, see our article for more information, employers should consider what impact those proposed workforce changes may have on their employee benefit plans. Employee benefit plans with criteria for eligibility, contribution, etc. based on the classification of salary/hourly or exempt/non-exempt may see participant shifts, e.g., a currently exempt employee, participating in the salary only retirement and…

Penalties and fines for non-compliance with Washington, D.C.’s law requiring D.C. employers to offer commuter benefits to their D.C. employees will take effect beginning on November 14, 2019.  The law, which became effective on January 1, 2016, requires employers with at least 20 employees in D.C. to offer commuter benefits to their covered employees.  Please see our in-depth article for a full discussion of the law’s requirements.…

On September 23, 2019, the Treasury Department and IRS published final regulations for hardship distributions from both 401(k) and 403(b) plans (the “Final Regulations”).  Essentially the hardship distributions changes relax the hardship distribution requirements (i.e., making it easier for participants to obtain hardship distributions) and eliminate many burdens following a hardship distribution (i.e., allowing participants the flexibility to contribute to their retirement plan account shortly after obtaining a hardship distribution). The Final Regulations respond to…

Can you imagine something as simple as a COBRA Notice missing a few technical requirements resulting in an employer needing to pay a 6 or 7-digit damages award?  That is happening in Florida.  Employers in and out of Florida should pay attention to this news, as what doesn’t start in California often starts in Florida. There have been a flurry of cases in Florida over the past year.  In these cases, a COBRA notice is…

The Department of Labor recently issued a fact sheet intended to help employers understand their retirement plan obligations under the Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act of 1994 (“USERRA”).  The law provides that eligible employees that return to employment following qualified military service must be treated as though their military service was not a break in service for purposes of participation, vesting and benefit accrual under their employer’s retirement plan.[1] Among other things,…

As imagined by plan sponsors of closed defined benefit pension plans, the IRS issued Notice 201-49, the fifth extension for an additional year of the temporary nondiscrimination relief for “closed” defined benefit pension plans originally announced by the IRS during 2014.  The extended relief applies to plan years beginning before 2021 for those “closed” plans that satisfy certain conditions in Notice 2014-5.  The relief for “closed” defined benefit plans refers to those defined benefit plans…

Many employers have contacted us over the years asking whether they may offer an “employer–payment plan” rather than offer a traditional group health insurance plan.  An employer-payment plan is a type of account-based plan that provides an employee reimbursement for all or a portion of the premium expense for individual health insurance coverage or other non-employer hospital or medical insurance.  Until now, the answer has generally been no.  But beginning in 2020, subject to the…