Administrators of 401(k) plans and other ERISA-covered retirement plans now have much greater freedom to electronically distribute required plan documents to participants, beneficiaries and other individuals, under final rules recently issued by the U.S. Department of Labor.  Whether employers choose to migrate to a new electronic delivery system at this point in time remains to be seen. Effective July 27, 2020, for the first time ever, employers and plan administrators are permitted to set and…

On July 8, 2020, the United States Supreme Court (“SCOTUS”) held in a 7-2 decision that employers may exclude birth control from their health care plans if they have moral or religious oppositions to contraception. This decision upheld the Trump Administration’s November 2018 final rules which provide exceptions to the Affordable Care Act (“ACA”) mandate requiring covered employers to provide women with contraceptive coverage with no cost sharing. By way of background, the final rules…

On Monday, June 15, 2020, the United States Supreme Court held that Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (“Title VII”) prohibits employers from discharging or taking other adverse action against an employee because the employee is gay or transgender. This is a landmark decision as more than half the states did not recognize such protections. At the outset of its opinion, the Court’s majority stated, “an employer who fires an individual for…

As a result of the COVID-19 crisis, the Connecticut Commission for Human Rights and Opportunities (“CHRO”) has announced it will provide extensions of time for certain deadlines for COVID-19 related reasons. Sexual Harassment Training The CHRO posted on its website that it will consider a 90-day extension of the deadline for employers to provide sexual harassment training to new employees hired on or after October 1, 2019. We confirmed with the CHRO that this extension…

What is the program? The Shared Work Program is administered by the Connecticut Department of Labor (“CTDOL”). It is designed to save jobs and retain workers by offering an alternative to layoffs. It allows employers to temporarily reduce an employee’s hours and supplement lost wages with partial unemployment benefits. What are the requirements? Employers must have at least two permanent part or full-time employees. Participation should be in lieu of layoffs and not used for…

As the Coronavirus continues to spread nationwide, we recognize that health care providers and other organizations (“Organizations”) are dealing with the virus on the “front lines.” We have provided the following advice for the many growing concerns surrounding your Organizations. Privacy Considerations for Health Care Providers Organizations need to ensure that they continue to observe legal and ethical obligations with respect to the privacy of patients, colleagues and employees including, but not limited to, their…

Last night, Governor Lamont issued Executive Order 7H which requires all non-essential businesses to reduce their in-person workforce by 100% on or before 8pm on Monday, March 23, 2020 through April 22, 2020, unless the Order is subsequently modified. Executive Order 7H specifically states that businesses must, to the maximum extent safely possible, use telecommuting and work-from-home practices. Executive Order 7H designates that essential businesses are not subject to the in-person workforce reduction. Such essential…