As the pandemic continues to scar wide portions of our society, a number of employees have expressed to their employers an interest in donating their own PTO to help co-workers and community members adversely impacted by...more
7/17/2020
/ Charitable Organizations ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Infectious Diseases ,
IRS ,
Paid Time Off (PTO) ,
Revenue Rulings ,
Sick Leave ,
Tax Deductions ,
Wage and Hour ,
Workplace Safety
A second round of FAQs recently issued by the Labor Department, the IRS, and the Department of Health and Human Services provides plan sponsors and insurers with additional implementation guidance relating to health coverage...more
7/13/2020
/ CARES Act ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Cost-Sharing ,
Employee Benefits ,
Families First Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRA) ,
Health Care Providers ,
Health Insurance ,
Health Plan Sponsors ,
New Guidance ,
Notification Requirements ,
Telehealth ,
Virus Testing ,
Wellness Programs
Mayor Breed just announced a plan to allow employees in San Francisco to now use funds their employers have contributed in compliance with San Francisco’s Health Care Security Ordinance for necessary expenses such as food,...more
California's Unemployment Insurance (UI) program pays benefits to individuals who have become unemployed or partially unemployed and who meet the program's eligibility requirements. The eligibility requirements include that...more
Businesses struggling with the economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic crisis received good news late last night when the Senate passed an unprecedented piece of legislation aimed at providing a massive stimulus to...more
3/31/2020
/ CARES Act ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Employee Benefits ,
Employee Retention ,
Federal Labor Laws ,
Paid Leave ,
Payroll Taxes ,
Small Business ,
Small Business Loans ,
Tax Credits ,
Unemployment Benefits ,
Unemployment Insurance ,
Wage and Hour
In an apparent effort to ease some of the anxieties surrounding the impact of the Families First Coronavirus Response Act on employers, the Department of Treasury, IRS, and Department of Labor issued a press release on...more
The Senate passed the Families First Coronavirus Response Act today, an economic stimulus plan aimed at addressing the impact of the COVID-19 outbreak on Americans and introducing paid sick leave and an expanded family and...more
3/18/2020
/ Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Employee Benefits ,
Families First Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRA) ,
Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) ,
Health and Safety ,
Infectious Diseases ,
Medical Testing ,
New Legislation ,
Paid Leave ,
Paid Sick Leave Act ,
Paid Time Off (PTO) ,
Public Health ,
Sick Leave ,
Tax Credits ,
Trump Administration ,
Unemployment Insurance ,
Wage and Hour ,
Workplace Safety
In a unanimous decision, the Supreme Court just declined to limit the timeframe in which disgruntled employees could bring suit challenging the investment decisions made by plan fiduciaries. While the Employee Retirement...more
2/28/2020
/ Actual or Constructive Knowledge ,
Appeals ,
Breach of Duty ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) ,
Fiduciary Duty ,
Intel Corp. Investment Policy Committee v. Sulyma ,
Material Disclosures ,
Question of Fact ,
Reaffirmation ,
Retirement Plan ,
Retirement Plan Beneficiaries ,
Reversal ,
SCOTUS ,
Split of Authority ,
Statute of Limitations ,
Summary Judgment
Health Reimbursement Arrangements (HRAs) are account-based health plans funded with employer contributions to reimburse eligible participants and dependents for medical expenses. Prior to the Affordable Care Act, HRAs were...more
9/13/2019
/ Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Employee Benefits ,
Employer Contributions ,
Employer Group Health Plans ,
Health Insurance ,
HRA ,
New Regulations ,
Notice Requirements ,
Opt-Outs ,
Reimbursements ,
Tax Credits ,
U.S. Treasury
Employers are about to enter into limbo when it comes to maintaining wellness programs, and you will soon need to make a decision about how you will implement any such programs at your workplace. As of January 1, 2019, the...more
As free meals have become the norm at technology companies, an unexpected byproduct of such a perk is the decreasing customer base for local restaurants. In an attempt to thwart this trend, Mountain View and San Francisco...more
As you may recall, a previous article recently published in the Benefits Update newsletter reviewed the letters that employers were beginning to receive regarding potential liability for employer shared responsibility...more
Every year, the IRS announces the annual limits for various types of employee benefits, such as Health Savings Accounts (HSAs). The IRS has already changed the 2018 annual limits for HSAs twice this year, which may have...more
6/12/2018
/ Contribution Limits ,
Employee Benefits ,
Excise Tax ,
HDHP ,
Health Insurance ,
Health Savings Accounts ,
Income Taxes ,
IRS ,
Medical Expenses ,
Revenue Procedures ,
Tax Planning
As health care costs increase, employers have been exploring new types of health coverage options, one of which is reference-based pricing (RBP). This method typically does not involve a traditional insurance carrier or...more
Late last year, Congress passed the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (the “Act”) and it was quickly signed by the President. The Act seeks to reform the current tax system and contains numerous provisions that may be significant to...more
3/12/2018
/ Affordable Care Act ,
Compensation & Benefits ,
Disaster Aid ,
Employee Relocations ,
Equity Grants ,
Excise Tax ,
Fringe Benefits ,
Health Insurance ,
Incentive Awards ,
Income Taxes ,
Individual Mandate ,
IRA Rollovers ,
IRS ,
Publicly-Traded Companies ,
Qualified Restricted Stock Units (RSUs) ,
Retirement Plan ,
Roth IRA ,
Tax Cuts and Jobs Act ,
Tax Deductions ,
Tax Exempt Entities ,
Tax Exemptions ,
Tax Reform ,
Trump Administration ,
Wage and Hour
After multiple failed attempts by Congress to reform the Affordable Care Act (ACA), President Trump announced several weeks ago that the federal government would stop making subsidy payments to insurers who sell coverage...more
12/1/2017
/ Affordable Care Act ,
Association Health Plans ,
Bipartisan Agreement ,
Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Electronic Filing ,
Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) ,
Employer Group Health Plans ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Executive Orders ,
Health Insurance ,
Healthcare Costs ,
Healthcare Reform ,
Income Taxes ,
IRS ,
MEWAs ,
Minimum Essential Coverage ,
Preliminary Injunctions ,
Premium Subsidies ,
Qualified Small Employer Health Reimbursement Plan (QSEHRAs) ,
Reporting Requirements ,
Small Employers ,
Subsidies ,
Tax Returns ,
Trump Administration
You may recall that President Trump signed an executive order on the day of his inauguration directing all agencies to minimize the economic burden of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) pending its repeal. You may recall also that...more
9/13/2017
/ Affordable Care Act ,
Employer Group Health Plans ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employer Mandates ,
Executive Orders ,
Full-Time Employees ,
Health Insurance ,
IRS ,
Penalties ,
Repeal ,
Shared Responsibility Rule ,
Trump Administration
Retirement plans are permitted, but not required, to provide in-service distributions of elective deferrals to participants if they can show financial hardship, which is defined as a hardship that is “deemed to be on account...more
One of the hottest benefit trends in 2017 is the adoption of free or low-cost “telemedicine” programs to provide employees easy and affordable access to medical care. However, you need to proceed with caution when introducing...more
6/2/2017
/ Affordable Care Act ,
COBRA ,
EAP ,
Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) ,
Employer Group Health Plans ,
Excise Tax ,
HDHP ,
Health Insurance ,
Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) ,
Health Savings Accounts ,
HSA ,
Telemedicine
Until very recently, employers were at risk of receiving steep fines if they reimbursed employees for non-employer sponsored medical care – the Affordable Care Act (ACA) included fines of up to $36,500 a year per employee for...more
3/6/2017
/ 21st Century Cures Act ,
Affordable Care Act ,
COBRA ,
Employee Benefits ,
Employer Group Health Plans ,
Health Insurance ,
Medical Reimbursement Plans ,
Minimum Essential Coverage ,
Qualified Small Employer Health Reimbursement Plan (QSEHRAs) ,
State Health Insurance Exchanges ,
Tax-Free Transfers
Administering and providing retirement benefits can present difficulties to employers. If you offer such benefits, you must choose and monitor service providers, offer prudent investment options, and administer benefits,...more
Earlier this year, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and the Office of Civil Rights (OCR) published a final rule to implement Section 1557 of the Affordable Care Act (ACA). Most prominently, this rule...more
In September 2016, the California legislature amended the California Secure Choice Savings Trust Act of 2012 (“Secure Choice”). This law will eventually require employers with at least five employees, and which do not offer...more
As the end of the calendar year approaches, so does the fiscal year or “plan year” for many employee benefit plans. Between complying with continuing annual deadlines while integrating new rules and regulations, employers...more
A number of employers have reported troublesome Social Security Number (SSN) issues cropping up when filing Affordable Care Act (ACA) notices with the IRS. Many have received “AIRTN500” error messages, which indicate...more