Navigating the Nuances of the COBRA Subsidy Under the American Rescue Plan Act
AGG Talks: Solving Employers’ Problems - The American Rescue Plan Act’s COBRA Subsidy: What Is It and How Does It Work?
COBRA Deadlines and Proofs of Mailing in Carter v. Southwest Airlines Co. Board of Trustees
Podcast: Employers and the American Rescue Plan - Employment Law This Week® - #WorkforceWednesday
How the American Rescue Plan Act Affects COBRA
#WorkforceWednesday: The American Rescue Plan, OSHA’s New COVID-19 Directive, and NY Mandates COVID-19 Vaccine PTO - Employment Law This Week®
PODCAST: Williams Mullen's Benefits Companion - DOL’s Guidance on Continued COVID-19 Timeframe Relief
Three Timely Benefits Items Everyone Should Know
COBRA: Avoid Getting Snakebit! (Notice Update, Deadline Update, Litigation Update)
PODCAST: Williams Mullen's Benefits Companion - COVID-19 Edition - Deadline Extensions Impacting HIPAA, COBRA and ERISA
Employers: Benefits Considerations Post-Pandemic [More with McGlinchey Ep. 3]
COVID-19 Impact for Health & Welfare Plans (Troutman Sanders and Pepper Hamilton COVID-19 Issues for Employers Podcast Series)
Has the Affordable Care Act influenced COBRA? What if my employer fails to offer COBRA?
Both companies and their C-suite executives should be mindful of the interactions between COBRA and Medicare and their implications when negotiating a severance or retirement arrangement. This is because Medicare enrollment...more
On Labor Day fifty years ago, September 2, 1974, President Ford signed the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA) into law. It is a combination of tax and labor law incorporating trust law like fiduciary...more
It is a common practice for employers to offer employees a health care flexible spending account (“Health FSA”) option under a cafeteria plan. However, employers (and their COBRA administrators) may not be aware that Health...more
When it comes to pre-tax savings for qualifying medical expenses, employers have several options available to offer employees. Two of the more popular options are health savings accounts (HSAs) and health reimbursement...more
When an employee is on an extended leave of absence, there is often confusion regarding whether and to what extent the employer must continue to provide coverage to the employee under the employer-provided health plan. To...more
Individual Coverage Health Reimbursement Arrangements (ICHRAs) have continued to grow in popularity since their inception in 2019 (see our article here summarizing the 2019 rule establishing ICHRAs). While initially it seemed...more
Employee benefits law is mostly drawn from two federal sources—the Internal Revenue Code and ERISA. Just what is “ERISA,” though? Its official reference is the “Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974.” That means the...more
To all those who work in the employee benefits arena, whether in legal, finance, benefits administration, payroll, tax, human resources, or many other disciplines, this is our annual reminder to celebrate the valuable and...more
No matter the size of your organization, at some point in time employees leave. As we noted previously, it behooves human resources and other departments to provide departing employees with an exit letter that includes...more
Though the employer shared responsibility provisions of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) do not apply to small employers (generally, employers with fewer than 50 full-time equivalent employees), many...more
As we edge into the second quarter of 2024, we continue to see a steady stream of layoff announcements — and employers are still feeling the fallout of pandemic-related hiring frenzies, unpredictable economic conditions, and...more
In the context of mergers and acquisitions, an acquisition target’s qualified retirement plans, health plans, executive compensation arrangements, and benefit programs (referred to collectively as “benefit programs”) can all...more
Fiduciary committees have long been established in connection with retirement plans to manage the investment, legal compliance, and operational risks that can arise under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974,...more
Manufacturers rely on consistent employee attendance to operate production lines and meet critical delivery deadlines to customers. The best-laid production plans can be disrupted by employee absences leaving a gap in the...more
We are pleased to present our annual End of Year Plan Sponsor “To Do” Lists. This year, we present our “To Do” Lists in four separate Employee Benefits Updates. This Part 1 covers year-end health and welfare plan issues....more
Regulators Hit Jackpot: Off-Channel Communications - Several years before announcing the first “off-channel” communications enforcement action, the SEC and FINRA cautioned broker-dealers and investment advisers about...more
Not many general counsels will tell you that their company’s COBRA notice is what keeps them up at night. But recent class action litigation highlights challenges to COBRA notices and issues that can be easily addressed to...more
The interaction between employer-provided retiree medical coverage and COBRA is complex. Many employers incorrectly assume they do not have to offer COBRA at retirement if they offer a retiree medical plan or a retiree health...more
In the past two weeks, we have presented a few items that plan sponsors can review in hopes of curbing common employee benefits and executive compensation errors. This week in our Employee Retirement Income Security Act of...more
Editor's Note: The last time we faced an impending government shutdown, our Government Contracts Group posted a blog regarding what contractors should do in the event of a shutdown. That post has been updated below...more
Since 2016, plaintiffs’ counsel have filed over 70 putative class actions, mostly against large plan sponsors, alleging deficiencies in election notice requirements as mandated under the Consolidated Omnibus Budget...more
Natural disasters such as wildfires in Maui, Hurricane Idalia, flooding in California, and excessive heat almost everywhere have taken a real human toll over the past few months. As the end of summer approaches, many...more
ERISA requires plan sponsors to distribute SPDs to inform participants of their benefits, rights, and obligations under the plan and describe how the plan operates. Department of Labor (DOL) regulations (available here)...more
Recent years have seen a barrage of class action lawsuits alleging that group health plan continuation coverage election notices, required under the Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act (COBRA), are deficient in one...more
As talk of an economic slowdown persists, so have the number of layoff an- nouncements hitting the news. While the last quarter of 2022 saw the technology and financial sectors lay off thousands of workers, in 2023, this...more