News & Analysis as of September 21, 2024

Same-Sex Marriage › Employee Benefits

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Same-sex marriage refers to marriage between two individuals of the same sex. Historically, such marriages have not been legally recognized. However, there has been a growing trend to expand marriage rights to same-sex couples. The United States Supreme Court addressed aspects of this issue in Windsor v. United States and Hollingsworth v. Perry. less -

Pensions: what's new this week - 25 September 2023

A&O Shearman on 9/26/2023

Welcome to your weekly update from the Allen & Overy Pensions team, covering all the latest legal and regulatory developments in the world of workplace pensions. This week we cover the following topics: PLSA updated...more

Respect for Marriage Act Reaffirms Protections for Same-Sex and Interracial Marriages

K&L Gates LLP on 12/27/2022

A recently enacted federal law serves as a reminder to employers to ensure their workplace policies and procedures, including those relating to employee benefits, should not discriminate on account of an employee’s marital...more

Passage of the Respect for Marriage Act Signals That Same-Sex Marriage Will Remain the Law of the Land

Baker Donelson on 12/13/2022

The Respect for Marriage Act (RFMA) was initially introduced this summer in reaction to the Supreme Court's overturn of Roe v. Wade in Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization. Lawmakers were concerned that same-sex...more

I Wanna Know What Love Is . . . and When to Provide Domestic Partner Benefits

Holland & Hart - The Benefits Dial on 10/5/2022

When the Supreme Court legalized same-sex marriages back in 2015, the IRS clarified that two people are legally married under federal law when they also are legally married under their state’s law. Because of this...more

Hong Kong Court of Final Appeal Expands Spousal Benefits Rights for Same-Sex Couples

Fisher Phillips on 7/10/2019

Following the conclusion of Pride Month, it seems only fitting to address a relevant outcome in the cross-border context, which also has an impact on global employers and their employee benefits offerings. In, Leung Chun...more

Civil servant wins final appeal over benefits to husband in victory for Hong Kong's LGBT+ community

Hogan Lovells on 6/10/2019

Hong Kong's Court of Final Appeal (CFA) has ruled in favor of a senior immigration officer in his battle to have his marriage to British citizen officially recognized. ...more

A Review of the Supreme Court’s 2017-2018 Term

Franczek P.C. on 7/16/2018

The United States Supreme Court concluded its 2017-2018 term with a bang, issuing decisions in several highly publicized cases impacting labor and employment, including Epic Systems Corp. v. Lewis and Janus v. AFSCME. This...more

Retired Teacher’s Same-Sex Spouse Entitled to Retirement Benefits

Fisher Phillips on 3/28/2018

Last Month, in Gateway Sch. Dist. V. Gateway Educ. Ass’n, 783 C.D. 2017 (Pa. Commw. Ct. Feb. 28, 2018), a Pennsylvania court affirmed an arbitration decision holding that a retired teacher could add his same-sex spouse to his...more

Religious Institutions Update: January 2018 - Lex Est Sanctio Sancta

Holland & Knight LLP on 1/29/2018

Timely Topics - By Shannon B. Hartsfield - The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) announced on Jan. 18, 2018, the creation of a new division within its Office for Civil Rights (OCR). OCR is described as...more

SCOTUS Declines To Address Texas Supreme Court Ruling Limiting Reach of Obergefell

Seyfarth Shaw LLP on 12/5/2017

Seyfarth Synopsis: The Supreme Court announced that it would not hear an appeal from the City of Houston in a case challenging the city’s ability to offer spousal benefits to same-sex spouses of municipal employees. By...more

Pensions in Dispute

A&O Shearman on 8/23/2017

The Court of Appeal has ruled on two long-running disputes about the ability of an employer to change pension benefits for future service (for example by closing a scheme to future accrual and/or capping pensionable pay). The...more

Same-sex survivors' pensions - exemption for pre-2005 service invalid

Hogan Lovells on 7/26/2017

The Supreme Court in Walker v Innospec Limited, overturning the Court of Appeal, has decided that the exemption for service prior to December 2005 from the requirement for occupational pension schemes to give survivors'...more

City of Houston’s Provision of Benefits to Same-Sex Spouses of City Employees Intact Pending Further Judicial Review

Locke Lord LLP on 7/17/2017

A 2013 change in the City of Houston’s employee benefits policy to extend benefits to the same-sex spouses of City employees, intended to align the City’s policy with what its legal counsel determined was a federal...more

Texas Supreme Court Disputes Reach of Obergefell in Employee Benefits Case

Seyfarth Shaw LLP on 7/10/2017

Seyfarth Synopsis: The Texas Supreme Court held that the U.S. Supreme Court’s landmark marriage equality decision, Obergefell v. Hodges, did not dispositively address how far government employers must go in providing benefits...more

Retired Teacher Awarded Post-Retirement Benefits For Same-Sex Spouse

Tucker Arensberg, P.C. on 1/30/2017

In Re: Souderton Area Education Association and Souderton Area School District, Arbitration Award of August 7, 2016 (Arbitrator Joan Parker). Under Pennsylvania law a teacher was not able to legally marry her same-sex spouse...more

Married, but Without Benefits: The Obergefell Saga Continues in Texas

Ogletree, Deakins, Nash, Smoak & Stewart,... on 1/25/2017

Same-sex couples can legally marry, but are they legally entitled to benefits? The Supreme Court of Texas will decide this issue after hearing oral arguments in March of 2017 in Pidgeon v. Turner. ...more

The Election is Over, Now What?

Bradley Arant Boult Cummings LLP on 11/22/2016

Now that the election is over, many clients and friends are asking what labor and employment law might look like under the soon to be President Trump. Of course, no one can predict exactly what will happen in the coming term....more

Religious Institutions Update: October 2016

Holland & Knight LLP on 10/27/2016

Timely Topics - The final rule implementing Section 1557 of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA) was issued by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Office for Civil Rights (OCR) on May...more

IRS Guidance on Employee Benefits Implications of Supreme Court Obergefell Decision on Same-Sex Marriage

McDermott Will & Emery on 1/26/2016

The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) recently issued Notice 2015-86, which provides some additional clarification, in the form of questions and answers, on the treatment of same-sex spouses under tax-qualified retirement plans...more

IRS Issues Guidance on Application of Obergefell Decision to Benefit Plans

McGuireWoods LLP on 12/14/2015

This past June, the United States Supreme Court held in Obergefell v. Hodges, 576 U.S. ___, 135 S.Ct. 2584 (2015), that the Fourteenth Amendment (i) requires a state’s civil marriage laws to apply to same-sex couples on the...more

Avoiding Discrimination Claims After Obergefell

Bradley Arant Boult Cummings LLP on 11/4/2015

In June 2015, the Supreme Court of the United States issued its long-awaited opinion in Obergefell v. Hodges, striking down bans on same-sex marriage as unconstitutional and legalizing same-sex marriage in every state (135 S....more

Treasury and the IRS Issue Proposed Regulations Implementing Supreme Court Same-Sex Marriage Ruling

Franczek P.C. on 10/29/2015

In recent guidance, the Department of Treasury and the IRS issued proposed rules that clarify under the Internal Revenue Code (Code) that the terms “spouse” and “husband” and “wife” refer to individuals who are lawfully...more

Employment Matters Newsletter, Fall 2015

JAMS on 10/28/2015

With Experimental Benefits Come Additional Legal Considerations - Corporate experimentation, combined with innovative employment practices designed to promote more flexible work environments, may be transformative. These...more

Same-Sex Marriage is Legal – Are Your Employee Benefit Plans Up to Date?

Locke Lord LLP on 10/13/2015

What is the Supreme Court’s holding in Obergefell v. Hodges? LB: The U.S. Supreme Court ruled that all states must license a marriage between two people of the same sex and all states must recognize a lawful same-sex...more

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Same-Sex Marriage › Employee Benefits

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