Employee Benefits Archives | Page 48 of 152

Department of Labor Exemption Impacts Investment Advice Fiduciaries

by Jennifer Hill, Todd Solomon and Brian Tiemann | Jul 21, 2021 | Employee Benefits, Fiduciary and Investment Issues, Retirement Plans

The US Department of Labor (DOL) recently issued guidance concerning a new exemption under the prohibited transaction provisions of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA) in connection with the provision of investment advice. PTE 2020-02, Improving Investment Advice for Workers & Retirees (the Exemption), became effective on February 16, 2021. On April 13, 2021, the DOL issued additional guidance, in FAQ format, to further explain the Exemption.

In this article, McDermott’s Jennifer D. Hill, Todd A. Solomon and Brian J. Tiemann explain the significance of this new guidance.

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Drug Prices Are Prime Target in Biden’s Competition Order

by Emily J. Cook | Jul 14, 2021 | Employee Benefits, Health and Welfare Plans

President Biden’s July 9, 2021, Executive Order—which seeks to increase competition throughout the American economy—takes aim at prescription drug prices. In this article, published in Law360, McDermott partner Emily Jane Cook says Biden’s focus on drug prices is unsurprising given the “significant public interest and frustration” with drug costs.

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How to Handle an Influx of HR Accommodation Requests

by Laurie Baddon | Jul 8, 2021 | Employee Benefits, Employment

As employees begin to return to their offices, human resource teams are being inundated with accommodation requests. The reasons behind these requests include:

Concerns about COVID-19 exposure;
Convenience of working from home;
Lack of child care options and costs of care; and
Weariness of daily commute.

McDermott’s Laurie Baddon says in an article published in SHRM that employers should share their policies with their workforces well in advance to give HR and legal teams time to process and assess accommodation requests.

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COVID-19 Vaccine Q&A

by Joseph K. Mulherin, Kathleen Quinn, Troy Van Dongen and McDermott Will & Schulte | Jul 7, 2021 | Employee Benefits, Employment, Health and Welfare Plans

Can employers mandate some employees get the vaccine and not others? Is there an obligation to consider requiring a COVID-19 test before coming back to work? What are the potential workers’ compensation claims relating to possible adverse reactions to a vaccine? Should employers mandate vaccinations?

In this article, McDermott partners Carole Spink, Joseph Mulherin, Kathleen Quinn and Troy Van Dongen answer common employer questions about the COVID-19 vaccine.

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Ruling Gives Ammunition in Fights Over Health Insurer Clawbacks

by McDermott Will & Schulte | Jul 1, 2021 | Employee Benefits, Fiduciary and Investment Issues, Health and Welfare Plans

A recent ruling from a New Jersey federal district court gives ammunition to providers fighting to stop insurers from engaging in cross-plan offsetting, a common billing practice where health insurers attempt to claw back overpaid claim money from one patient by withholding payment from another patient in a different health plan.

The ruling—which found that the practice violates the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA)—could lead to more lawsuits and changes to plan documents. McDermott partner Judith Wethall said in a recent Bloomberg Law article the ruling was more significant than the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit’s 2019 ruling in Peterson v. UnitedHealth Group, Inc.

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Global Employment Law Update

by Lindsay Ditlow, Michael J. Sheehan and Mark Meredith | Jun 30, 2021 | Benefit Controversies, Employee Benefits, Employment, Fiduciary and Investment Issues, Health and Welfare Plans, Labor, Privacy and Data Security, Retirement Plans

Employment law continues to evolve, and it can be a challenge amid an ever-changing landscape of local employment laws for human resources executives and employment counsel at multinational businesses to maintain a consistent global corporate culture.

McDermott’s Global Employment Law Update brings you the key highlights from across Asia, Africa, Europe, Latin and North America. Developed in collaboration with peer firms operating in more than 50 countries, this resource guide contains summaries of the laws and significant court decisions that impacted employers and employees all over the world. It includes:

COVID-19 legislative updates
Remote work and telecommuting policies
Data privacy protections
Minimum wage and salary compensation updates
Changes to labor protection laws
Sexual harassment modifications

Access the report.

Employers and Artificial Intelligence: Six Pitfalls to Watch Out For

by Brian Mead | Jun 22, 2021 | Employee Benefits, Employment

As governments lift COVID-19 pandemic restrictions, employers are turning to artificial intelligence tools to accelerate their hiring processes.

However, these AI-based tools can open businesses up to discrimination claims if they are not careful, according to McDermott partner Brian Mead.

“[The technology] could decide that certain words [are] unlikely to [yield] successful candidates, and then it’s prescreening out members of protected classes and categories of applicants in a discriminatory way,” Mead said in a recent Law360 article.

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Business Leaders Must Confront the Corporate Impact of the CDC Mask Controversy

by Michael W. Peregrine | Jun 17, 2021 | Employee Benefits, Employment, Health and Welfare Plans

When the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) relaxed its mask guidance in May, the news caught many people—especially corporate America—off guard.

In this Forbes article, McDermott partner Michael W. Peregrine argues that companies need to provide stakeholders with clear health and safety messaging in light of mandates from state and local governments.

“Companies can ill-afford to drift in the wind of confusion and controversy, and they can’t be blindsided by further guidance change should there be an increase in reported cases or should variants, like those first found in India, surface in the United States,” Peregrine writes.

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Hoping to Keep Working Remotely? Here’s How to Convince Your Boss

by Michelle S. Strowhiro | Jun 15, 2021 | Employee Benefits, Employment

As more businesses reopen in the wake of COVID-19, many employees are seeking to continue their remote work arrangements indefinitely.

In this Los Angeles Times article, McDermott partner Michelle S. Strowhiro suggests employees share their wishes with their employer sooner instead of later.

“Now is the time to help shape those policies,” Strowhiro notes.

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Six Ways to Improve Employers’ Anti-Harrassment Training

by Maria C. Rodriguez | Jun 10, 2021 | Employee Benefits, Employment

The telework explosion ushered in by the COVID-19 pandemic has created new opportunities—and challenges—for employers’ workplace sexual harassments trainings.

In this Law360 article, McDermott partner Maria C. Rodriguez argues that the benefits of virtual and in-person trainings are easy to identify when they’re done right.

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