The Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI) fee was established under the Affordable Care Act (ACA) to advance comparative clinical effectiveness research. The PCORI fee is assessed on issuers of health insurance policies and sponsors of self-insured health plans. The fees are calculated using the average number of lives covered under the policy or plan, and the applicable dollar amount for that policy or plan year.
On September 17, 2015, McDermott hosted a webcast featuring, among others, four speakers from our own Employee Benefits, Compensation and Labor & Employment practice discussing the ramifications of the NLRB’s decision and the steps businesses should be taking to decrease risk associated with joint-employer relationships.
Click here to view the archived webinar (materials available here until December 17, 2015).
The English Court of Appeals ruled that UK court has jurisdiction over UK executive’s lawsuit involving a U.S.-based stock option plan, despite the stock option plan’s clear language requiring Massachusetts choice of law and jurisdiction. Multinational companies sponsoring broad-based employee plans should be on notice that non-EU exclusive jurisdiction clauses may not be enforceable against EU-based employees.
Effective for tax years beginning on or after January 1, 2018, an excise tax of 40 percent will be imposed on the cost of employer-sponsored health coverage that exceeds an annual limit. This tax is informally known as the “Cadillac Tax” and will impose a penalty on employers, health insurers and “persons who administer plan benefits” with regard to high-cost health care coverage.
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit recently addressed the notice requirement of the federal successor liability doctrine where withdrawal from a multiemployer pension plan occurred after a sale of assets.
“Massive terminations” occur in China when an employer terminates more than 20 employees or more than 10 percent of its total employees at one time. Even though there are no official statistics on massive terminations of employees in China, recent news reports indicates an increase based on overseas investment leaving China. This article provides an overview of some of the common characteristics of massive terminations and of the issues companies with Chinese employees should consider in implementing a massive termination.
Read the full China Law Alert.
On September 4, 2015, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit ruled in Fontaine v. Metropolitan Life Insurance Company that the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974, as amended (ERISA), does not preempt an Illinois state insurance regulation that prohibits discretionary authority clauses in health and disability plan insurance policies. The Seventh Circuit upheld the ruling of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, which decided that the Illinois regulation was not subject to preemption under precedent set forth in prior decisions by the Supreme Court of the United States.
In June 2015, the US Supreme Court ruled in Obergefell v. Hodges that same-sex couples may exercise the right to marry in all states and that states may not refuse to recognize a lawful same-sex marriage performed in another state based on the marriage’s same-sex character. Practical Law asked McDermott lawyers Todd Solomon and Jacob Mattinson to discuss the implications of the Obergefell ruling for employers.
Thursday, September 17, 2015
12:00 – 1:00 pm CDT
On Thursday, August 27, 2015, the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) issued a decision significantly expanding the definition of a joint employer. The decision has implications for most employers, both unionized and non-unionized. Joint-employer issues may affect businesses using contractors or staffing agencies; franchisers and franchisees; parent entities and subsidiaries; and private equity groups and their portfolio companies.
In addition to the NLRB’s decision, other federal agencies have signaled their interest in a broadened definition of what constitutes an employment relationship: the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission filed an amicus brief in the NLRB litigation urging a broader joint-employer standard, and the Wage and Hour Division of the U.S. Department of Labor recently issued guidelines with a sweeping definition of employee status. These changes may also have implications for the Affordable Care Act compliance and qualified benefit plans.
Please join us for a one-hour webcast to discuss the ramifications of the NLRB’s decision and the steps businesses should be taking to decrease risk associated with joint-employer relationships.
Click here to view the event listing.
The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) recently issued two significant notices for employers that sponsor defined benefit pension plans, particularly those considering lump-sum windows as a “de-risking” option for their plans. In Notice 2015-49, the IRS notified plan sponsors that they are no longer permitted to offer retirees in pay status the option to take a lump-sum payment in lieu of ongoing annuity payments. Plan sponsors may, however, continue to offer a lump-sum payment option to deferred vested participants not in pay status. In Notice 2015-53, the IRS released updated mortality tables for 2016 and delayed the issuance of new regulations, which could incorporate new mortality assumptions recommended by the Society of Actuaries that many believe would increase pension funding liabilities and minimum lump-sum payments.
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