The availability of annuity options under defined contribution plans has increased in recent years due to the shift from defined benefit to defined contribution plans. The U.S. Department of Labor recently issued new guidance that clarifies the legal responsibilities for fiduciaries who select an annuity provider for a defined contribution plan.
As previously reported, California’s Healthy Workplaces, Healthy Families Act of 2014 (California’s Sick Leave Law) took full effect on July 1, 2015, although some provisions were effective as of January 1, 2015. The new law generally requires most employers to allow employees to accrue paid sick leave. This On the Subject discussed requirements employers must meet, including Assembly Bill 304, which amends California’s Sick Leave Law to make immediate changes.
In order to direct the ongoing reform of Chinese public hospitals, the Chinese central government recently issued the Guiding Opinions on Pilot Comprehensive Reform of Urban Public Hospitals, which highlight various strategies to replace the current profit-driven model, reduce patients’ medical expenditures, improve the current management system, establish appropriate remuneration mechanisms to motivate medical personnel, and optimize the distribution of medical resources.
Read the full article here.
Thursday, July 30, 2015
12:00 – 1:00 pm EDT
On June 26, 2015, the Supreme Court of the United States ruled in Obergefell v. Hodges that it is unconstitutional for a state to ban same-sex couples from exercising the fundamental right to marry. All states are now required to permit same-sex couples to marry and to recognize same-sex marriages validly entered into in other jurisdictions.
McDermott Will & Emery invites you to a live webcast to discuss the impact of this landmark decision on employee benefit plan sponsors and to address key considerations for employer-provided plans, including:
Click here to view the event listing.
On June 25, 2015, the Supreme Court of the United States ruled in King v. Burwell that the Affordable Care Act (ACA) requires premium tax credits to be made available in states that use a federal exchange. The case challenged an Internal Revenue Service (IRS) regulation allowing tax credits in federal exchanges. The Supreme Court upheld the regulation as consistent with the statute. Our On the Subject provides a discussion on the issue.
Click here to read the full article.
On June 25, 2015, the Supreme Court of the United States upheld one of the main pillars of the Affordable Care Act (ACA): the tax credits that allow millions of Americans to afford health care insurance on the public exchanges. In King v. Burwell, Chief Justice Roberts, writing for a 6–3 majority, held that middle- and low-income individuals who purchase health care insurance through a federally facilitated health care exchange are entitled to the same tax credits that are available to purchasers through state-run health care exchanges. The ruling puts to rest one of the remaining challenges to the general framework of the ACA. Accordingly, our On the Subject discusses how employers should continue to plan for compliance with the current and upcoming obligations required under the ACA.
As the U.S. Supreme Court weighs whether gay couples are constitutionally entitled to marry, more companies in states with marriage equality have begun to mandate that gay employees marry in order to maintain benefits, including health care coverage. In a recent interview with the Wall Street Journal, McDermott partner Todd Solomon discusses the shifting terrain of coverage and benefits that companies offer unmarried gay partners. McDermott lawyers have been monitoring domestic partnership benefits for almost two decades, and, as Mr. Solomon notes, the landscape is definitely changing.
Read the full article, “Firms Tell Gay Couples: Wed or Lose Your Benefits,” in the Wall Street Journal.
New guidance by the U.S. Department of Labor provides defined contribution plan administrators with additional flexibility to extend the 12-month period to a 14-month period for distribution of the required annual fee disclosure to plan participants and beneficiaries.
A recent decision by the Employment Appeal Tribunal (Norman & Others v National Audit Office [2014] UKEAT 0276/14/1512) has emphasised the need for employers to ensure that “flexibility clauses” are drafted unambiguously and have contractual effect if they are to be effective.
July 2, 2013
11:00 am – 12:00 pm EDT
To register, click here.
As a result of the federal Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), same-sex relationships have not been recognized for any purpose under any federal law, including the Employee Retirement Income Security Act, the Internal Revenue Code and COBRA. Historically, this has created significant implications for the administration of benefit plans covering same-sex partners, including the taxation of health, dental and vision benefits and survivor benefits under retirement plans. Employers that have extended equal benefits to lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender employees have faced significant administrative and other challenges. Employers that have not extended benefits to same-sex partners have struggled to understand their legal obligations.
Earlier this year, the Supreme Court of the United States heard arguments on the constitutionality of DOMA and on California’s “Proposition 8,” which denies same-sex couples the right to marry in that state. The Supreme Court is expected to issue its rulings in these cases in June. Based on this, McDermott Will & Emery invites you to a webcast to discuss the impact of these landmark decisions on employee benefit plan sponsors and to address key considerations for employer-provided plans, including:
McDermott Speakers
Joseph S. Adams, Partner
Todd A. Solomon, Partner
Brian J. Tiemann, Associate
For more information, please contact Carolyn Verscaj.
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