Employment Archives | Page 38 of 105 | EMPLOYEE BENEFITS BLOG

Court to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission: “Try Again” on Wellness Rules

by Anthony A. Bongiorno and Megan Mardy | Aug 29, 2017 | Employee Benefits, Employment, Health and Welfare Plans

In October 2016, the American Association of Retired Persons (AARP) sued the US Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) in the US District Court for the District of Columbia seeking an injunction against the latest iteration of wellness program regulations. The final EEOC regulations issued last year offer employers a roadmap for offering employee wellness programs that pass muster as “voluntary” examinations under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and the Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act of 2008 (GINA). In response, AARP argued that the EEOC failed to adequately justify the new rules and abused its regulatory power by reversing course on its long-standing position against wellness programs.

As Federal Progress Stalls, State, Local and Private Initiatives March Towards Pay Equity

by McDermott Will & Emery and Evan A. Belosa | Aug 10, 2017 | Employee Benefits, Employment, Executive Compensation, Labor

Pay equity, the concept that gender differences should not affect compensation, is a concept easy to support, yet has been stubbornly hard to achieve. Federal law has become calcified in addressing the stubborn pay gap between men and women. State and local initiatives, along with private actors, have increasingly taken steps in the past year to address pay equity.

UK Supreme Court Rules Employment Tribunal Fee Regime

by Anthony A. Bongiorno, Katie Clark and Paul McGrath | Aug 3, 2017 | Employment, Labor

A significant judgment delivered on July 26, 2017, by the UK Supreme Court increases the likelihood of employment claims being brought in the future and is of significance to all organizations employing staff in the United Kingdom.

Read the full article.

Legally Mandated Benefit Plan Changes Still Require Bargaining

by McDermott Will & Emery and McDermott Will & Schulte | Jun 15, 2017 | Employee Benefits, Employment, Health and Welfare Plans, Labor

A unanimous panel of the NLRB, including Chairman Philip A. Miscimarra, held that ACA mandates do not relieve an employer of its duty to bargain with a union representing its employees regarding certain health insurance benefit plan changes.

Read the full article.

District Court Dismisses Shareholder Claim that Equity Award Share Withholding Triggers Section 16(b) Liability

by Andrew Liazos, Eric Orsic and Thomas P. Conaghan | Jun 13, 2017 | Benefit Controversies, Employee Benefits, Employment, Executive Compensation

A US District Court recently dismissed a claim that an insider’s election to satisfy an income tax obligation by having shares withheld from the delivery of an award constituted a non-exempt sale of shares back to the issuer for purposes of Section 16(b) of the Exchange Act, unless the share withholding was required, rather than merely permitted.

While an encouraging development, this decision is now on appeal to the US Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit and there are similar unresolved complaints in other jurisdictions. Until this matter is resolved, public companies should continue to consider what steps are appropriate to avoid Section 16 exposure and to review this situation with their executive officers.

Read the full article.

House Narrowly Passes American Health Care Act

by McDermott Will & Emery | May 9, 2017 | Benefit Controversies, Employee Benefits, Employment, Health and Welfare Plans, Labor

On Thursday, May 4, 2017, the US House of Representatives passed the American Health Care Act by the slimmest of margins with no Democrats voting in favor of the bill. Amendments to the original bill attracted more support from both moderate and conservative Republicans by the introduction of two amendments: one that gives more leeway to the states to request waivers from the more onerous provisions of the ACA that cannot be changed through the budget reconciliation process, and a second one that adds $8 billion of funding to the bill to help improve the “high-risk pools” that could be set up by states to provide coverage to individuals with pre-existing conditions who cannot find affordable insurance in the open market.

Read the full article.

Upcoming Employee Benefits Innovators Roundtable Series!

by McDermott Will & Emery | May 4, 2017 | Benefit Controversies, Employee Benefits, Employee Stock Ownership Plans (ESOPs), Employment, Executive Compensation, Fiduciary and Investment Issues, Health and Welfare Plans, Labor, Privacy and Data Security, Retirement Plans

McDermott will be holding its annual Employee Benefits Innovators Roundtable Series this month. The roundtables offer experienced benefits professionals an opportunity to discuss cutting-edge, topical employer-driven benefit programs with their peers and members of McDermott’s employee benefits team. We are meeting in four locations this year. Join us in one of the following cities:

May 9 | Silicon Valley, California

May 11 | Los Angeles, California

May 22 | Chicago, Illinois

May 24 | New York, New York

The topics for our roundtable series sessions will include:

The Future of Employee Benefits Under the Trump Administration
Should Your Plan Cover All Drugs? (FDA-Approved/Unapproved, Off-Label, Marijuana, etc.)
ERISA Retirement Plan Fee Litigation – Learning From Recent Class Actions
Paying Off Student Loans as an Employee Benefit
Equal Privacy and Cybersecurity – Now Part of Your Plan’s Independent Audit
Human Rights Campaign (HRC) Equality Index – Opposite-Sex Domestic Partner Benefit

For more information about how to register for one of our roundtables, please contact Erin Nelson.

Employee Benefits Programs in May

by McDermott Will & Emery, Jacob Mattinson, Joseph K. Urwitz, Lisa Loesel, Lisa Schmitz Mazur and Ruth Wimer | Apr 27, 2017 | Employee Benefits, Employment, Labor, Retirement Plans

Join members of the McDermott Employee Benefits team in May at one of these programs covering a variety of employee benefits topics.

The John Marshall Law School The Center for Tax Law & Employee Benefits 14th Annual Employee Benefits Symposium | May 1, 2017 | Chicago, Illinois | Speaker, Joseph S. Adams

Proposed 457(f) Regulations: Opportunities and Challenges | May 3, 2017 | Webinar presented by Mary K. Samsa, Joseph K. Urwitz, Ruth Wimer

M&A Workshop: New Developments and Key Legal and Tax Issues Throughout the Life Cycle of a Deal | May 4, 2017 | Chicago, Illinois | Speaker, Joseph S. Adams

Benefits Emerging Leaders Working Group | May 10, 2017 | Chicago, Illinois | Speakers, Lisa K. Loesel, Lisa Schmitz Mazur, Jacob M. Mattinson, Jeffrey Arnold, Sarah Raaii

Advising the ‘Cultural Revolution’ in the Boardroom

by Michael W. Peregrine | Apr 25, 2017 | Employment

Michael Peregrine wrote this bylined article analyzing what he called the “significant emerging governance trend” in which corporate boards proactively exercise “more vigorous and direct oversight of the organization’s corporate culture,” reflecting “an increasing awareness of how matters of culture and reputation correlate to the success of an organization, and to the board’s efforts to sustain long-term corporate objectives.”

Read the full article.

IRS Issues Revised Requirements for Employers to Claim FICA Tax Refunds

by Kevin Spencer and Ruth Wimer | Apr 13, 2017 | Benefit Controversies, Employee Benefits, Employment

On March 20, 2017, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) issued Revenue Procedure 2017-28, which provides guidance to employers on obtaining employee consents used to support a claim for credit or refund of overpaid taxes under the Federal Insurance Contributions Act (FICA) and the Railroad Retirement Tax Act (RRTA). This OTS describes the new procedures and provides valuable information regarding the rules for amending past employment tax returns due to the over- or under-payment of Social Security, Medicare and Federal income tax on employee wages.

Read the full article.

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