Last month we reported on legislative action under way in Sacramento. In this issue, we give you a similar heads up on key employment-related legislation, on the table in the nation’s capitol, that could also impact your workplace.
Discrimination
S. 76 would amend the Fair Labor Standards Act to provide stronger remedies to victims of sex-based wage discrimination.
S. 1053 would prohibit discrimination based on “genetic information” with respect to health insurance and employment. Included is information about specific genetic tests taken by an employee or his or her family members, or the occurrence of a disease or disorder in the employee’s family.
Health Benefits
H.R. 4279 would allow up to $500 remaining in flexible spending accounts to be carried forward into the next year or contributed to a Health Savings Account. Similarly, H.R. 1177 would allow up to $500 to be carried forward or paid out to employees.
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H.R. 660, H.R. 4279, and S. 545 would amend the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) to allow employers to join together in group health plans.
S. 39 would provide grants to self-insured businesses to form health-care cooperatives.
S. 10 and S. 100 would give tax credits to small businesses that offer employee health insurance coverage.
H.R. 593 would prevent group health plans that cover both medical/surgical benefits and mental health benefits from imposing unequal treatment limitations or financial requirements for mental illness coverage. Employers with an average of 50 or fewer employees during the preceding calendar year would be exempt.
Family and Medical Leave
H.R. 35 and S. 320 would amend the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) to clarify the definition of a “serious health condition,” allow you to require employees to take leave in blocks of a half-workday or longer, impose certain timeliness requirements for leave requests, and require employees to choose between using available paid leave or unpaid leave.
S. 18 would expand the FMLA by creating a leave entitlement for domestic violence victims. It would also entitle employees to 24 hours of leave during any 12-month period to participate in their children’s school activities.
S. 304 would extend FMLA coverage to worksites with at least 25 employees within a 75-mile radius, a decrease from the current 50-employee requirement.
S. 2520 and H.R. 4575 would require you to provide seven days of paid sick leave annually for employees working 30 or more hours per week or a prorated number of paid sick days for part-timers.
Retirement Plans
H.R. 518 would boost portability of retirement plans by allowing rollovers between spouses’ retirement plans and quicker vesting of certain employer contributions. It would also allow direct rollovers from retirement plans to Roth IRAs without federal penalties.
H.R. 1000 and S. 9 would provide various protections to participants and beneficiaries in individual account plans from forced investment in employer securities. They would also strictly regulate the type of investment advice plans could give participants.
H.R. 1776 would expand retirement plan coverage to employees of small businesses, streamline some retirement plan rules, and provide additional protections for defined contribution plans.
Wage and Hour
S. 20 would increase the federal minimum wage to $5.90 an hour, beginning on the 60th day after enactment of the legislation, and to $6.65 an hour 12 months later.
H.R. 1119 and S. 317 would give private-sector employees opportunities for comp time off instead of overtime pay; this is similar to what federal employees currently have.
For More Information
You can access pending legislation online at http://thomas.loc.gov/bss/d108query.html.