Practical HR Tips, News & Advice. Updated Daily.
As you must know by now, regardless of how the U.S. Supreme Court rules on the federal health care reform, a couple of very large insurers announced they would continue several of health reform’s insurance mandates. The impact of this announcement directly applies to companies that buy full insurance. But self-insured plans and employers big enough […]
Summer’s here, and coincidentally, it’s a hot time for legal and regulatory developments affecting human resources and benefits professionals! Many companies trying to make ends meet also should expect new laws and regulations in these five areas. The perils of not heeding leave and disability law. Employers struggle with determining what a “reasonable accommodation” is under […]
Employers can expect continued uncertainty regarding whether they will need to adjust their plans, documents and policies to accommodate same-sex spouses. The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on June 5 refused a petition that the full bench of the court rehear Perry v. Brown, Nos. 10-16696, 11-16577. That lets stand the ruling by a […]
Employees can qualify for multiple exemptions under the Fair Labor Standards Act, so employers should remember that if they document an employee’s specific exemption, they should note any and all applicable exemptions, so that they are able to argue multiple exemptions in any FLSA litigation. This principle is illustrated in Schaefer La-Rose v. Eli Lilly […]
Because an employer health plan gave a full and fair review resulting in a reasonable benefits decision, a federal court upheld the plan’s lifetime limit on obesity services and its prohibition on payments to treat complications from earlier gastric bypass surgeries. The plan also weathered an allegation that it was not properly segregating plan funds. […]
Employers and plan administrators hoping clarity will soon dispel the confusing tangle of divergent laws governing same-sex marriage and how they must address it in their benefit plans and HR policies have longer to wait. The 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on May 31 issued a ruling in Commonwealth of Massachusetts v. U.S. Department […]
Same-sex marriage is not legal in Rhode Island, but employers there must make provision for employees’ same-sex spouses nonetheless. Gov. Lincoln Chafee (I) on May 14 signed an executive order announcing that Rhode Island will recognize the validity of same-sex marriages entered into in states where it is legal. The executive order went into effect […]
A set of safe harbors related to the enforcement of summaries of benefits and coverage (SBCs), which insurers and plan sponsors must distribute as part of health care reform, was issued May 11 by the U.S. Department of Labor and the Employee Benefits Security Administration. The DOL/EBSA guidance creates regulatory exceptions for situations where insurers […]
Employers likely will need to continue to pay close attention to how their individual states’ approach to same-sex marriage will affect their employee benefit plans, regardless of President Obama’s newly articulated support for it. The president on May 9 said that he supports same-sex marriage, but also that the states should be able to decide […]
Employers in North Carolina will not face the complications their counterparts in states where same-sex marriage is legal or recognized do, but local and municipal governments that provide domestic partner benefits may have to change their policies. Tar Heel State voters on May 8 approved an amendment to the state constitution that defines marriage as […]