Practical HR Tips, News & Advice. Updated Daily.
Among the add-ons to the $700 billion financial rescue package that Congress recently passed was a measure that will affect many employers whose health plans offer mental health benefits. The Paul Wellstone-Pete Domenici Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act of 2008 builds on and closes employer-friendly loopholes in the limited mental health parity measure […]
by John Vering On Oct. 3, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics’ reported that over the past 12 months, the number of unemployed has increased by 2.2 million and the unemployment rate has risen by 1.4 percentage points. Total nonfarm payroll employment decreased by 159,000 in September and thus far in 2008, payroll employment has […]
In a major ruling, the First U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals held that employees who retire and receive lump-sum distributions from their company’s defined-contribution plan, such as a 401(k), have the right to sue the administrators of the plan if they don’t believe their moneys were managed wisely. As our population ages and our economy […]
Forty years ago, very few U.S. employees were personally affected by what happened on Wall Street. Six in 10 Americans were covered by a pension that they could count on regardless of the stock market. Today less than 2 in 10 workers in the private sector have a pension and most workers only option is […]
I know some big ERISA regulations are expected to be issued later this year. Where can I go for more information? — Anonymous in Bakersfield The U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) plans to release its final regulations on proposed amendments to Section 408(b)(2) of ERISA, the Employee Retirement Income Security Act, later this summer. […]
We thought managing PTO was going to be easy, but we’ve found some problems with carryover of PTO hours. We currently allow unlimited carryover, but that’s going to cause some problems down the road (like three-month vacations). So we’d like to limit carryover. Is there a carryover rule? We really want to force employees to […]
I’ve read about the new 401(k) Supreme Court case. How far back can employees sue us if they claim we mishandled their retirement accounts? And how can we protect ourselves now for something that might have already happened? — Anonymous
In the past year, litigation filed under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) has exploded, and it’s quickly becoming an ever-present reality for employers. One of the most recent and fastest-growing areas of this litigation involves 401(k) fee cases. Because the lawsuits are very new and still not well publicized, they catch many employers […]
In an important new development, the U.S. Supreme Court has unanimously ruled that when fiduciary misconduct diminishes the value of an individual account in a defined contribution plan, such as a 401(k), the harmed employee can sue for damages. In the past, courts have taken the contrary position that the federal employee benefits law only […]
In a unanimous decision favorable to employees, the U.S. Supreme Court recently ruled that individual 401(k) plan participants can sue plan administrators under the federal Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) for breach of fiduciary duty. James LaRue had initiated the lawsuit after his employer failed to follow his investment instructions, which he said resulted […]