With so much happening in the employee benefits world over the last few months, we bring you Benefits Catch-Up, our catch-up contribution to help you keep up with recent developments. Eversheds Sutherland’s US Employee...more
Welcome to this week’s edition of Tax Bytes. Our team of tax lawyers is actively monitoring for federal and international tax developments and issues of note. Each week we pull together the items we deem most important to...more
7/16/2025
/ Business Taxes ,
Compensation ,
Corporate Taxes ,
Employee Benefits ,
Executive Compensation ,
Federal Budget ,
Federal Taxes ,
Internal Revenue Code (IRC) ,
Loper Bright Enterprises v Raimondo ,
New Legislation ,
SCOTUS ,
Tax Court ,
Tax Reform ,
Taxation ,
Trump Administration
The One Big Beautiful Bill Act (Act), signed into law on July 4th, contains a number of provisions that will impact employee compensation and benefits. Employers and service providers should start considering the following...more
7/14/2025
/ Benefit Plan Sponsors ,
Employee Benefits ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Executive Compensation ,
Fringe Benefits ,
Health Savings Accounts ,
Healthcare ,
Healthcare Reform ,
HSA ,
IRS ,
Labor Reform ,
New Legislation ,
Paid Leave ,
Tax Credits ,
Tax Deductions ,
Technology ,
Telehealth
Welcome to this week’s edition of Tax Bytes. Our team of tax lawyers is actively monitoring for federal and international tax developments and issues of note. Each week we pull together the items we deem most important to...more
5/21/2025
/ Business Taxes ,
EBITDA ,
Employee Benefits ,
Employee Retention ,
Excise Tax ,
Legislative Agendas ,
New Legislation ,
Proposed Legislation ,
Reporting Requirements ,
Senate Committees ,
Tax Credits ,
Tax Cuts and Jobs Act ,
Tax Exempt Entities ,
Tax Reform ,
U.S. House ,
Ways and Means Committee
On May 12, 2025, the House Ways and Means Committee released “The One, Big, Beautiful Bill” containing its draft tax legislation (the OBBB), which includes a number of items that may be of particular interest to US employers...more
5/16/2025
/ Employee Benefits ,
Employer Contributions ,
Executive Compensation ,
Health and Welfare Plans ,
Healthcare Reform ,
HSA ,
Legislative Agendas ,
New Legislation ,
Proposed Legislation ,
Retirement Plan ,
Tax Credits ,
Tax Cuts and Jobs Act ,
Tax Reform ,
Ways and Means Committee
With so much happening in the employee benefits world over the last few months, we bring you Benefits Catch-Up, our catch-up contribution to help you keep up with recent developments. Eversheds Sutherland’s US Employee...more
5/14/2025
/ 401k ,
American Airlines ,
Cryptocurrency ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Employee Benefits ,
Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) ,
Employer Responsibilities ,
Executive Compensation ,
Fiduciary Duty ,
Health and Welfare Plans ,
Health Insurance ,
Pharmacy Benefit Manager (PBM) ,
Proposed Regulation ,
Retirement ,
Retirement Plan ,
Verizon
The first month of President Trump’s second administration began with a flurry of Executive Orders, many of which directly affect various employment related issues. While many of the new administration’s Executive Orders (EO)...more
The first month of President Trump’s second administration began with a flurry of Executive Orders, many of which directly affect various employment related issues. While many of the new administration’s Executive Orders (EO)...more
2/17/2025
/ Anti-Discrimination Policies ,
Civil Rights Act ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Diversity and Inclusion Standards (D&I) ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Discrimination ,
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) ,
Executive Orders ,
Federal Contractors ,
Title VII ,
Trump Administration
With 2024 drawing to a close, employers should review any actions needed before year-end with respect to their benefit plans, as well as some upcoming deadlines that may require advance planning. As the adage attributed to...more
11/21/2024
/ Automatic Enrollment ,
Benefit Plan Sponsors ,
Cybersecurity ,
Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) ,
Eligibility Determination ,
Employee Benefits ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Extensions ,
Forfeiture ,
Health and Welfare Plans ,
Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) ,
Health Plan Sponsors ,
MHPAEA ,
NQTLs ,
Part-Time Employees ,
Qualified Retirement Plans ,
Required Minimum Distributions ,
Roth IRA ,
SECURE Act ,
Telehealth
On October 17, 2024, the IRS published Notice 2024-75 (Notice), expanding preventive care benefits that can be provided under a high deductible health plan (HDHP) before an individual reaches the applicable minimum HDHP...more
On September 9, 2024, the Departments of Labor, Health and Human Services, and the Treasury (collectively, the Departments) released final regulations under the Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act (MHPAEA). The...more
10/1/2024
/ Benefit Plan Sponsors ,
Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Employee Benefits ,
Employer Group Health Plans ,
Health and Welfare Plans ,
Health Insurance ,
Mental Health ,
Mental Health Parity Rule ,
MHPAEA ,
NQTLs ,
U.S. Treasury
The US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) issued a final rule (Final Rule) on April 26, 2024 amending the privacy regulations (Privacy Rule) promulgated under the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act...more
5/13/2024
/ Abortion ,
Covered Entities ,
Data Privacy ,
Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) ,
Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization ,
Final Rules ,
Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) ,
HIPAA Privacy Rule ,
Notice of Privacy Practices ,
Patient Privacy Rights ,
PHI ,
Reproductive Healthcare Issues
With 2023 drawing to a close, it is a good time for employers to consider any actions needed before year-end with respect to their benefit plans. We made a list, and we encourage plan sponsors to check it twice....more
The end of an era looms for employee benefits plans, as the Biden administration has announced the end of both the Public Health Emergency and the National Emergency periods on May 11, 2023. The two emergency periods were...more
On February 24, 2023, the IRS issued proposed regulations simplifying the use of forfeitures in qualified retirement plans, providing that forfeitures in defined contribution plans must be used by the end of the plan year...more
President Biden signed the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2023, on December 29, 2022, which includes the package of retirement plan legislation known as “SECURE 2.0.” SECURE 2.0 contains numerous significant changes for...more
Health plans and insurers must generally cover over-the-counter COVID-19 tests under Frequency Asked Questions (FAQs) issued on January 10 by the Departments of Labor, Treasury and Health and Human Services (tri-agencies)....more
1/12/2022
/ Benefit Plan Sponsors ,
Biden Administration ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Employer Group Health Plans ,
Health Insurance ,
New Guidance ,
U.S. Treasury ,
Virus Testing ,
Workplace Safety
Since 1996, the US Department of Labor granted more than 1,200 individual exemptions from the ERISA prohibited transaction rules.
One of the distinctive features of ERISA is its prohibition, in ERISA section 406 as a...more
1/5/2022
/ 401k ,
403(b) Plans ,
Benefit Plan Sponsors ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) ,
Exemptions ,
Fiduciary Duty ,
Individual Retirement Account (IRA) ,
Internal Revenue Code (IRC) ,
Prohibited Transactions ,
Reinsurance ,
Related Parties
On November 4, 2021, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) announced an “Emergency Temporary Standard” (ETS) on workplace safety and coronavirus. The ETS is in response to President Biden’s directive in...more
11/8/2021
/ Biden Administration ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Covered Employer ,
Employer Mandates ,
Executive Orders ,
Federal Contractors ,
General Duty Clause ,
OSHA ,
Preemption ,
Reasonable Accommodation ,
Religious Accommodation ,
Reporting Requirements ,
Subcontractors ,
Temporary Regulations ,
Vaccinations ,
Virus Testing ,
Workplace Safety
The American Rescue Plan Act (the Act) included certain temporary COBRA subsidy provisions that allow “Assistance Eligible Individuals” (AEIs) to receive COBRA subsidies from April 1, 2021 to September 30, 2021 (the...more
6/24/2021
/ American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 ,
COBRA ,
Employee Benefits ,
Employer Group Health Plans ,
Flexible Savings Accounts (FSAs) ,
HRA ,
Internal Revenue Code (IRC) ,
IRS ,
New Guidance ,
Premium Subsidies ,
Tax Credits
Just in time for the start of the summer, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) has provided updated guidance on employer practices relating to COVID-19 vaccinations, including much-needed guidance on vaccine...more
6/3/2021
/ Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) ,
Anti-Discrimination Policies ,
Best Practices ,
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) ,
Civil Rights Act ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) ,
GINA ,
Guidance Update ,
Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) ,
Incentives ,
Reasonable Accommodation ,
Title VII ,
Vaccinations
A district court decision in March has added to the sparse authority regarding the status of participant data under ERISA, particularly whether recordkeepers or other providers can use that data to offer additional products...more
On March 11, 2021, President Biden signed the American Rescue Plan Act (the Act), which includes some notable changes and relief for employers and workers. This legal alert summarizes the key issues relating to the Act’s...more
On March 11, 2021, President Biden signed the American Rescue Plan Act (the Act), which includes some notable changes and relief for employers and employee benefit plans. The Act expands the section 162(m) deduction...more
3/15/2021
/ American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 ,
Benefit Plan Sponsors ,
Biden Administration ,
COBRA ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Employee Benefits ,
Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) ,
Health Insurance ,
Pensions ,
Relief Measures ,
Section 162(m) ,
Tax Credits ,
Tax Deductions
In 2020, the Department of Labor (DOL), in its guidance issued under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974, as amended (ERISA), remained principally focused on the development of its Fiduciary Rule 3.0 and...more
2/25/2021
/ Administrative Exemption ,
Advisory Opinions ,
Benefit Plan Sponsors ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Employee Benefits ,
Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) ,
Employer Group Health Plans ,
Fiduciary Rule ,
Prohibited Transactions ,
Proxy Voting ,
Retirement Plan