On July 4, 2025, President Donald Trump signed a comprehensive budget reconciliation bill into law, loosening rules around health savings accounts (HSAs), extending telehealth relief, and providing additional income tax...more
7/11/2025
/ Budget Reconciliation ,
Employee Benefits ,
Fringe Benefits ,
Health Insurance ,
HSA ,
Income Taxes ,
New Legislation ,
Over-Time ,
Tax Credits ,
Tax Deductions ,
Telehealth ,
Tipped Employees ,
Tips
Only weeks after the principal effective date for the final 2024 federal mental health parity rules for employer-sponsored health benefit plans, those rules—and specifically some key features that are frustrating...more
2/21/2025
/ Administrative Procedure Act ,
Benefit Plan Sponsors ,
Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Employee Benefits ,
Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) ,
Employer Group Health Plans ,
Final Rules ,
Mental Health ,
MHPAEA ,
Pending Litigation ,
Regulatory Requirements
After Congress declined to extend certain relief allowing first-dollar coverage of telehealth services by high-deductible health plans (HDHPs), health plan sponsors may need to make immediate changes to preserve employees’...more
1/16/2025
/ Benefit Plan Sponsors ,
CARES Act ,
Compliance ,
Deductibles ,
Employee Benefits ,
HDHP ,
HDHPs ,
Health Insurance ,
Health Plan Sponsors ,
Health Savings Accounts ,
HSA ,
Tax Planning ,
Telehealth
In the past week, devastating wildfires in Los Angeles, California, have caused unprecedented destruction across the region, leading to loss of life and displacing tens of thousands. While still ongoing, the fires already...more
1/16/2025
/ 401k ,
California ,
Employee Benefits ,
Hardship Distributions ,
Individual Retirement Account (IRA) ,
Internal Revenue Code (IRC) ,
IRS ,
Natural Disasters ,
Relief Measures ,
Retirement Plan ,
SECURE Act ,
Tax Liability ,
Tax Planning ,
Wildfires
Employers providing health plan coverage through a high-deductible health plan (HDHP) may need to amend their HDHP before year-end to remove first-dollar telehealth coverage. Although prior regulatory relief permitted...more
The latest idea for attracting and retaining employees in this post-COVID-19–pandemic era of the Great Resignation and “quiet quitting” is one that was usually limited to professors in higher education: the sabbatical. ...more
12/6/2022
/ 401k ,
COBRA ,
Disability Insurance ,
Distribution Rules ,
Employee Benefits ,
Employee Incentive Plans ,
Employee Retention ,
Employer Group Health Plans ,
Internal Revenue Code (IRC) ,
Life Insurance ,
Sabbaticals ,
Wellness Programs
As employers across the country are facing critical labor shortages, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) has stepped in, attempting to help by removing barriers that may have previously stopped employers from rehiring retirees...more
Holiday season and the end of the year are both quickly approaching, and with the turning of the calendar from 2021 to 2022 come several employee benefit plan amendment deadlines and implementation requirements. Some of these...more
As we mentioned in our May 23, 2021, article, the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 (ARPA) provides a 100 percent premium subsidy for continuation coverage under the Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act (COBRA)...more
9/2/2021
/ American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 ,
Benefit Plan Sponsors ,
Biden Administration ,
COBRA ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Employee Benefits ,
Employer Group Health Plans ,
Health Insurance ,
Notice Requirements ,
Premium Subsidies ,
Relief Measures
The new 100 percent premium subsidy applies to individuals eligible for Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act (COBRA) coverage due to either a reduction in hours or an involuntary termination of employment, and it...more
4/28/2021
/ American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 ,
COBRA ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Employee Benefits ,
Employer Group Health Plans ,
Health Insurance ,
New Guidance ,
Notice Requirements ,
Premium Subsidies ,
Relief Measures ,
Tax Credits
At the end of 2019, President Donald Trump signed into law the Setting Every Community Up for Retirement Enhancement (SECURE) Act, which included a number of changes to employer-sponsored retirement plans. One change involved...more
With the start of a new year, in-house counsel and human resources professionals will want to be aware of what’s on the horizon for 2020 and beyond. It’s a good time for employers to take a breath and consider what issues...more
1/3/2020
/ ADEA ,
Baby Boomers ,
Canada ,
Compensation & Benefits ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Employee Benefits ,
Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Contract ,
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) ,
Executive Orders ,
Federal Contractors ,
Federal Labor Laws ,
FEHA ,
Fluctuating Workweek ,
Food Service Workers ,
Foreign Workers ,
H-1B ,
Highly-Skilled Workers Visa ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Immigration Procedures ,
Immigration Reform ,
Joint Employers ,
Labor Regulations ,
Leave of Absence ,
Legislative Agendas ,
Mobile Apps ,
Non-Compete Agreements ,
Paid Family Leave Law ,
Pending Legislation ,
Piece-Rate Pay ,
Public Health ,
Reasonable Accommodation ,
Restaurant Industry ,
Restrictive Covenants ,
Right of First Refusal ,
State and Local Government ,
State Labor Laws ,
Tax Liability ,
Tax Planning ,
Tip Credit ,
Tipped Employees ,
Tips ,
USCIS ,
Vaccinations ,
Wage and Hour ,
Wellness Programs ,
Work Schedules ,
Workplace Violence
On January 1, 2018, modifications to the rollover distribution rules for certain retirement plan participants with defaulted plan loans went into effect. As a result of a provision in the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, the rollover...more
On October 31, 2013 the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) announced the cost-of-living adjustments impacting tax-qualified pension plans for 2014. Increases were not made to the individual limits on deferrals and catch-up...more