Work this Way: An Employment Law Video Podcast | Episode 50: Creating a Competitive Advantage Through Employee Benefits with Connor Shaw of Gallagher
A Look at Non-Cannabis Derived CBD Products
Taking the Pulse, A Health Care and Life Sciences Podcast | Episode 97: Ashley Shaw, Executive Clinical Director, 3C Wellness
Labor & Employment Symposium - Topics: Remote Work; Handling Leaves of Absence; Vaccination Incentives Under Wellness Programs
#WorkforceWednesday: EEOC Withdraws, DOL Rolls Back, and OSHA Expands - Employment Law This Week®
#WorkforceWednesday: EEOC Rules and Vaccine Incentives, Prioritizing Worker Health and Safety, Notable Executive Orders - Employment Law This Week®
PODCAST: Wellness Program Compliance Update
Employment Law This Week®: Changes at the NLRB, New Tax Bill, EEOC Wellness Rules, New California Laws
I-22- The Benefits of Benefits: A Roundtable Discussion on Trending Benefits Issues for 2018
Employment Law This Week®: Extended Leave Not Covered Under ADA, Wellness Program Regulations, Proposed Cybersecurity Regulations, New Travel Restrictions
Employment Law This Week: Wellness Program Regulations, Cumulative Liquidated Damages, ACA Transgender Discrimination Rules, Form I-9
Employment Law This Week: Discrimination Claims, Employee Wellness Notice, Persuader Rule, Pin Ban
Employment Law This Week: Record Whistleblower Award, Union Election Rules, Wellness Program Rewards, Mixed-Guard Units
The Latest Legal Developments Involving Wellness Programs
What's Next in Employee Wellness: Impact of the Affordable Care Act and New EEOC Initiatives
Several new lawsuits have been filed recently alleging that employers violated HIPAA’s non-discrimination rule by charging higher health insurance premiums to employees who use tobacco products. ...more
Recently, companies have seen a spate of class action lawsuits challenging the legality of tobacco cessation wellness programs and related tobacco surcharges imposed by their employer-sponsored health benefit plans....more
“ERISA, you’ll need a lawyer for that.” Our practice group’s tagline is meant to be a shorthand for the alphabet soup of laws that apply to employee benefits, including the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA)....more
A “tobacco surcharge” is part of many employers’ wellness programs, where the employer charges tobacco users higher health insurance premiums than non-tobacco users. A typical tobacco surcharge program will ask an employee if...more
A wave of ERISA class-action lawsuits is challenging tobacco surcharge programs in employer-sponsored health plans across the U.S. These cases center on potential fiduciary breaches, with plaintiffs arguing that surcharges...more
We recognize that many companies sponsor ERISA welfare benefit plans and are currently undergoing their open enrollment process and issuing related participant communications. To assist with that process, we have prepared an...more
Synopsis: For years, employers have struggled to understand what level of incentives in wellness programs might be considered “voluntary” under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). ...more
As COVID-19 vaccines become more readily available in coming months, employers are exploring ways to maximize vaccination rates within their workforce. Some employers are considering making vaccination mandatory. ...more
A second round of FAQs recently issued by the Labor Department, the IRS, and the Department of Health and Human Services provides plan sponsors and insurers with additional implementation guidance relating to health coverage...more
Topics include legal considerations for: • 401(k) Plan participation: Designing a 401(k) plan to increase enrollment and retirement savings • Financial Wellness Programs: Preparing employees for financial security during...more
In October 2016, the American Association of Retired Persons (AARP) sought an injunction against the implementation of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission’s (EEOC) final rules on wellness programs, alleging that the...more
Employers with established wellness programs that collect health information and/or require a medical exam can no longer rely on the EEOC regulations to justify that incentives provided under their wellness programs are...more
The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) has formally withdrawn the provisions in its regulations governing wellness programs under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and the Genetic Information...more
A health wellness program is broadly defined as any program of health promotion or disease prevention. My recent article entitled “Taxonomy of Health Wellness Programs – Part I” reviewed the classification of health wellness...more
Wellness programs are governed by overlapping and, at times, maddeningly inconsistent regulations and agency guidance. Litigation challenging the wellness program rules issued by the EEOC in 2016 has added another layer of...more
Most companies are genuinely concerned about their employees’ health and well-being. In an effort to incentivize employees to share in that concern, many companies have instituted wellness programs. Significantly, due to a...more
Seyfarth Synopsis: New Year’s resolutions typically address health and well-being. Many among us have resolved this year to get off the couch, to sweat a bit more often to the “oldies,” to meditate and be mindful, and to eat...more
As we alluded in our “Preparing for the Unknown: Open Enrollment 2018” blog post, employers that are finalizing their employee benefit plan designs in advance of the 2018 plan year would be well-advised to monitor the...more
As we reported previously, on August 22, the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia directed the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) to reconsider its regulations on employer wellness programs under the...more
On August 22, 2017, the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia issued its decision in the American Association of Retired Persons, Inc.’s (AARP) challenge to the wellness program regulations issued by the U.S. Equal...more
For years, employers have been trying to find the right incentives for employees to embrace wellness programs. If incentives are too meager, employees are not likely to participate. If they are weighted too heavily in favor...more
Q. Are the EEOC’s Wellness Program rules still valid? A. The ADA and the Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act both permit an employer to seek medical information as part of a wellness program if the employee...more
On Tuesday, August 22, the US District Court for the District of Columbia ordered the EEOC to revisit its controversial rules placing certain limits on employer-sponsored wellness programs under the Americans with...more
When is a financial incentive in an employee-sponsored wellness program so high that employees can’t afford not to participate—rendering the program no longer voluntary? Well (pun intended), the District Court for the...more
Employers offering wellness program rewards should be aware that some medical insurance salespeople are recommending arrangements that fail to comply with applicable law....more