Under the Families First Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRA), employers with fewer than 500 employees are required to provide paid sick and family leave for certain COVID-19-related reasons. Employers are required to report leave payments as wages on each qualifying employee’s Form W-2. While IRS Notice 2020-54 provided guidance on the W-2 reporting requirement in July 2020, this guidance was not incorporated into Read More
DOL Ends Self-Reporting Program for Wage And Hour Violations
The U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) has terminated its Payroll Audit Independent Determination (PAID) program that allowed employers to self-report federal minimum wage and overtime violations under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). The DOL made the announcement via press release on January 29, 2021. The PAID program was launched in March 2018 and quickly drew criticism. Attorneys general from 11 states sent a Read More
Independent Contractor Rule Frozen, Employers Will Likely See Push Toward California’s ABC Test
On January 20, 2021, the White House issued a memorandum entitled, “Regulatory Freeze Pending Review” instructing the heads of executive departments and agencies to stop all non-emergency regulatory activity until a review by the new administration could be conducted. Specifically, the memo instructed the agencies to immediately: Halt proposing or implementing any rules until the new administration’s Read More
President Biden Issues Executive Order on Gender Identity and Sexual Orientation Discrimination
On the day of his inauguration -- January 20, 2021 -- President Biden signed an Executive Order on Preventing and Combating Discrimination on the Basis of Gender identity or Sexual Orientation. This new order establishes that “All persons should receive equal treatment under the law, no matter their gender identity or sexual orientation.” The order instructs heads of federal government agencies to review all Read More
OSHA Issues Guidelines on Mitigating the Spread Of COVID-19 in the Workplace
On January 29, 2021, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) issued guidance on mitigating the spread of COVID-19 in the workplace. The guidance outlines OSHA’s recommendations for best practices and while it does not impose any additional legal requirements on employers, the guidance also reminds employers of their obligations under existing federal laws to provide a hazard-free workplace. To Read More
EEOC Issues Revised Religious Discrimination Manual
On January 15, 2021, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) issued updated guidance to its Compliance Manual on Religious Discrimination, the first significant update since 2008. In the updated manual, the EEOC provides important clarifications concerning Title VII religious discrimination laws in the workplace. These clarifications include the definition of “religion,” the types of organizations that Read More
DOL and PBGC Announce Increased 2021 Retirement Plan Penalties
Under the Federal Civil Penalties Inflation Adjustment Act of 2015, the Department of Labor (DOL) and the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC) are required to make annual inflation adjustments to ERISA violation penalties by January 15 of each year. The recently released retirement plan penalties for 2021 are as follows: DOL Penalties The increased penalties apply to violations where a penalty is Read More
CMS Provides for COVID-19 Special Enrollment Period
In accordance with an executive order issued by President Biden on January 28, 2021, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) is opening a COVID-19-related special enrollment period (SEP) for uninsured consumers to obtain health insurance coverage through the Affordable Care Act (ACA). The new COVID-19-related SEP is in effect from February 15 - May 15, 2021, for the 36 states that use the Read More
New Coronavirus Bill Proffers Guidance for Partial Plan Terminations and Other COVID-19 Related Distributions
The Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021 (CAA) was signed into law on December 27, 2020. This major funding bill included the COVID-Related Tax Relief Act of 2020 and the Taxpayer Certainty and Disaster Tax Relief Act of 2020, which contained the following provisions affecting partial plan terminations and other COVID-19-related distributions: Partial Plan Termination Safe Harbor The CAA provides a temporary Read More
Agencies Issue Final Rule on Grandfathered Status Under the ACA
A final rule has been issued by the U.S. Departments of Labor, Health & Human Services, and Treasury (the “agencies”) that allows grandfathered group health plans and insurers to make certain cost-sharing adjustments without losing grandfathered status under the Affordable Care Act (ACA). Grandfathered plans are those that were in existence when the ACA was enacted on March 23, 2010. A few ACA provisions apply Read More
