Research by the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) in 2023 shows that paid maternity and paternity leave increased by five percent last year, with 32% of employers now offering paid paternity leave. Furthermore, although many men have not taken paternity leave in the past, even if it was available, an increasing number of men are taking advantage of available parental leave time. More employers also are Read More
Defense Contractor L3Harris to Pay $650K to Settle 401(k) Class Action
Aerospace and defense technology company L3Harris has agreed to settle an Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) class action lawsuit for $650,000. Plan participants in the company’s $5.2 million 401(k) plan claimed that the defense contractor violated ERISA by charging excessive fees and retaining expensive investment options. The case is Stengl et al. v. L3Harris Technologies, Inc. et al., case number Read More
Supreme Court Allows SOX Retaliation Claims to Proceed Without Showing of Retaliatory Intent
The U.S. Supreme Court recently ruled that whistleblowers need not prove that their employer acted with retaliatory intent to maintain their retaliation claims under the Sarbanes-Oxley Act (SOX). Although whistleblowers are required to prove that the protected activity was a contributing factor in the unfavorable employment action that their employer took against them, evidence of retaliatory intent is unnecessary Read More
5th Circuit Appears Open to Upholding Nationwide Bar on ACA Preventive Care Requirements
A three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit recently heard arguments in the federal government’s appeal of a lower court’s decision to vacate various Affordable Care Act (ACA) preventive care requirements. U.S. District Court Judge Reed O’Conner also issued a nationwide injunction preventing the Biden administration from enforcing the ACA preventive care requirements. The court based its Read More
Georgia Legislature Passes Bill to Publish Annual High-Demand Career List
The Georgia General Assembly has passed HB 982, which would require the State Workforce Development Board to develop, approve, and publish an annual list of high-demand careers. This list would contain those careers that are most critical to the state’s current and future workforce needs. The bill has gone to Governor Brian P. Kemp for his signature. The bill directs that the State Workforce Development Board Read More
IRS Releases Decreased ACA Employer Shared Responsibility Penalties for 2025
The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) has issued Rev. Proc. 2024-14, which contains the 2025 indexing adjustments to the dollar amount used to calculate employer shared responsibility payments under the Affordable Care Act (ACA). The ACA provides that applicable large employers (ALEs) can be responsible for an employer shared responsibility penalty under Code § 4980H(a) in some circumstances. More specifically, if Read More
Remote Workers May Face Greater Risk of Being Laid Off
Some large employers have recently announced significant layoffs and the question is whether remote workers are more likely to be on the chopping block than those who work in the office. UPS is laying off 12,000 workers, and both PayPal and eBay are cutting about nine percent of their respective workforces. Wayfair also laid off about 13% of its employees, and executives at the online furniture retailer admitted that Read More
Cigna Insurance Plan Participants Urge Court to Certify Class on Allegedly Underpaid Claims
Insurance plan participants urged a California federal court to certify a class of 8,000 members in their lawsuit against Cigna, claiming that class certification is the only efficient and cost-effective remedy. The plan participants claim that Cigna colluded with Multiplan, its third-party billing contractor, and Multiplan’s subsidiary, Viant, to underpay out-of-network claims for substance use disorder treatments. Read More
Terminating Workers in the Private Sector for Their Political Affiliations and Activities
As this year’s political campaigns heat up and elections draw closer, heated discussions in hallways, postings on social media platforms, and expressing support for candidates tend to become all too common in the workplace. When these activities begin to affect workplace productivity and morale, private employers may wonder if they can fire employees based on their political affiliation and activities. In many cases, Read More
The Genesis of the Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act
Before the Mental Health Parity Act of 1996 (MHPA), health insurance plans were not required to cover mental health care, which made treatment expensive and difficult to access. The MHPA was the first piece of legislation that attempted to resolve this issue. It provided that large group health insurance plans could not impose annual or lifetime caps on mental health benefits that are less favorable than caps on Read More
