A U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit panel recently heard oral arguments over whether a proposed class action concerning alleged overcharges to an employee stock ownership plan (ESOP) should go to individual arbitration. ESOP plan trustee Argent Trust Co., employer Strategic Financial Solutions, and other executives and financial services companies appealed after a federal district court judge denied their Read More
Shifts Ahead in EEOC Enforcement
Employers are likely to see shifts in U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) enforcement as its budget increases, leadership changes hands, and enforcement priorities change. Overall, the EEOC continues to prioritize systemic cases with broad impact, such as those that affect how a law influences a particular community or industry. Changes in Enforcement Budget Levels The enforcement budget for the Read More
DOL Provides Snapshot of ERISA Enforcement Statistics for Fiscal Year 2022
The U.S. Department of Labor (DOL)'s Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA) has released a fact sheet concerning its ERISA enforcement results for FY 2022. EBSA oversees 747,000 retirement plans, 2.5 million health plans, and 673,000 other welfare benefit plans, covering more than 152 million workers, retirees, and dependents. During FY 2022, EBSA recovered over $1.4 billion for plans, participants, and Read More
States Sue to Block DOL’s Rule Allowing Fiduciaries to Consider ESG Factors in Choosing Investments
Twenty-five states have filed to block the implementation of a U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) rule that allows fiduciaries to consider environmental, social, and governance (ESG) factors in choosing retirement investments. The states argue that the DOL rule conflicts with the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA), which requires fiduciaries to consider financial benefits first, not nonfinancial and Read More
Federal Agencies Propose Recission of ACA Moral Exemption Rule
Three federal agencies - U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), the Treasury Department, and the Department of Labor’s (DOL) Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA) – jointly published proposed rules that would rescind the “moral exemption rule” concerning Affordable Care Act (ACA) coverage of contraception. In 2018, the Trump administration enacted the policy, and the U.S. Supreme Court Read More
The Speak Out Act: What Employers Need to Know
Employers should be aware of and immediately take measures to comply with the Speak Out Act, which took effect on December 7, 2022. The Act prohibits nondisclosure agreements (NDAs) and nondisparagement agreements designed to prevent current and former employees from discussing sexual harassment and assault. Employers routinely require employees to sign NDAs and nondisparagement agreements in employment contracts, Read More
DOL, HHS, and IRS Issue Report Showing High Demand for Surprise Billing IDR Process
The U.S. Department of Labor (DOL), Health and Human Services (HHS), and Internal Revenue Service (IRS) have issued an initial joint report on the Independent Dispute Resolution (IDR) process containing two quarters of data from April 15 to September 30, 2022. Issuance of this report was delayed by the unexpectedly large volume of disputes submitted through the IDR portal, which required significant manual processing Read More
Executives Take Pay Cuts to Minimize Layoffs
According to a recent Resume Builder survey of 1,000 U.S. companies with more than 100 employees, 66% of executives have taken a pay cut during the last six months, with 94% of those executives stating that they took a pay cut to avoid layoffs of other employees. Additionally, 67% of the executives claimed that other executive employees at their company also had taken pay cuts in the past six months. Similarly, Read More
2023 Challenges for Employer Background Screenings
Employers will likely experience various challenges in 2023 as they conduct background screenings for prospective employees. These challenges will arise from heightened government oversight of automated screening technology, laws limiting access to public records and criminal history, and expanded marijuana legalization. Automated Screening Systems Employers have long had to comply with the regulations and Read More
Court Holds That Health Insurer’s TPA Activities Are Subject to ACA Section 1557
An Illinois federal judge has ruled that an insurer that acted as a third-party claims administrator (TPA) for self-insured health plans violated Section 557 of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) by excluding coverage for gender-affirming care. In C.P. v. Blue Cross Blue Shield of Ill., 2022 WL 17788148 (W.D. Wash. 2022), a class action lawsuit filed by a transgender individual and his parent, the judge found that the Read More
