On February 18, 2021, the United States Citizenship Act was introduced into the U.S. House of Representatives as a comprehensive immigration reform bill that President Biden said would “restore justice, humanity, and order to our immigration system.” The 353-page bill follows through on a number of President Biden’s campaign promises, including a direct path to citizenship for “Dreamers” - undocumented immigrants Read More

The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) has withdrawn two proposed new rules regarding what type of incentives employers can provide to their workforce as part of an employee wellness program without violating the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) or Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act (GINA). On January 20, 2021, the White House issued a memorandum instructing the heads of executive Read More

On February 25, 2021, the U.S. House of Representatives passed the Equality Act, legislation that would prohibit discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity. Specifically, the bill states that “existing federal statutes prohibiting sex discrimination in employment (including in access to benefits), healthcare, housing, education, credit, and jury service also prohibit sexual orientation and Read More

On February 23, 2021, the DOL sent a new proposed regulation on joint employment status under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) to the White House Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA) for regulatory review.  Background In March 2020, the DOL issued a final rule regarding the determination of joint employer status under the FLSA. The rule defined a joint employer as any additional “person” (i.e., Read More

On February 25, 2021, the DOL issued guidance to state unemployment agencies that expands the eligibility of employees who declined to work due to pandemic safety concerns to receive Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (PUA). The new guidance expanded PUA eligibility to three categories of employees: Workers receiving unemployment benefits who had their continued regular unemployment benefits’ claims denied Read More

The American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 (ARPA) includes a provision to help unemployed workers by authorizing a 100% subsidy of COBRA health insurance premiums through September 30, 2021. The ARPA was signed into law by President Biden on March 11, 2021. Under the ARPA, employers would receive the subsidy through a payroll tax credit against their quarterly taxes. Employees who lost their jobs due to the pandemic and Read More

In January 2021, the IRS issued Rev. Proc. 2021-4, which includes annual updates to certain procedures including determination letter requests, private letter rulings, and employee plan tax information.  Key updates to 2020 procedures are as follows: Form 5310. Form 5310, Application for Determination for a Terminating Plan, must be filed electronically starting August 1, 2021. Form 5310 may also be followed Read More

On January 22, 2021, President Biden issued an Executive Order on Protecting the Federal Workforce that instructed the Director of the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) to provide him with a report “with recommendations to promote a $15/hour minimum wage for Federal employees.” In addition to raising the federal minimum wage, the Executive Order overturned three of the previous administration’s executive orders Read More

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

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