The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) announced recently that it intends to issue proposed regulations in the next 60 days to clarify its enforcement authority under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) with respect to wellness programs offered by...
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (“HHS”), Office for Civil Rights (“OCR”), released a bulletin last week addressing how covered entities (including certain health care providers and employer group health plans) and their business associates must...
As a part of its health plan audits for Fiscal Year 2015, we expect the Department of Labor (DOL) Employee Benefit Security Administration (EBSA) to continue to focus on compliance, especially given the group health plan reform mandates of the Patient Protection &...
As fall open enrollment approaches, now is the time for Plan Sponsors to reevaluate their wellness programs and confirm that they comply with the regulations issued under the Affordable Care Act. The Departments of Labor, Treasury, and Health and Human Services have...
The Wage and Hour Division of the Department of Labor has recently escalated enforcement initiatives throughout the U.S. to identify and remedy labor violations in the restaurant industry. The Department of Labor views low-wage workers who lack knowledge of the law...
The Department of Labor (DOL) has broad authority to investigate and audit employers’ benefit plans for compliance with the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA). The DOL’s Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA) performs the audits. DOL audits...
On Monday July 14, 2014, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (“EEOC”) issued new enforcement guidance on pregnancy discrimination. The guidance was issued by the EEOC on a 3-2 vote. This guidance updates and replaces the Commission’s 1983 guidance. The...
The Supreme Court dealt a limited blow to organized labor on June 30, 2014 by holding in Harris v. Quinn that home health care workers in Illinois cannot be compelled to financially support a union they don’t wish to join. But the court declined to strike down a...
On June 30, 2014, the Supreme Court ruled that Hobby Lobby and other family owned and closely held for-profit companies can opt out of the Affordable Care Act’s requirement to provide no-cost prescription contraception in most health insurance plans. Hobby Lobby’s...
On June 12, 2014, the Supreme Court unanimously upheld a Seventh Circuit decision that said inherited IRAs do not enjoy the protections of IRAs in bankruptcy proceedings. The petitioner in Clark v. Rameker, Trustee, Hedi Heffron-Clark, inherited an IRA worth about...
