Regulation

Employers focused on Obamacare may be missing one of today’s most important compliance issues: benefits for same-sex married couples. Since June 2013, when the United States Supreme Court ruled in U.S. v. Windsor that a federal statute limiting the terms “spouse” and “marriage” to couples of the opposite sex was unconstitutional, a sea-change has taken place in national attitudes about same-sex marriage.

The IRS has launched a compliance check program to better understand how plan sponsors are complying with Roth deferral provisions in 401(k) plans. If asked to participate, failure to to respond could trigger an audit.

The state of Massachusetts officially repealed the employer pay-or-play regulations that were part of its landmark 2006 health care reform law. Similar to the employer mandate in the Affordable Care Act, the state statute required employers of a certain size to either offer health care coverage to their employees or pay a fine.

Changes to the federal Workforce Investment Act will increase accountability for national job-training programs and shift the emphasis to employer-led education in growth industries.

Why it’s important to prepare your employer clients now for this ACA filing due in early 2016.

This figure is about one-third less than previously estimated, after the Obama administration created exemptions from the fine.

Commentary: Blogger Craig Hasday highlights several recent federal regulations that could point to a change in the air for the insurance industry.

Millions of ACA application inconsistencies come as no surprise to benefit advisers and could trigger an influx of business to brokers from confused 2015 ACA enrollees.

Commentary: Why your clients should consider allowing work from home as a part of disability recovery for certain employees.

Business and education leaders are emphasizing an even greater need for immigration reform in the U.S. as highly skilled employees are being lost due to visa restrictions.