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A U.S. bankruptcy court judge has denied a request by American Airlines parent company to abandon collective bargaining agreements with its pilots in an effort to save more than $1 billion a year in labor and benefit costs.
While employers are loath to spend money in a tight economy, it is no longer reasonable for plan sponsors to avoid having specialists assisting them in dealing with their benefit plans.
Workers compensation benefits declined to $57.5 billion in 2010, according to a new report by the National Academy of Social Insurance.Workers compensation benefits declined to $57.5 billion in 2010, according to a new report by the National Academy of Social Insurance.
Although its unclear when obesity is deemed severe enough to constitute an ADA-protected disability, it is now clear that morbid obesity warrants such protection.
While retirement plan sponsors do not have a fiduciary obligation to tell participants that they have made an unwise investment choice, they should limit investment options to strategies that meet the acceptable diversification criteria outlined in ERISA.
The Labor Department this week issued guidance on rules requiring companies to disclose 401(k) fees to employees that will be welcome news to most employers. But for some small companies with 401(k) plans, the guidance may raise more questions, experts said.
It's important to maintain strong relationships with employee benefit advisers who provide professional services at reasonable fees. However, employers must periodically question why they maintain certain relationships, particularly if fees appear to be higher than usual and/or service has declined. Sometimes a relationship is maintained with a vendor due to a long-term friendship. Other times it's maintained due to the influence of a parent corporation or for other business reasons. In all circumstances, employers should periodically evaluate vendors, fees and services, and ensure that no undue influences exist. For this reason, many employers should consider establishing a formal ERISA fiduciary gift policy.
While President Barack Obama's open support of same-sex marriage hasn't caused any immediate change in federal law, the 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Boston ruled recently that part of the Defense of Marriage Act – which denies federal benefits to same-sex married couples – is unconstitutional and cannot be enforced. Noting that a "Supreme Court review of DOMA is highly likely," however, the 1st Circuit put the ruling on hold.
As employers brace for significant changes in pension law, they will need to review their impact on minimum-funding contributions, PBGC premiums and current funding-based benefit restrictions, as well as employee communications and funding and investment strategies.
Altera Corp. and the Internal Revenue Service are battling in U.S. Tax Court over the semiconductor makers handling of employee stock-based compensation and a unit in the low-tax Cayman Islands.
A selected list of pending and resolved lawsuits involving racial harassment allegations offers a teachable moment about the need for sensitivity training, as well as whats offensive, harassing and illegal.
The health care trust affiliated with the United Auto Workers named a former Stanford University official and Hewlett-Packard Co executive to manage its $54 billion in assets earmarked for retiree medical benefits.
In April, the Internal Revenue Service issued proposed regulations on collecting fees from health insurance issuers and self-insured group health plan sponsors for establishing the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Trust Fund, as required under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. The fund provides funding for a new Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute. PPACA requires the Institute to conduct research to evaluate and compare health outcomes and the clinical effectiveness, risks, and benefits of medical treatments, services, procedures, drugs and other strategies or items that treat, manage, diagnose or prevent illness or injury.
Now that the high court has upheld all Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act provisions pertaining to employers, the focus shifts to numerous compliance obligations and possible economic implications of fully implementing the health care reform law.
As I was thinking about a topic to share my "vast" knowledge and information with my benefit peers, it occurred to me just how much I don't know. If it's not regulations and politics yanking our chain, it's the financial markets undoing what we thought we knew historically about trends; it's our employee demographics changing; it's the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation changing rates and the Department of Labor issuing guidance; it's the vendor and consultant landscape changing with mergers or core business focus; and it's the evolution in financial products. So here are the many things I am not:
A former human resources employee who worked for Bernard L. Madoff Investment Securities pleaded guilty to five criminal counts, including sending forms to the Department of Labor about people who were not employed by the firm, even though they were on payroll and provided benefits. He also admitted to filing false U.S. individual income tax returns. The charges carry a maximum possible prison term of 19 years.
A couple months ago, a client's management team asked whether I agreed with their existing practice of automatically excluding from consideration for employment all candidates with criminal records. I advised them that I could not bless such a blanket disqualification, and I counseled them about how to modify their practice going forward.
Despite recent tax reform proposals, experts testified at a House committee hearing April 26 that cutting incentives for retirement plans would be detrimental to savings.
The Department of Health and Human Services announced in March that Blue Cross Blue Shield of Tennessee agreed to pay the agency $1.5 million to settle a potential HIPAA violation – the first resulting from a breach under the HITECH Act's (Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health) breach notification rule, which requires covered entities to report an impermissible use or disclosure of protected health information of 500 individuals or more to HHS and the media.
Employers around the country are waking up to a serious and unexpected problem with their health care flexible spending accounts. The health reform law enacted several years ago quietly limited these popular “FSA” benefits to $2,500 per year, effective January 1, 2013. But the express terms of the law conflict with the explanation provided by Congress, and many employers are scratching their heads trying to figure out when plans must be changed to meet the