Compliance

The Department of Labor issued fresh guidance on how businesses should distinguish between employees and independent contractors, noting misclassification of employees has been on the rise throughout the U.S.

When mistakes are made on benefit plan audits, plan administrators can experience significant hardships, including rejections of Form 5500 filings, which can result in fines of up to $1,000 per day.

A group of lawmakers has introduced legislation to roll back guidance from the Treasury Department that prohibits employers from using stand-alone health reimbursement arrangements to reimburse employees for health care-related expenses.

Commentary: The ACA’s Cadillac tax is like a patient, powerful hurricane moving across the Atlantic. If it makes landfall, the impact will be dramatic.

Plan sponsors can choose from three outside providers: Mesirow Financial, Morningstar Associates and Wilshire Associates.

Commentary: Questions plan sponsors should be asking of their insurance carrier, payroll vendor and benefits technology provider in advance of the ACA’s information reporting requirements.

Known as Explanation No 9, the document is to be used in conjunction with Form 8387, Worksheet 9 – Determination of Qualification and Form 8399, Deficiency Checksheet 9.

Friday’s landmark ruling on gay marriage poses both challenges and benefits to employers.

Eliminating subsidies ‘would destabilize the individual insurance market in any state with a federal exchange,’ Chief Roberts says.

Today, in a 6-3 decision written by Chief Justice Roberts, the Supreme Court ruled in King v. Burwell that subsidies used to purchase health insurance in the 36 states on the federally facilitated marketplace are legal, thus avoiding the “death spiral” so often referred to by Congress. What does this ruling mean for employers?

The time of “what-ifs” for employers ended Thursday as the U.S. Supreme Court issued its ruling upholding the challenge to state subsidies in King v. Burwell, and employers should maintain business as usual going forward, according to most industry observers.

A 6-3 decision in favor of the HHS secretary in King v. Burwell means tax credits can continue to be used to purchase health coverage in states using the federal exchange.

Brokers and agents welcome legislation introduced Tuesday to the Senate that would enhance broker access to information about marketplace enrollment, leveling the playing field with navigators and assisters.

Commentary: The vast majority of employers are not prepared to meet — and some remain simply unaware of — the employer mandate’s complex reporting obligations.

Commentary: The filing deadline is approaching, and employers risk costly penalties for noncompliance. Here’s what employers need to know, including updates to these forms, which must be filed by July 31.

Ending the Cadillac tax, simplifying the reporting process and eliminating the automatic enrollment requirement are a few of the legislative recommendations the American Benefits Council is urging Congress to act on.

Benefit advisers in several states have received new fee arrangements from Aetna that eliminate commissions on small-group business, causing an uproar among brokers, many of whom question the legality of such a practice.

Commentary: Regardless of the federal minimum wage, companies must continue to comply with each state’s wage laws or face hefty fines and other penalties.

Small-size employers with between 51 and 100 employees currently in large-business group health plans will have to transition to small-business group plans upon their renewal on or after Jan. 1, 2016.

Even when plan fiduciaries hire outside service providers to manage the 401(k) plan, they still maintain fiduciary responsibility for certain functions.