Compliance

As plan sponsors continue to work through Affordable Care Act compliance, there has been some confusion about what types of plans are being sponsored. Here’s a look at the basics of these plans.

Stephen M. Saxon, chairman of the Groom Law Group, says little is getting done on important retirement issues in Washington because of the mandated government budget cuts known as sequestration.

The decision holds that the federal court may only review “whether the arbitrator (even arguably) interpreted the parties’ contract, not whether he got its meaning right or wrong” in contemplating class arbitration.

The establishment of a national clearing house for brokers to cut through the red tape of state-by-state licensing is one step closer to reality.

Since its passage in 2008, the Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act has largely just affected HIPAA notice requirements and wellness plans. But this month the EEOC settled its first case under the law and should serve as a reminder to employers about what it really means.

The U.S. Senate bill that would take broker compensation out of the medical loss ratio equation hasn't moved in the more than two months since it was introduced. Not surprising given recesses and outings by top administration officials to discuss broader issues, like the budget, in front of Senate committees. But what are the chances of this bill gaining any ground in the 113th Congress?

Employee benefits lawyers analyze the new health care reform rules, including the five requirements all wellness programs must have.

The Departments of Labor, Treasury and Health and Human Services issued what are being called final rules on employment-based wellness programs, and advocacy groups immediately weighed in on the changes, which were required under the Affordable Care Act.

With health care appeals, a plan administrator can simply grant the appeal .

Although the Supreme Court could issue a broad ruling in Hollingsworth that would decide the constitutionality of all state laws banning recognition of same-sex marriage, a narrow ruling limited to Proposition 8 is expected.

Two businesses, a construction firm from southwestern Illinois and an auto-parts maker in southeastern Indiana, are scheduled today to ask the U.S. Court of Appeals in Chicago for an order barring enforcement.

A top Republican reached an agreement yesterday with Democrats on changes to a high-skilled visa program for immigrants seeking work in the U.S. This marks one impediment out of the way for the immigration legislation.

The court observed that a person is a fiduciary only “to the extent” it exercises authority or control over plan assets in a case involving a small prosthetic limbs manufacturer and American United Life.

The U.S. Department of Labor’s Employee Benefits Security Administration has issued new guidance on the Affordable Care Act requirement that employers provide employees with a notice of their health insurance coverage options available through the future health insurance exchanges.

Determining if your coverage is affordable is only one of several steps employers need to take before the end of the year, and that’s not even considering the preparations they should have made already.

Thus, in this case, the plaintiffs had an initial burden of showing they carried flex hours forward into a new work week (in violation of the FLSA), or went entirely unpaid for those hours – a burden they did not satisfy.

A spike in reports of temporary workers suffering fatal injuries on the job has spurred a new initiative to protect them.

Although the Supreme Court only recently took up the constitutionality of same-sex marriage, the issue has been around since the early 2000s, when large employers began to voluntarily offer health coverage to same-sex domestic partners.

The IRS has proposed rules for the 90 day period between employers offering coverage and deciding when employees will get coverage.

Our nation’s highest court overturned a ruling recently that would have allowed the simple rewrite of terms of an ERISA-governed plan. The case is McCutchen v. U.S. Airways. Find out what it means for employers.