Compliance

Prior to 2006, employers were required to submit determination letter requests to the IRS during certain periods. These periods - during which plans were required to be amended for various tax acts, such as the Economic Growth and Tax Relief Reconciliation Act of 2001 - are referred to as the remedial amendment periods. In Revenue Procedure 2005-66, as modified by Revenue Procedure 2007-44, the IRS created a staggered determination letter program. This process was established to spread the IRS' work over a period of years, thus freeing up resources to perform retirement plan audits. The periods to submit qualified retirement plans for determination letters are based upon a plan sponsor's employer identification number.

Last Thursday, Sen. Johnny Isakson (R-GA) introduced the Representation Fairness Restoration Act (S. 1843), a bill that would effectively revoke the National Labor Relations Board’s recent decision in Specialty Healthcare, and establish criteria for determining an appropriate bargaining unit. In Specialty Healthcare, the Board determined a petitioned-for unit will be deemed appropriate so long as that unit consists of a clearly identifiable group of employees. If an employer contends that the unit should include additional…

Harassment training? If you read the title of this blog out loud and heard groans from other people in your office, I understand. In fact, when I have done harassment training for clients, I have heard every complaint and bad joke about harassment training there is. Harassment training is one of those dreaded exercises by employees and management alike. Indeed, harassment training has become comedy fodder for many a tv sitcom. My personal favorite is still…

New York insurance companies that were not covering the screening, diagnosis and treatment for autism spectrum disorders will now be mandated to do so effective Nov. 1, 2012.

The Department of Labor has slightly delayed the deadlines on significant new affirmative obligations for fiduciaries of retirement plans subject to the Employee Retirement Income Security Act.

A California appellate court has carved out an exception to the general rule that employers in California have a duty to reimburse legal expenses of employees whenever they are sued over conduct engaged in during the course and scope of their employment. No such duty exists, the court held, when the employer sues the employee—even if the employee is ultimately successful in defending the case. …

The Hertz car rental company said last week that 26 Muslim drivers at Seattle's airport who sent termination letters in a dispute over prayer breaks could still return to work if they signed an agreement over break rules by the end of the day.

In Tomlinson v. El Paso Corporation, the United States Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit recently held that El Paso Corporation’s transition to a cash balance pension plan did not violate federal anti-age discrimination and pension laws. In doing so, the court offered important guidance to employers that provide pension benefits to their employees. …

Amidst resistance and apparent confusion surrounding its new employee rights notice-posting rule, the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) has pushed back the rule’s effective date by more than two months. Employers affected by the rule must now post the notice by January 31, 2012. The rule, which requires employers to post a notice of workplace employee rights under the National Labor Relations Act, was previously slated to go into effect November 14, 2011. The NLRB…

An Iowa administrative law judge has blasted QC Mart convenience store owner William Ernst for operating a "firing contest."

The IRS recently issued Notice 2011‐72 and a Memorandum for All Field Examination Operations, which provide a road‐map for employers to avoid taxing employees on cell phone expenses. Following the de‐listing of cell phones as "listed property" from Code section 274(d) last year, there has continued to be some uncertainty on the proper tax treatment of employer‐provided cell phones (and reimbursements of cell phone costs). This guidance, summarized below, clarifies the proper tax treatment and…

Historically, the retirement industry hasn't been required to publish all fees and expenses associated with 401(k) products. That's about to change.

An Arab-American who is a former employee of PricewaterhouseCoopers has filed suit against the firm, claiming he was terminated after he told an internal newsletter that he thought "there is room for improvement" in PwC's diversity practices.

Until recently, most legal practitioners considered Illinois law well established in the area of employee restrictive covenants, including non-compete and non-solicitation agreements. Now, however, things could easily be described as a bit murky because recent decisions have called into question some basic principles of restrictive covenants. One Illinois appellate court, for example, has completely gone its own way, cavalierly jettisoning long-accepted jurisprudence. Another court has been at least willing to consider modifying well-known principles. So,…

The Federal Reserve's ‘Operation Twist’ to bring down bond yields and stimulate the economy is likely to cause pain for the nation's largest pension funds, already struggling with funding shortfalls from the recent stock market decline.

The Financial Accounting Standards Board has released a new Accounting Standards Update aimed at improving employer disclosures for multiple-employer pension plans.

Investment advisor advocates are breathing easier after the Department of Labor announced Monday that it has pulled its current proposal on the definition of a fiduciary off the table. The agency will take up the issue in early 2012 and repropose a fiduciary definition after more industry input. For now, the move provides a reprieve for advisors who were worried that the current proposals would encumber firms with costly restrictions on how they deliver advice to…

On September 7, 2011, California Gov. Jerry Brown signed into law an act prohibiting discrimination based upon "genetic information." The new law becomes effective on January 1, 2012 and, in the context of employment discrimination, covers California employers who regularly employ five or more workers. California already prohibits discrimination in the context of employment, housing and the provision of business services when such discrimination is based upon certain "protected" characteristics, including race, sex, age, disability and…

A little over a year ago, I wrote a column about my plans to jump on the dependent eligibility verification audit bandwagon, along with thousands of other employers eager to remove ineligible dependents from their health insurance plans to hedge against ever-rising health care costs.

A Borders Group Inc unit failed to give its workers proper notice of mass layoffs when it announced plans to liquidate in July, a new lawsuit alleges.