Employment, Benefits & Executive Compensation

Department of Labor & SEC Issue Guidance on Target Date Funds

Mon, 2 Aug 2010 13:56:52 -0400

On May 6, 2010, the Department of Labor ("DOL") and the Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC") jointly issued an investor bulletin to help investors and plan participants better understand the operations and risks of target date fund investments. Subsequently, the SEC voted unanimously on June 16, 2010 to propose tougher disclosure rules on the investment companies that offer target date funds as an investment option. These proposals are designed to increase awareness of both the value and risks associated with target date funds.

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President Signs Into Law Pension Funding Reform Act

Wed, 28 Jul 2010 11:46:25 -0400

On June 25, 2010, President Obama signed into law, H.R. 3962, the Preservation of Access to Care for Medicare Beneficiaries and Pension Relief Act of 2010 (the "Act"). The Act provides funding relief for both single and multiemployer defined benefit pension plans and provides sponsors of such plans additional time to amortize pension funding shortfalls.

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Department of Labor Interprets FMLA to Include Coverage for Same-Sex Partners & Other Non-Traditional Families

Fri, 2 Jul 2010 15:43:58 -0400

On June 22, 2010, the U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division released an administrative interpretation clarifying the definition of "son and daughter" under the Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993 ("FMLA"). As part of the Department of Labor’s continued efforts to promote work-family balance, its issued interpretation allows all qualified employees who provide care or financial support to a child to take unpaid family leave regardless of their legal or biological relationship to the child.

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Ten Common Assumptions about the FLSA that Can Land You in Hot Water

Pamela A. Reynolds (pareynolds@brownrudnick.com) — Fri, 30 Apr 2010 10:15:51 -0400

Most employers have at least a general idea of the requirements of the Fair Labor Standards Act (the "FLSA"), however the road to FLSA compliance is riddled with pitfalls for the unwary, especially when it comes to wage and hour law.

Pamela A. Reynolds, an associate in Brown Rudnick's Washington's office, provides an overview of the more common mistakes made by unsuspecting employers involving FLSA compliance.

To learn more about these common mistakes and assumptions, please read the article titled Ten Common Assumptions about the FLSA that Can Land You in Hot Water on our website.

Department of Labor Finalizes Plan Asset Rule for Small Plans

Tue, 2 Mar 2010 15:16:30 -0500

Effective January 14, 2010, employers that sponsor pension and welfare plans with fewer than 100 participants may take up to seven (7) business days to deposit employee contributions to plan accounts.

An employer is required to deposit funds received or withheld from employee wages as contributions to certain benefit plans into the benefit plans on the earliest date on which the contributions can reasonably be segregated from the employer’s general assets. The Department of Labor’s (DOL) Employee Benefits Security Administration, which is responsible for the enforcement of this issue, has taken a very aggressive position that "as soon as reasonably segregated" means, in some cases, one to two business days. The Employee Benefits Security Administration, acknowledged that there has been uncertainty as to how soon an employer must deposit employee contributions to the benefit plans in order to avoid the requirements associated with holding plan assets. To this end, the final rule creates a safe harbor to "provide greater clarity in remitting participant contributions to small pension and welfare plans in a timely manner," states Assistant Secretary of Labor Phyllis C. Borzi.

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President Obama Extends COBRA Subsidy Implications for Eligible Individuals and Plan Administrators

Tue, 12 Jan 2010 11:24:26 -0500

On December 21, 2009, President Obama signed legislation that effective immediately extends the COBRA subsidy period, originally provided as part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA), by six months and extends the eligibility period for the COBRA subsidy through February 28, 2010. This extension does not change the length of time an individual is eligible for COBRA continuation coverage itself, however. It only applies to subsidized premiums during the statutory 18-month COBRA continuation period.

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FLSA Advice for Tough Economic Times

(Shlomo D. Katz) skatz@brownrudnick.com — Fri, 29 May 2009 11:20:28 -0400

One of the mantras of the current economic downturn has been, "Do more with less." For some employees, this has meant, "Do more for less," i.e., work longer hours for lower wages. For other employees, this has meant, "Do less for less," i.e., be furloughed for (hopefully) short periods in order to save one’s job in the long run.
Employers considering pay cuts, furloughs and other cost-cutting measures must consider a host of laws, potentially including the Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification (WARN) Act, the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) and the Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act (USERRA) among other federal and state statutes. Often employers want to know to how the Fair Labor Standards (FLSA) may affect furlough plans, and that is the subject of this article.

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Stimulus Bill Expands HIPAA Privacy and Security Requirements

Tue, 7 Apr 2009 14:49:42 -0400

In addition to the massive spending provisions of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (the "ARRA" or the "Stimulus Bill") the bill significantly expands the applicability of the Privacy and Security Rules of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA). These changes are likely to have a profound impact throughout the healthcare industry. Title XIII of the ARRA, entitled "Health Information Technology," also known as the "Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health Act (HITECH Act)," purports to rectify certain perceived weaknesses within the privacy and security regime created by HIPAA. While there are a number of provisions with different effective dates, covered entities and business associates must comply with most of the new provisions discussed below by February 10, 2010.

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