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Retirees’ right to vested health benefits for life did not preclude a manufacturer of agricultural and construction equipment from reducing or restricting those benefits, the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals recently held in a split decision. In doing so, the circuit rejected the retirees’ argument that the company could not change the “scope” of […]
Plan sponsors that offer company stock in their retirement plan should watch carefully the results of a recent appellate court reversal that will allow participants in .’s defined contribution retirement plan to pursue an ERISA class action against the bank. They claim it endangered their savings by including company stock in their retirement plan shortly […]
While the focus of late has been on complying with disclosure requirements from the U.S. Department of Labor, the Securities and Exchange Commission has its own set of disclosure criteria that 403(b) plans must follow. Specifically, 403(b) contracts that offer variable investment funds are subject to the jurisdiction of the Securities Act of 1933, the […]
Under COBRA’s small-employer exception, employers with fewer than 20 employees do not have to offer COBRA coverage upon what would otherwise be “qualifying events.” This determination is made based on how many employees were employed, on average, during the prior calendar year. When purchasing group coverage, it is important for employers to be mindful of […]
Health risk assessments and biometrics, while an important source of wellness data, are not always the best place to start when implementing a wellness program, a wellness expert said in a Thompson Interactive webinar. “Think through your culture and what you’ve been doing,” said Brad Cooper, CEO of US Corporate Wellness. Many companies started with […]
Plans face new a new erosion of their powers to recover the full amount of benefits paid in third-party recovery cases. Attorneys with Epstein Becker and Green discussed these and other trends in a Sept. 13 audio conference on benefit claim denial litigation. Plans Face Diminishing Ability to Recover The growing ability of plaintiffs to […]
Reimbursement rates for lodging, meals and incidental expenses for fiscal year 2013, which begins Oct. 1, will be frozen at FY 2012 levels, the U.S. General Services Administration announced Aug. 27. GSA is the arm of the federal government that sets travel policy for federal employees. The reimbursement rates, commonly called per diems, determine the […]
What Is HR Responsible For? HR covers a lot of territory as the chart shows. No surprise that benefits and compliance are near universal, but it is interesting that 43% are responsible for safety/security, 10% have operational responsibilities, and 15% wear a facilities management hat. Type of Responsibility Percent of respondents indicating they have that […]
Employers may use look-back periods of up to 12 months, rather than a shorter period as initially established — to average out how many hours an employee works per week, which is a necessity when calculating an employer’s obligation under reform’s play-or-pay provisions. IRS Notice 2012-58 may help some employers escape erroneous shared-responsibility payments under health […]
A Christian liberal arts college lost a bid to secure a court ruling that would both characterize the health reform’s contraceptive mandate as improper and enjoin the government from enforcing it. It’s one of 26 challenges to the mandate that health plans cover contraceptives without patient cost-sharing. On Aug. 24, the U.S. District Court for […]