Labor & Employment Developments Blog

Over the past week, the number of confirmed cases of Coronavirus (COVID-19) in the United States has more than doubled.  Most employers are considering measures to help them navigate the impact of Coronavirus in the workplace.  The problem employers face is that employment laws were simply not written with scenarios like the Coronavirus crisis in mind. 

We previously reported on Retirement Plans Committee of IBM et al. v. Larry W. Jander, in our June 2019 newsletter which was an employer stock-drop case from the Second Circuit.

There’s good news and bad news under President Trump’s new spending package, which includes the Further Consolidated Appropriations Act (“FCAA”). 

As reported in our June 2019 newsletter, the Ninth Circuit in Intel Corp. Investment Policy Committee et al. v. Sulyma addressed when a participant has actual knowledge of a potential fiduciary breach.

The Transparency in Coverage Proposed Rule aims to give individuals greater access to health care pricing information. The proposals essentially require most group health plans, including self-insured plans, to disclose price and cost-sharing information to participants and beneficiaries. More specifically, not only do these rules require disclosure of cost-sharing estimates, plans would also be required to disclose negotiated rates for in-network providers and allowed amounts paid for out-of-network (OON) providers. Out-of-pocket cost information would be provided ...

The First Circuit unanimously found that two Sun Capital private equity funds could not be held jointly and severally liable for multiemployer defined benefit pension plan withdrawal liability incurred by a bankrupt portfolio company. The lower court based its liability ruling on its finding that the funds were partners in an implied partnership-in-fact which was engaged in a “trade or business.” However, on appeal the First Circuit disagreed and found that several factors rebutting the partnership-in-fact formation were too greatly discounted by the lower court. The ...

Once again, the IRS extended the due date for certain 2019 ACA information reporting requirements in Notice 2019-63. The due date for furnishing Form 1095-C (and 1095-B) to employees is extended from January 31, 2020, to March 2, 2020. (The due date for filing with the IRS remains unchanged at February 28, 2020, or March 31, 2020, if filing electronically). In addition, the IRS will not impose a penalty for failure to furnish Form 1095-C to any employee enrolled in an ALE member's self-insured health plan who is not a full-time employee for any month of 2019 if certain conditions are met ...

Lawsuits by 401(k) plan participants related to employer stock in a 401(k) plan are nothing new. These lawsuits typically allege that ERISA plan fiduciaries failed to protect employees' retirement savings when the employer stock price falls. In the wake of the U.S. Supreme Court's Dudenhoeffer decision, which included the elimination of the presumption of prudence, these suits are often dismissed. However, during oral arguments for the case of IBM et al. v. Jander et al., the Supreme Court is now faced with reconciling the tension between federal securities law and ERISA ...

Plans and issuers will be required to use the new 2021 Summary of Benefits and Coverage (SBC) template in connection with coverage and plan years beginning on or after January 1, 2021. Updated instructions and other materials are also available on the agencies' websites. Specifically,

• The new form revises the minimum essential coverage statement to reference the impact on premium tax credit eligibility, and removes the reference to the individual mandate (given the mandate has been effectively eliminated),
• Likewise, the Uniform Glossary has removed references to the ...

This month the IRS announced increased retirement plan contribution limits for 2020. Employees in 401(k) plans will be able to contribute up to $19,500 next year, and the catch-up contribution limit for employees aged 50 and over has increased from $6,000 to $6,500. The complete list of notable employer retirement plan increases are summarized below:

The increased contribution limits for employer sponsored retirement plans stand in contrast to the more stagnant limits for IRAs: the limit on annual contributions to an IRA is unchanged at $6,000, along with the IRA ...