Labor & Employment Developments Blog

In a recent Revenue Procedure (Rev. Proc. 2019-20), the IRS announced the limited expansion of the determination letter program for individually designed plans.  The program is limited to (1) certain cash balance plans and (2) retirement plans that merge as the result of a corporate transaction.  The window for determination letter submissions for eligible cash balance plans will run from September 1, 2019 to August 31, 2020.  Submissions for merged plans will begin on September 1, 2019 and will be ongoing.

This opportunity is especially important for cash balance plans since the IRS ...

On April 9, 2019, Kentucky Governor Matt Bevin (R) signed the Pregnant Workers Act, SB 18, which requires employers who have at least 15 employees in Kentucky to provide reasonable accommodations to employees for pregnancy, childbirth, and related medical conditions. The law becomes effective on June 27, 2019.

The U.S. Department of Labor Employee Benefits Security Administration (“EBSA”) discovered that William H. Minor, a former board member of Rehabilitation Center for Children & Adults Inc. who also volunteered to manage its pension plan, embezzled approximately $2 million from the pension plan.  Minor operated Multi Financial Insurance Corp. an entity that provided investment advice and administrative services to pension plans. 

EBSA discovered that Minor moved the plan’s assets to a life insurance company with which Minor was a registered agent.  Minor then falsely ...

The Justice Department filed a letter in the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals on March 25, 2019 (Letter) supporting the decision of a Texas District Court ruling that the Affordable Care Act (“ACA”) is unconstitutional.  In its ruling (Ruling), the District Court held the individual mandate under the ACA is unconstitutional given the passage of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017.  The court further held that the remaining provisions of the ACA are also unconstitutional because those provisions cannot be severed from the individual mandate.  The Justice Department intends to file a ...

The IRS reversed its previous position that prohibited defined benefit plan sponsors from offering lump payments to terminated participants currently receiving annuity payments.  The IRS announced in Notice 2019-18 that until further guidance is issued it will not assert that a plan amendment providing for a retiree lump sum window program violates Section 401(a)(9) of the Internal Revenue Code.  The Notice also provides that the IRS will evaluate the plan amendment to ensure it satisfies the relevant provisions of the Code. 

Based on this latest development, it appears plan ...

On March 7^th, the Department of Labor revealed its proposal to revise the overtime requirements for workers across the country. The salary threshold at which employees can be eligible for overtime pay was last increased in 2004 during the George W. Bush Administration and set at the current level of $24,000 per year. In May of 2016, the Department of Labor under the Barack Obama Administration issued its own revisions to the overtime requirement, raising the salary threshold to $47,476 per year. These revisions were set to go into effect December 1, 2016, but Court challenges ...

A common provision in employment agreements may no longer be enforceable, at least for employers in Kentucky.

Earlier today the Supreme Court announced its decision in Epic Systems Corp. v. Lewis, holding in a 5-4 split that arbitration agreements providing for individualized proceedings must be enforced. Arbitration provisions in employment contracts are quite common and often include language specifically limiting employees to individualized arbitration proceedings as opposed to class action proceedings or joint-arbitration.

Auto service advisors are overtime-exempt under the Fair Labor Standards Act. The Supreme Court’s 5-4 decision in Encino Motorcars, LLC v. Navarro clarified the scope of a 2011 regulation issued by the Department of Labor that excluded service advisors from the definition of “salesman” under 29 U.S.C. §213(b)(10)(A).

What a difference a presidency makes. Under President Trump, the National Labor Relations Board is continuing to take steps to distance itself from some of the more controversial decisions it issued during the administration of President Barack Obama.  This latest action came on January 26, 2018, when the Board announced it was extending the deadline for filing responses to the Board's Request for Information, regarding the Board’s Representation Election Regulations.