August 13, 2020
FFCRA Leave Department of Labor Temporary Regulations Update
The U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) has released temporary regulations implementing the Emergency Family Medical Leave Expansion Act (EFMLEA) and the Emergency Paid Sick Leave Act (EPSLA) provisions under the Families First Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRA). The EFMLEA provides qualifying ...
August 5, 2020
Compliance Recap | July 2020
July was a busy month in the employee benefits world. The U.S. Supreme Court (Supreme Court) upheld the religious exemption and moral exemption final rules to the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA) contraceptive mandate. The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) released the indexed 2021 ...
July 21, 2020
Proposed Rules on Grandfathered Group Health Plan Coverage
In response the President’s Executive Order 13765 “Minimizing the Economic Burden of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act Pending Repeal” issued on January 20, 2017, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), Department of Labor (DOL), and the Department of the Treasury ...
July 14, 2020
Be Ready for ACA Penalty Letters
Employers should start gearing up for IRS penalty letters issued under the Affordable Care Act. According to an announcement posted on the IRS website, the IRS has “has postponed mailing and responding to Employer Shared Responsibility Payment (ESRP] related correspondence until after ...
July 9, 2020
The CARES Act Paycheck Protection Program
In response to the spread of the 2019 Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19), President Trump signed the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (CARES Act) into law on March 27, 2020. The CARES Act is the third phase in Congress’ response to COVID-19 following the Coronavirus Preparedness and ...
July 8, 2020
Contraception Mandate Rolled Back for Employers
Updated July 2020 The Department of the Treasury (Treasury), Department of Labor (DOL), and Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) (collectively, the Departments) released two final rules on November 7, 2018, regarding contraceptive coverage exemptions. These rules finalize the ...
July 7, 2020
Compliance Recap | June 2020
June was a busy month in the employee benefits world. The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) released the updated patient-centered outcomes research institute (PCORI) fee amount and announced transition relief. The Department of Health and Human Services’ Office for Civil Rights (OCR) published a ...
July 3, 2020
FAQs on Health Plan Coverage under the FFCRA and the CARES Act Part 2
The Department of Labor (DOL), Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), and the Department of the Treasury (collectively, the Departments), issued frequently asked questions (FAQs) regarding implementation of the Families First Coronavirus Response Act (the FFCRA), the Coronavirus Aid, ...
June 30, 2020
FAQs on Health Plan Coverage under the FFCRA and the CARES Act
The Department of Labor (DOL), Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), and Department of the Treasury (Treasury) (collectively, the Departments) have released frequently asked questions (FAQs) regarding group health plan coverage requirements under the Families First Coronavirus Response ...
June 22, 2020
What HR Teams Need to Know About Productivity Monitoring
Even before the pandemic, remote work was trending upward. From 2017 to 2018, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics found that 28.8 percent of college graduates were working from home for all or some of the work week. After COVID-19, that percentage has skyrocketed—roughly two-thirds of the ...
