Insights

On June 24, 2022, the Department of Labor and Employment issued guidance for the state's Healthy Families and Workplaces Act (the Act). The guidance focuses on how sick pay accrues and leave taken for public health emergencies. Starting in 2021, the Act requires employers to provide employees one hour of paid sick leave for every 30 hours worked, up to 48 hours per year, and unused hours can carry forward into the next year. The guidance states that any unused hours carried over into a subseque

The US Supreme Court's recent decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization overturned Roe v. Wade and eliminated federal constitutional restrictions on state laws regulating abortion. Significantly, Dobbs impacts whether and how an employer offers abortion coverage and reimburses travel costs through or alongside an employer-sponsored group health plan. This special webinar covers the various benefits compliance and employment issues that employers should consider as they weigh the

During this Breaking Benefits session, we touch on the positive impact that a focus on financial wellness can have on your organization and its people. Leave with tools to help your employees gain financial literacy. WellCents is a guidance based, beginning to end retirement solution to help employees create confidence in their financial life. Our goal is to help employees reach a successful and financially secure retirement by becoming financial well. How does it work? Financial Wellness Asse

Typically, group life insurance coverage ends when active employment ends. But there is often a right to convert group coverage to an individual policy built into the plan. Conversion rights and the process of converting a group life plan to an individual policy are controlled by the specific plan terms. Note that some state laws require that carriers and/or employers provide certain conversion rights and notices to employees. A carrier agreement may require employers to assist with this. It ma

On June 27, 2022, Secretaries Xavier Becerra, Marty Walsh and Janet L. Yellen of the U.S. Departments of Health and Human Services, Labor, and Treasury (the departments) issued an open letter to group health plans and health insurance issuers addressing obligations under the Affordable Care Act (ACA) to cover contraceptive services at no cost. Though these coverage requirements have been in place for more than a decade, the departments noted persistent and troubling reports of noncomplianc

On June 29, 2022, the Office of Civil Rights (OCR) issued guidance concerning the disclosure of private health information (PHI) by covered entities pursuant to state law or a request by law enforcement, particularly in the context of reproductive healthcare. HHS also provided guidance for protecting PHI on personal phones and tablets. The OCR guidance states that covered entities, such as health plans, healthcare clearinghouses, and most healthcare providers, as well as business associates th

On June 21, 2022, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled, in Marietta Memorial Hospital Employee Health Benefit Plan v. DaVita Inc., that a group health plan limiting outpatient kidney dialysis treatment to out-of-network benefits did not violate the Medicare Secondary Payer (MSP) rules. As a reminder, the MSP rules prohibit an employer (with 20 or more employees) from taking into account an employee's (or spouse's) eligibility for Medicare. They must be treated in terms of group health plan benefits and

On June 21, 2022, in Smith v. CommonSpirit Health, et. al, the Sixth Circuit affirmed the district court's dismissal of ERISA imprudent investment claims against a 401(k)-plan sponsor. In the opinion, the Sixth Circuit emphasized that ERISA does not give federal courts broad authority to second-guess retirement plan investment decisions. Rather, the allegations must infer an ERISA fiduciary breach. In this case, plaintiff Yosaun Smith was a 401(k) participant who brought a putative class action

On June 21, 2022, the Department of Workforce Solutions issued final regulations for the state's Healthy Workplaces Act (Act), effective on July 1, 2022. The department also released a series of FAQs. The Act was discussed in the March 30, 2021 edition of Compliance Corner. Employees covered by the law (including temporary and seasonal workers) can accrue one hour of leave for every 30 hours worked (the FAQs point out that these are hours actually worked, so vacation time does not count), which