Insights

On October 21, 2022, the IRS issued Notice 2022-55, which provides certain cost-of-living adjustments for a wide variety of tax-related items, including retirement plan contribution maximums and other limitations. Several key figures are highlighted below. These cost-of-living adjustments are effective January 1, 2023. The elective deferral limit for employees who participate in 401(k), 403(b), most 457 plans and the federal government's Thrift Savings Plan increases from $20,500 to $22,500 in

The Department of Medical and Family Leave recently announced that the 2023 MA PFML premium contribution is of an employee's eligible wages, which is a decrease from the 2022 premium rate of 0.68%. The allocation of employer and employee contributions is determined based on the number of employees who work for the employer in Massachusetts. For employers with 25 or more employees in Massachusetts, the employee's contribution share is 0.11% of eligible wages for an employee's family leave and up

The MarylandSaves Program was created in 2016 with HB 1378 and went into effect on September 1, 2022. The program is a state-run retirement savings program for employers who do not otherwise offer employees a savings arrangement. Such arrangements include an IRA, defined benefit plan, 401(k), Simplified Employee Pension (SEP) plan, a Savings Incentive Match Plan for Employees (SIMPLE) plan or another arrangement, if in compliance with federal law, that the state board specifies by regulation. E

New Hampshire's Paid Family and Medical Leave (NH PFML) program will be available beginning January 1, 2023. Open enrollment for employer plans begins on December 1, 2022, and open enrollment for individuals runs from January 1, 2023, through March 2, 2023. NH PFML provides 60% wage replacement (up to the Social Security wage cap) for either six or twelve weeks per year for absences related to the following life events: A worker's own serious health condition when disability coverage does not

The Health Insurance Responsibility Disclosure (HIRD) form is a state reporting requirement in Massachusetts that applies to in-state and out-of-state employers with six or more employees working in Massachusetts. The HIRD form collects employer-level information about employer-sponsored health plans to assist MassHealth in identifying members who can participate in, and who may be eligible for premium assistance from, MassHealth. The HIRD reporting is filed through the MassTaxConnect (MTC) web

The New York Department of Financial Services (DFS) announced the applicable premium rate and maximum employee contribution for Paid Family Leave (PFL) coverage beginning January 1, 2023. The state's PFL program is intended to provide eligible employees with a portion of their wages while taking time off to bond with a child, care for a family member with a serious health condition or handle personal matters arising from an immediate family member in the Armed Forces being called to active dut

When eligibility for coverage is lost due to a change in relationship status, employees and employers may assume COBRA is always offered to the individual losing coverage. However, when a domestic partnership ends that is not necessarily the case. Federal COBRA requires most employers to offer qualified beneficiaries who lose coverage as a result of a COBRA qualifying event (e.g., termination of employment, reduction of hours, divorce) the opportunity to continue health coverage for a specifie

On October 13, 2022, the DOL released a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking that would guide employers in classifying workers as employees or independent contractors under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). The FLSA governs minimum wage and overtime requirements that apply to employees but not independent contractors. The proposed rules would rescind and replace the 2021 issued regulations and restore a 'totality-of-the -circumstances' multi-factor economic realities test rather than the two

On October 5, 2022, in Earl v. Jewel Food Stores, the US District Court for the Northern District of Illinois ruled an employer failed to document a good faith attempt to provide the required COBRA election notice to a terminated employee. The plaintiff, Billy Earl, sued his former employer Jewel Food Stores, alleging failure to provide a COBRA election notice and multiple counts of discrimination related to his termination. Jewel Food Stores served as the group health plan administrator respon