The U.S. Department of Labor (“DOL”) has published a final rule, which takes effect on March 16, 2020, outlining the new four-factor approach DOL will use to determine whether, under the Fair Labor Standards Act (“FLSA”), a business is a “joint employer” of another company’s employees and thus jointly and severally liable for wage
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2019 Required Amendments List Includes Change Affecting 403(b) Plans
We recently wrote about Rev. Proc. 2019-39, which provides for remedial amendment periods for 403(b) plans and establishes deadlines for 403(b) plans to adopt discretionary amendments and amendments that correct form defects. Rev. Proc. 2019-39 also announced the IRS’s intent to include changes to § 403(b) requirements on its annual Required Amendments List (the “List”).…
New California Workplace Laws for 2020
California employers are ringing in the new year with a host of new workplace laws. Here is an overview of new employment-related laws, along with recommendations for compliance. All of the laws, unless otherwise specified, went into effect on January 1, 2020.…
IRS Proposes Sweeping § 162(m) Regulations
Earlier this week, the IRS issued long-awaited proposed regulations under Section 162(m) of the Internal Revenue Code. Our colleagues at Covington’s Tax Reporting & Withholding Blog published a comprehensive summary and analysis of the proposed regulations. As you will see, the proposed regulations fell short of proposing workable solutions for public companies wrestling with the…
DOL Proposal for Electronic Disclosure of ERISA Pension Documents
In October, the U.S. Department of Labor released a proposed rule that would increase plan administrators’ ability to make certain required ERISA pension disclosures through electronic, rather than paper, delivery. Below is a summary of the proposed rule with some highlights on aspects of the proposal that have been questioned by interested parties and might…
Group Health Plans Face Automatic Public Disclosure of Negotiated Rates and Plan Payments
The Departments of Health and Human Services, Labor and Treasury released a new “Transparency in Coverage” proposed rule that requires most group health plans and issuers to publicly disclose negotiated rates with in-network providers and historical data showing amounts paid for covered items or services furnished by out-of-network providers. In addition, group health plans and…
Will Your Group Health Plan’s Anti-Assignment Clause Defeat Provider Claims?
Many lawsuits against employer group health plans hinge on the enforceability of the plan’s anti-assignment provision. ERISA does not give providers the right to sue for plan benefits. A provider’s lawsuit must be derived from the participant’s right to plan benefits. In other words, the participant must assign his or her right to the provider.…
Final Regulations Affecting Hardship Distributions Under 401(k) Plans
By Victoria Ha
On September 23, 2019, the Department of the Treasury and the Internal Revenue Service released final regulations amending the rules applicable to hardship distributions from 401(k) plans. The final regulations are substantially similar to the proposed regulations issued on November 14, 2018 (described in this previous blog post), such that plans that have been…
IRS Issues Ruling on Uncashed Distribution Checks from Qualified Plans
On September 3, 2019, the IRS issued Revenue Ruling 2019-19, which discusses participants’ and beneficiaries’ inclusion of income and qualified retirement plans’ withholding and reporting obligations for uncashed distribution checks. Although the Revenue Ruling describes only a qualified retirement plan under Code section 401(a), the same reasoning would most likely also apply to a…
IRS Announces Remedial Amendment Periods and Deadlines for Correction of 403(b) Plan Form Defects
On September 30, 2019, the Internal Revenue Service issued Revenue Procedure 2019-39, which finalizes important changes to how sponsors and employers can ensure 403(b) plan compliance. The guidance is a welcome update from the Service, which initiated a regular system of remedial amendment periods for 403(b) plans in 2013, with the first period ending…