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By McDermott Will & Emery on Nov 3, 2011
Posted In Health and Welfare Plans
by Todd A. Solomon, Brett R. Johnson and Kay Kemp In Revenue Procedure 2011-49, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) has modified the procedures by which it issues opinion and advisory letters to Master or Prototype (M&P) and Volume Submitter retirement plans (together, pre-approved plans). In addition, the guidance clarifies the limited types of employer modifications and...
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IRS Announces Employee Benefit Plan Limits for 2012
By McDermott Will & Emery on Oct 28, 2011
Posted In Health and Welfare Plans
by Raymond M. Fernando, Diane M. Morgenthaler and Adrienne Walker Porter The IRS recently announced the 2012 cost-of-living adjustments to the applicable dollar limits for various employer-sponsored retirement and welfare plans. Plan sponsors should update payroll and plan administration systems for the new 2012 cost-of-living adjustments and should incorporate the new limits in relevant participant...
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New October 15 Deadline for Medicare Part D Creditable / Non-Creditable Coverage Notices
By McDermott Will & Emery on Oct 4, 2011
Posted In Health and Welfare Plans
by Susan M. Nash and Elizabeth A. Savard Group health plans that offer prescription drug coverage are required to issue a notice of creditable or non-creditable coverage to Medicare-eligible participants and beneficiaries each year prior to the annual Medicare Part D open enrollment period. In the past, the Medicare Part D open enrollment period ran...
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Administrative Law Judge Finds Employer Unlawfully Discharged Employees Based on Facebook Posts
By McDermott Will & Emery on Sep 22, 2011
Posted In Employment, Labor
by Stephen D. Erf, Heather Egan Sussman and Sabrina E. Dunlap In a first of its kind ruling, a National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) Administrative Law Judge (ALJ) found that an employer unlawfully terminated five employees because they posted comments on Facebook related to working conditions. This is a landmark decision because, up to this point, employers...
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IRS Guidance Provides Employer-Provided Cell Phones May Generally be Treated as Nontaxable Fringe
By McDermott Will & Emery on Sep 16, 2011
Posted In Employment, Executive Compensation
by Ralph DeJong, Ira Mirsky and Michael Fine On Wednesday, September 14, 2011, the IRS issued Notice 2011-72, which provides long-awaited relief concerning the tax treatment for the employee use of employer-provided cellular telephones or other similar telecommunications equipment (e.g., PDAs and Blackberries): The IRS will generally treat an employee’s business use of an employer-provided...
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NLRB Releases Poster For Posting By November 14, 2011
By McDermott Will & Emery on Sep 15, 2011
Posted In Employment, Labor
by Heather Egan Sussman, Sabrina E. Dunlap and Stephen D. Erf As an update to our previous blog entry, the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) has released the private employer notice of rights under the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA). As of November 14, 2011, covered employers must post the 11-by-17-inch notice in a conspicuous place, where other...
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Live Audio Conference: Why Is This Guy Still on My Health Plan?
By McDermott Will & Emery on Sep 6, 2011
Posted In Health and Welfare Plans
Lorman Education Services Live Audio Conference Why Is This Guy Still on My Health Plan? September 26, 2011 1:00 pm (EST), (12:00 p.m. [CST], 11:00 a.m. [MST], 10:00 a.m. [PDT]) 1 hour 30 minutes Instructor: Amy Gordon, Co-Chair of McDermott Will & Emery’s Health and Welfare Benefits Group Companies have encountered many situations where an employee remains...
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HHS Releases Guidance Exempting Existing HRAs from Applying for Restricted Annual Limit Waivers
By McDermott Will & Emery on Aug 29, 2011
Posted In Health and Welfare Plans
by Amy M. Gordon and Jamie A. Weyeneth Under Health Care Reform, for plan years starting on or after September 23, 2010, health plans may impose only "restricted annual limits" on essential health benefits as defined by Health and Human Services (HHS). All annual limits are prohibited for plan years starting on or after January...
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New Connecticut Law Limits Employer Access to Employee Credit Data
By McDermott Will & Emery on Aug 8, 2011
Posted In Employment, Privacy and Data Security
by Heather Egan Sussman, Stephen D. Erf and Sabrina E. Dunlap Adding to the growing number of states limiting employers’ use of credit reports, including Hawaii, Washington, Oregon, Illinois, and Maryland), Connecticut recently passed Public Act No. 11-223 restricting employer use of credit reports and credit history for employees or job applicants. The Connecticut law goes into...
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Guidance Regarding Annual Waiver Application Deadline
By McDermott Will & Emery on Jun 23, 2011
Posted In Health and Welfare Plans
by Susan M. Nash and Maureen O’Brien On June 17, 2011, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) issued additional guidance with respect to the annual waiver limit program. The annual waiver limit program allows issuers or other group health plan sponsors to apply for a waiver from the annual limit requirements if...
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