The US Department of Labor’s new fiduciary rule is aimed at financial advisors, including brokers, who provide retirement plan services. However, the new rule will impact compliance obligations and potentially, costs for plan sponsors, as highlighted in the following presentation.
On May 25, 2016, the German Federal Labor Court confirmed a decision of the State Labor Court Berlin-Brandenburg (reference number: 5 AZR 135/16) regarding the statutory minimum wage in Germany. The German Federal Labor court confirmed that, under certain conditions, vacation and Christmas bonuses may also be considered when determining if an employer pays his employees the statutory minimum wage in Germany. This was the first time that the German Federal Labor Court had considered this issue. (more…)
The US Department of Labor (DOL) has provided guidance on health plan provisions that could trigger a violation of the Paul Wellstone and Pete Domenici Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act of 2008 (MHPAEA), as amended by the Affordable Care Act. The DOL provided particular examples broken down by categories of plan provisions relating to coverage of mental health (MH)/substance use disorder (SUD) benefits which should trigger careful analysis of coverage for medical (med)/surgical med/surg) benefits to ensure compliance with the MHPAEA’s provisions regarding parity of non-quantitative treatment.
With more and more expatriates working in China, and some even applying for long-term residence permits, complicated applications procedures have been deemed an impediment to attracting more talented expatriates. In later 2015, for the purpose of facilitating the establishment of the “technology innovation center,” Shanghai issued several local policies encouraging more senior level expatriates to work in Shanghai. In March 2016, a similar set of local policies were issued in Beijing after those policies were successfully implemented in Shanghai. The following provides a brief overview of the new policies and practices for expatriates working in China.
Easier Procedures for Senior Level Expatriates to Apply for Working Permits
Generally, an expatriate must meet the following requirements to successfully acquire a working permit in China: (1) be between at 18 and 60 years old (60 years old is the general retirement age in China); (2) have working experience (in practice, at least two years of full time working experience is required); (3) have no criminal record; and (4) have received a job offer from a Chinese entity.
According to new local policies, if an expatriate is a “senior level expatriate,” the expatriate may apply for a work permit in China even if the expatriate is older than 60 years of age. Moreover, he or she may be issued a special “R visa” instead of a normal “Z visa” for working in China. Finally, the corresponding procedures for applying for a long-term residence permit in China will also be simplified for expatriates falling in this category.
As for the definition of “senior level expatriate,” the two policies provide several examples: (1) one who has received famous international awards or received national level awards from China; (2) a famous professor or scholar; (3) an individual who holds a senior level management position in headquarters of foreign-invested companies.
In addition, the “working experience” requirement has changed. Previously, newly graduated foreign students had no chance of acquiring a work permit in China. According to these two policies, those foreign students who received master’s degrees or above in China can now apply for a work permit in designated areas, such as the free trade zone of Shanghai and Zhong Guan Cun, a technology hub in Beijing that is known as the “China’s Silicon Valley”.
No Work Permit Is Required for Short-Term Work in China
Under the new policies, another change is that an expatriate may not be required to apply for a working permit in China if the total working period is within three months and the short-term work is in the following areas: (1) visiting a Chinese partner to complete certain technical, scientific research, management or guidance work; (2) conducting training in a sports agency in China; (3) shooting films and fashion shows; (4) engaging in foreign-related commercial performance; and (5) other circumstances identified by the department of human resources and social security.
Previously, an expatriate would go through “4-step” procedures for working in China legally: (1) (the employer) applies for a [...]
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Wednesday, June 1, 2016
1:00-2:30 pm EDT
Join McDermott partner Kristin E. Michaels at this CLE webinar, which will review the far-reaching impact of the Department of Labor’s (DOL) recent guidelines greatly expanding joint-employer status.
The discussion will include the agency’s analysis of horizontal and vertical joint employment and the factors that point to joint-employer liability for wage and hour violations, as well as offer practical and strategic approaches for structuring agreements with subcontractors, independent contractors and contingent workers to minimize the risk of employer or joint-employer liability for FLSA violations.
To register, please click here.
The US Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit’s recent ruling addresses various issues that could arise during a plan administrator’s review of a participant’s benefit claim and appeal and any ensuing litigation, including the deference to be granted upon review in a federal court, civil penalties and the possibility of introducing additional evidence outside the administrative record. This decision demonstrates the need for employers to review their benefit plans’ claims procedures to ensure they comply with applicable law and best practices.
Employers with employees throughout California must be wary of the patchwork of cities enacting their own paid sick leave requirements that may differ from statewide law.
Recent guidance clarifies important issues under the Affordable Care Act, Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act, and Women’s Health and Cancer Rights Act.
After more than five years of development and revision, the US Department of Labor (DOL) released final regulations to redefine a “fiduciary” under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974, as amended (ERISA) and the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended (the Code).
Since 2014, large church-controlled health systems that offer defined benefit pension plans have seen lawsuits filed as to whether such plans are eligible to qualify for the ERISA church-plan exemption, which governs those arrangements. When a retirement plan meets the ERISA church-plan exemption, it is exempt from the typical funding and vesting requirements of ERISA and the Internal Revenue Code as well as from the ERISA reporting and disclosure requirements. As the church-plan litigation moves to the appellate level, two adverse decisions are reached denying ERISA church-plan exemption to two health systems.
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