Retirement Plan Education Specialist

Strategic Retirement Partners Westerville OH

Supervisor, 5500 Team

401K Generation Altamonte Springs FL

Pension and Accounting Specialist

Organization of American States Washington DC

?View More Jobs

?Post a Job

Pulling Back the Curtain on PBMs
October 1, 2020 WEBCAST
Society of Actuaries

?See All 85 Upcoming Webcasts and Conferences

?See All 1623 Recorded Webcasts

New Topics on the BenefitsLink Message Boards

New Comments and Topics

All Topics , Grouped by Forum

[Guidance Overview]

New York State Permanent Sick Leave Law Takes Effect on September 30, 2020

"[A]ll New York State employers will now have to provide NYPSL to their employees.... [L]arge employers in New York City and Westchester County may have to increase the amount of sick/safe time that they provide. Unlike New York State's paid sick/quarantine leave legislation, which was passed in response to the COVID-19 pandemic ... the NYPSL requirement addresses a different and broader range of covered reasons for taking sick leave and has permanent effect." 

Davis & Gilbert LLP

[Guidance Overview]

Reminder to New York Employers: Paid Sick Leave Goes Into Effect on September 30

"[S]tarting September 30, 2020, employees in the state of New York will begin accruing sick leave at a rate of at least one hour for every 30 hours worked. We are still awaiting guidance from the State on key issues, such as coordination with the New York City and Westchester County sick leave laws, the impact of frontloading leave on carryover, and managing sick leave during the last quarter of 2020." 

Epstein Becker Green

[Guidance Overview]

District of Columbia Expands COVID-19 Leave Through October 9, 2020

"The temporary expansion of the DC Family and Medical Leave Act to provide D.C. employees up to 16 weeks of unpaid, job-protected 'COVID-19 leave' has been extended through October 9, 2020. The D.C. Office of Human Rights has published an updated notice reflecting the extended effective date, which employers 'must post and maintain ... in a conspicuous place and transmit it to employees working remotely.' ... [S]hould the Mayor extend the declared COVID-19 public health emergency beyond October 9, 2020, this leave expansion will likely be extended again." 

Proskauer

[Guidance Overview]

Article includes a summary table of CFRA before and after SB 1383 amendments, which are effective January 1, 2021. 

ABD Insurance & Financial Services

"The employer did not dispute that it had violated COBRA but argued that the employee's requested relief was statutorily barred under the Public Health Services Act (PHSA) ... The court acknowledged that the statute might allow the employee to seek payment in the form of equitable restitution if the employer held money or property that belonged to him. But, in this case, the employee made no such allegations; rather, he requested money damages to cover expenses he incurred from third parties. Such a remedy is not equitable relief, the court concluded, and thus is not available under the PHSA." [ Loizon v. Evans , No. 18-2759 (N.D. Ill. Sep. 3, 2020)] 

Thomson Reuters / EBIA

Workplace Weight Management in the New Normal

36 pages. "Employers can play a key role in guiding employees to prevent, manage and treat weight issues, whether onsite at an organization or in a work-from-home environment.... [This] guide is designed to provide you with a better understanding of the causes and consequences of unhealthy weights, guidance on choosing and implementing a range of interventions, and insight into innovative solutions employers are using today." 

Northeast Business Group on Health

"CHSPSC LLC has agreed to pay $2,300,000 to [OCR] ... and to adopt a corrective action plan to settle potential violations of the [HIPAA] Privacy and Security Rules related to a breach affecting over six million people. CHSPSC provides a variety of business associate services, including IT and health information management, to hospitals and physician clinics indirectly owned by Community Health Systems, Inc., in Franklin, Tennessee." 

Office for Civil Rights [OCR], U.S. Department of Health and Human Services [HHS]

[Opinion]

"In a purely legal sense, the law's opponents have the better argument.... The better practical argument lies with PPACA's proponents.... [In] a practical sense, why do you need a mandate to make this program fiscally feasible if the federal government is ultimately going to make insurers whole and pay any form of required bloated premiums to keep the system afloat?" 

Benefit Revolution

[Opinion]

"A benefit plan that includes regular dilated eye exams as a preventive service -- with no co-pay or deductible charge -- lowers barriers to detecting a host of serious conditions early enough to prevent or diminish their impact. This includes conditions that threaten the eyes directly, such as glaucoma, diabetic retinopathy, and macular degeneration, as well as those with broader impact on overall health, such as diabetes, high blood pressure, autoimmune diseases, and various cancers." 

American Optometric Association

[Guidance Overview]

"The rule would give businesses additional clarity in using economic reality factors when determining whether a worker is an employee or independent contractor. Many state laws follow different standards, and the tests used by other federal agencies, such as the [IRS], and under other federal laws are different as well. So businesses should be aware of the law in the jurisdictions where they operate and be sure to analyze these issues under all applicable laws." 

Ballard Spahr LLP

[Guidance Overview]

"The DOL's newly proposed regulations are intended to provide clarity to employers by adopting a simplified model framework for determining independent contractor status under the 'economic realities' test. The economic realities test, which often has been used by courts deciding worker classification issues, generally considers whether a person performing services for a potential employer as an independent contractor truly operates his or her own independent business that is not economically dependent on the employer." 

Duane Morris LLP

"Private industry workers: ... Medical care was available to 27 percent of workers in the lowest 10th percent wage category and 94 percent of workers in the highest 10th percent wage category had access to this benefit. Sixty-seven percent of workers in an establishment with less than 100 employees had access to paid sick leave and 88 percent of workers at establishments with 500 or more employees had access to paid sick leave.... State and local government workers: Seventy-six percent of workers participated in defined benefit plans.... Eighteen percent of workers participated in defined contribution plans and employee contributions were required for 69 percent of these workers.... Medical care and retirement benefits were not available to 1 percent of primary, secondary, and special education school teachers and 99 percent of these workers had access to both benefits." 

U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics [BLS]

28 pages. "62% of employers feel extreme responsibility for their employees' financial wellness, up from 13% in 2013. 83% of employers believe financial wellness tools lead to greater productivity.... 67% of eligible employees contribute to their Health Savings Account (HSA). 47% of employers are promoting workplace wellness with established diversity and inclusion programs." 

Bank of America

Press Releases

NARI Milwaukee Debuts employer group health coverage program for member companies NARI Milwaukee

NAPA Names Two Ascensus Regional Vice Presidents to 2020 100 Top Defined Contribution (DC) Wholesalers List Ascensus

View All Press Releases

Most Popular Items in the Previous Issue

Potential Impact of California v. Texas Decision on Key Provisions of the ACA Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation

Almost Paradise: Health Coverage in Hawaii HUB International

October 14 Is the Last Day to Provide Medicare Part D Notice of Creditable (or Non-Creditable) Coverage Fraser Trebilcock