"The FMLA's eligibility, leave calculation, and recordkeeping requirements apply differently to airline flight crew employees ... For FMLA purposes, airline flight crew employees include flight attendants, pilots, co-pilots, flight engineers, and flight navigators.... [T]he 1,250 hours of service requirement for an airline flight crew employee's FMLA eligibility is determined by assessing the number of hours the employee has worked or been paid over the previous 12 months."  MORE >>

"Employers will now be able to view: Employee application dates, Requested leave dates, Leave type requested, and PFML leave decisions and approved dates. However, employers will not be able to review: Employee health information, The specific reason for the leave, Benefit or payment amounts, or Hours of benefits used. Likewise, information about whether the leave is intermittent or continuous is unavailable."  MORE >>

"[T]he US Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit ruled that an employer may be liable for the value of group life insurance benefits that would have been available under an insured policy absent the employer's failure to adequately inform the employee of the plan's conversion requirements." [Watson v. EMC Corp., No. 22-1356 (10th Cir. Feb. 9, 2024)]  MORE >>

"One key point of the case from an ERISA perspective is that the complaint states J&J relied on a trust to fund its group health plan. This may prove to be a pivotal aspect of the case because the plaintiff can establish a clear connection between the core fiduciary duties imposed upon employers as the ERISA plan administrator and all trust funds as plan assets. The connection would be far more extenuated if plan benefits were paid from J&J's general assets, as is more typical for employers sponsoring self-insured health plans." [Lewandowski v. Johnson & Johnson, No. 23-0671 (D.N.J. complaint filed Feb. 5, 2024)]  MORE >>

"Alabama's Supreme Court ruling that frozen embryos are children could have an even greater impact on would-be parents in the state -- and elsewhere if other states follow suit -- than it would have just a few years ago. That's because more employers are providing fertility benefits to their workers ... While it's too soon to tell how the court decision will affect employer benefits, it's possible that some companies will have to cover more travel expenses to enable their workers to get treatment in other states." [LePage v. Center for Reproductive Medicine, P.C., Nos. SC-2022-0515, SC-2022-0579 (Ala. Feb. 16, 2024)]  MORE >>

"[T]he IRS has not directly addressed the issue of whether cryogenic preservation of an embryo constitutes a qualifying medical expense.... While there is some support for the premise that short-term freezing may be a qualifying expense, there has historically been a debate as to whether long-term storage would qualify. This ruling may shift that debate.... This raises the question of whether an embryo could be a covered dependent under an employer's health plan ... Presumably, covering travel benefits for purposes of initiating IVF treatments outside of Alabama would be a covered benefit for the same reasons as accessing abortion. "  MORE >>

"The Justice Department has launched an antitrust investigation into UnitedHealth, owner of the biggest U.S. health insurer, a leading manager of drug benefits and a sprawling network of doctor groups.... [I]nvestigators have asked about issues including certain relationships between the company's UnitedHealthcare insurance unit and its Optum health-services arm, which owns physician groups, among other assets."  MORE >>

Infographic. "A majority of employees indicate they want more resources across all dimensions of wellbeing, with financial concerns topping the list, followed by mental health.... On average, employers offer 13 voluntary benefits (up from 11 in 2022), and plan to introduce four more ... A high percentage of employees wish they had a better understanding of their benefits."  MORE >>

"Employees who got a matching contribution not only showed a higher likelihood of putting money into their HSA, but they also contributed significantly more compared to those who only received a seed ... [T]he match approach also saved the organization money, with the employer contributing 42% less compared to the seed-only employer. And because the contribution match encouraged employees to add extra funds to their HSA, they had 24% higher HSA balances than those only getting a seed contribution."  MORE >>

"[I]ndividuals and businesses in parts of California affected by severe storms and flooding that began on Jan. 21, 2024 ... now have until June 17, 2024, to file various federal individual and business tax returns and make tax payments.... [I]ndividuals and households that reside or have a business in San Diego County qualify for tax relief."  MORE >>

"The Senate Health Education, Labor and Pensions Committee voted 11-10 on [February 27] to advance Julie Su's nomination as Labor Secretary ... Su's nomination will now await a floor vote ... Su's previous nomination failed to secure a Senate vote before her nomination was returned to the White House at the conclusion of the first session of the 118th Congress,"  MORE >>