Search the News Archive

New York Mandatory Retirement Savings Program

"While the law is currently effective, the enforcement of the Program for covered employers will not occur until later in 2022 when the Program likely opens for enrollment and further regulations are released.... Given the new State law, it is possible that the [New York City] program may be discontinued."

New York City's Mandatory Retirement Savings Program for Private Employers

"Certain questions remain open ... [1] is the law preempted by [ERISA] ... [2] will the Program eventually be discontinued if the State creates a similar plan.... and [3] how will employers track the hours and duties of those employees working from home for purposes of determining whether those employees are covered by the new law."

New York City Updates Its Paid Safe and Sick Leave Law to Align with Statewide Requirements

"New York City recently amended its own Paid Safe and Sick Leave Law (NYC PSSL) to be more consistent with the accrual and usage requirements imposed by the newly-implemented New York State Paid Sick Leave Law (NYS PSL). This memorandum details the pertinent changes to NYC PSSL, which took effect on September 30, 2020."

New York Employers Must Post Election Notice and Provide Eligible Employees PTO for Election Day

"Employees are eligible for up to two hours of PTO to vote if they do not have 'sufficient time to vote.' An employee has 'sufficient time to vote' if the employee has four consecutive hours to vote, either from the opening of the polls to the beginning of their work shift or from the end of their work shift to the closing of the polls."

Withdrawal Liability Developments

"Employers participating in multiemployer plans should carefully review their CBAs, participation agreements, and the plan documents and rules before ... withdrawing from a pension plan, to determine whether the plan may impose liabilities or utilize certain rights of which the employer may not otherwise be aware.... [Recent cases also] provide a clear understanding of the 'bargaining-out' partial withdrawal liability rule for employers considering certain restructuring or strategies and looking to avoid incurring withdrawal liability.... [E]mployers that have withdrawn from pension plans or are about to [withdraw] should monitor their payment schedules to avoid inadvertent payment accelerations."

New Proposed Rules on ACA Opt-Out Payments

"If [certain specified] requirements are satisfied, the Opt-Out Payment is not required to be added to the employee's premium to determine if the insurance is affordable. It is also not required to be reported as a required employee contribution on Form 1095-C. In the event the alternate coverage of an employee or a member of his tax family terminates before the end of a plan year, the employer may continue to exclude the Opt-Out Payment from the determination of affordability for the remainder of that plan year."

Non-Profit Employer Strategy to Increase Maximum Retirement Plan Contributions

"For 2016, contributions to a stand-alone defined contribution plan are limited to $53,000 plus, in the case of a participant who reaches age 50 by the end of 2016, additional salary deferral contributions of $6,000 (Catch-Up Contributions). However, by utilizing a combination of plans qualified under Sections 401(a) and 403(b) ..., contributions may be as high as $77,000[.]"

IRS Guidance on Unconditional Opt-Out Payments

"If an employer adopted an arrangement that provides unconditional Opt-Out Payments on or before December 16, 2015, it will not be required to consider the Opt-Out Payment in calculating the affordability of an employee's healthcare until an unspecified effective date which will be provided in future regulations. Nor will the amount of the Opt-Out Payment have to be reported as an employee contribution on Form 1095-C until the future regulations are finalized."

Is It Time to Update Your Cafeteria Plan?

"The IRS has recently issued Notice 2014-55 which expands the circumstances under which a participant may make a mid-year revocation of his election to participate in an employer sponsored health plan and elect coverage under a plan offered on the Health Insurance Exchange.... The expansion of the modification rules does not apply to elections under flexible spending accounts.... For plan years beginning in 2015, the cap on salary reduction contributions has increased to $2,550.... All cafeteria plans should be reviewed to reflect the Federal recognition of same sex-marriages.... Finally, employers should consider allowing a $500 carry over for a health FSA for contributions that are not reimbursed in the plan year in which deducted (and any applicable grace period)."

ACA Cadillac Tax: Essential Issue for 2015 Labor Contract Negotiations

"The Cadillac tax has been recently described as more of a 'Camry' or 'Chevy' tax.... [E]ven ACA-silver tier plans, depending on geographic location, could be subject to the excise tax soon after 2018 due to the tax's thresholds being tied to the general CPI-U, rather than the faster increasing index of health care costs. According to a recent Towers Watson survey, 54% of employer plans will trigger the excise tax by 2020 if current health care benefit strategies remain unchanged.... Employers who will be negotiating new three year contracts in 2015 do not have the luxury of deferring consideration of this issue as the Cadillac tax will begin before the expiration date on such contracts."