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Franczek Radelet Monthly Benefits Update, April 2013

Articles include: [1] Health Care Reform Guidance on Required Future Modifications to SBC, for Employers Contributing to Multiemployer Welfare Plans and for Individuals Seeking Health Insurance Premium Tax Credit; [2] United States Supreme Court Decision: US Airways Inc. v. McCutchen; [3] Obama Administration Revenue Proposals Affecting Retirement Savings; [4] PBGC Proposed Rule on Reportable Events.

DOL Gives Working Parents FMLA Pass to Attend Children's Special Education Meetings

"Employers can and should require that the requesting employee provide certification from their child's health care provider confirming that the child has a serious health condition.... [E]mployers can request that employees give 30 days' notice of those care meetings, or as soon as practicable if the need for leave is not foreseeable.... Illinois employers who are covered by both the FMLA and ISVRA should confirm that their FMLA policies provide for the concurrent running of FMLA leave with other available paid or unpaid leave to prevent employees from stacking the two types of statutory leave."

DOL Gives Working Parents FMLA Pass to Attend Children's Special Education Meetings

"The DOL's approach should not be read as blanket FMLA protection for parent attendance at IEP meetings. As a threshold matter, a child must have a 'serious health condition' to implicate the FMLA. Some, but not all, children with IEPs qualify under the FMLA definition, which requires an impairment or physical or mental condition that necessitates continuing treatment from a healthcare provider."

Unlimited Vacation: Wave of the Future or Potential Liability?

"[In] Illinois, like a number of states, employers are required to keep track of employees' work hours as well as their vacation or PTO accruals and usage. The Illinois Wage Payment and Collection Act requires employers to pay employees for any accrued, unused vacation or PTO remaining to them at the time of termination. But how does that work with an 'unlimited' PTO policy?"

Annual Report of ABA Subcommittee on the FMLA: 2017 Court Cases (PDF)

This 333-page report describes, and organizes by topic in detail, over 450 FMLA decisions of federal and state courts during 2017. Special thanks to attorney Jeff Nowak of Franczek Radelet P.C. for making this compilation available.

Class Action Suit Alleges Employee Work Hours Cut to Skirt ACA Obligation to Offer Health Coverage

"In the first lawsuit of its kind, a purported class of approximately 10,000 workers at Dave & Buster's, the restaurant chain, filed a lawsuit in the Southern District of New York (Marin v. Dave & Buster's, Inc., S.D.N.Y., No. 1:15-cv-03608) alleging that their employer reduced the workers' hours to keep them from attaining full-time status for the purpose of avoiding the requirement to offer them health coverage under the Affordable Care Act's (ACA's) employer mandate."

Recent Guidance on Charter School Participation in State Pension Plans

"Some of the factors that the IRS and Treasury proposed with respect to charter school employee participation in public sector pension plans include whether the charter school: [1] is a nonsectarian independent public school serving a governmental purpose that provides tuition free elementary or secondary education; [2] is operated in accordance with a specific state statute that permits the granting of charters to create independent public schools; and [3] is required or permitted to participate in the public pension plan under applicable law."

IRS Announces Impending Tighter Enforcement of Employer-Provided Meals, Fringe Benefits

"The IRS announced as part of its Priorities Guidance Plan that it plans to issue new guidance regarding employer-provided meals ...The Wall Street Journal reported that IRS auditors have already started 'flagging the issue and demanding back taxes from companies amounting to 30% of the meals' fair market value.' ... [E]ven without any changes in the IRS definition, plaintiffs' attorneys have already shifted their focus to the value of these fringe benefits. Recently, employees at Anheuser-Busch sued the company because ... it allegedly failed to include the value of 'various forms of non-cash compensation, such as discounted and/or free beer' in calculations of those employees' regular rates of pay."

First Circuit Includes Overtime in Back-Pay Award Under FMLA

"At the district court level, the jury returned a verdict in favor of Pagan on his FMLA retaliation claim. As part of his back-pay award, the district court included $20,637 in lost overtime wages. In affirming the overtime award, the First Circuit reasoned that, under the FMLA, a prevailing plaintiff may recover 'any wages, salary, employment benefits or other compensation denied or lost' due to violation of the statute and that overtime pay certainly falls into the category of 'other compensation.'"

Is Employer Obligated to Pay a Pro Rata Bonus to Employees No Longer with the Company?

"Of particular interest is whether an employee who has been terminated -- voluntarily or involuntarily -- is entitled to a pro rata share of the bonus as of the date of termination. The payment of bonuses is generally governed by applicable state law."