Recent and Upcoming U.S. Supreme Court Cases Employers Should Monitor In its 2023-24 term, the U.S. Supreme Court issued several consequential decisions that will likely have a significant impact on employers. These cases involved federal agency power, discrimination until Title VII of the Civil Rights Act (Title VII), whistleblower retaliation and arbitration. The Supreme [...]
Report Finds Weight Loss Drugs Key Driver of 2025 Health Care Cost Increase A recent Business Group on Health (BGH) survey found that heightened interest and spending on glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) drugs is a major driver of rising health care costs in 2025. Americans’ interest in GLP-1 drugs is increasingly pressuring employers’ budgets. On [...]
Tracking Hours of Work for Remote Employees On Aug. 24, 2020, the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) issued Field Assistance Bulletin No. 2020-5 to remind employers of their obligation to accurately account for the number of hours their employees work away from the employer’s facilities. While the bulletin was issued in response to the [...]
2024 Midyear Employment Law Compliance Trends Throughout 2024, there have been significant changes in employment law at the federal, state and local levels. A review of recent and proposed legislation reveals a number of emerging trends that will affect employers for the remainder of the year. Employers should ensure that they are apprised of [...]
Using Affordability Safe Harbors to Avoid ACA Penalties The Affordable Care Act (ACA) requires applicable large employers (ALEs) to offer affordable, minimum-value health coverage to their full-time employees (and dependents) or risk paying a penalty to the IRS. This employer mandate is also known as the “pay-or-play” rules. An ALE is an employer with [...]
U.S. Supreme Court Overrules Chevron Deference On June 28, 2024, the U.S. Supreme Court issued a decision in Loper Bright Enterprises v. Raimondo and Relentless Inc. v. Department of Commerce. The Court overruled its 1984 decision in Chevron, U.S.A. Inc. v. Natural Resources Defense Council Inc., which held that courts should defer to federal [...]
5th Circuit Requires Health Plans to Continue Providing Free Preventive Care On June 21, 2024, the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that a key component of the Affordable Care Act’s (ACA) preventive care mandate is unconstitutional. However, in a decision it referred to as a “mixed bag,” the 5th Circuit limited its [...]
IRS Announces Excepted Benefit HRA Limit for 2025 The IRS has released the inflation-adjusted limit for excepted benefit health reimbursement arrangements (EBHRAs) for plan years beginning on or after Jan. 1, 2025. Effective for 2025 plan years, the maximum annual employer contribution for an EBHRA will increase to $2,150 (up from $2,100 for plan [...]
Preparing for California’s Workplace Violence Prevention Law On Sept. 30, 2023, California enacted the California Workplace Violence Prevention Law (WVPL), enforced by the California Division of Occupational Safety and Health (Cal/OSHA). The WVPL takes effect on July 1, 2024, and requires most employers in the state to comply with expansive workplace violence prevention requirements. [...]
Preparing for the Corporate Transparency Act The Corporate Transparency Act (CTA), which became effective Jan. 1, 2024, requires certain business entities, or CTA “reporting companies,” to report their beneficial ownership information (BOI) and certain related information to the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN). The CTA aims to combat illicit financial [...]
