Tag: Employee Benefits

GAO Recommends New Destinations for Forced 401(k) Transfers

Distributing abandoned small accounts in the 401(k) plans of participants who have left the company is a necessary evil for plan sponsors, to keep the plan focused on managing larger, active holdings and controlling costs. Despite the benefits for the plan that this form of housekeeping provides, results from these “forced transfers” may be less […]

South Dakota same-sex marriage ban ruled unconstitutional

by Jane Pfeifle On Monday, a federal judge in Sioux Falls ruled that South Dakota’s constitutional and statutory prohibition on same-sex marriage violated the U.S. Constitution. Six same-sex couples filed a lawsuit against the governor, the attorney general, the secretary of the South Dakota Department of Health, and other public officials seeking to overturn the […]

Legal knots untied: Same-sex marriage soon to be lawful in Florida

by Robert J. Sniffen and Jeff Slanker Effective January 6, 2015, same-sex marriage will be lawful in Florida. On December 19, 2014, the U.S. Supreme Court declined to extend the postponement of a federal district court’s decision that Florida’s ban on same-sex marriage was unconstitutional. The district court judge postponed his order until January 5, 2015, […]

New Jersey cities getting paid sick leave laws

by Kevin J. Skelly Paid sick leave laws are gaining ground in New Jersey, as new laws in several cities are scheduled to take effect in the coming weeks and months. Paterson, Irvington, Passaic, Newark, East Orange, Jersey City, Trenton, and Montclair have passed laws either in city councils or, in the case of Trenton […]

Health Care Reform Mandates: Impending Dates

The next three months are crunch time. Employers have to get moving on several deadlines, most of them required under health care reform. Some reform rules should have taken effect in 2014, but were subject to the year-long delay instituted by the Obama administration. Health Plan Identifiers Nov. 5, 2014 is the deadline for large group […]

More IRS Guidance on ACA’s Health Coverage Reporting Rules

IRS on Aug. 29 issued two sets of questions and answers about reporting on health coverage for large employers under Section 6056 and for all employers under Section 6055 of the reform law. Section 6056 reporting is required by “applicable large employers” that provide health coverage to their full-time employees and is needed for the government to carry out […]

Texas, California Participants Top 401(k) Plan Loan Use

A study by Fidelity Investments of 13 million 401(k) investors across U.S. metropolitan regions pinpointed the cities where plan loans are most heavily used. The analysis found the greatest percentage of participants with outstanding plan loans, at 33 percent, in the McAllen, Texas, area. The second-largest proportions of borrowers were in the Riverside and Bakersfield, […]

Court Allows ERISA Plan to Deny Coverage to Same-Gender Spouse

A self-insured employer that explicitly excludes same-gender spouses from health plan coverage did not violate ERISA’s benefit interference or fiduciary breach provisions by having such exclusionary language, a federal district court in New York ruled. A same-gender couple had argued that, in light of U.S. v. Windsor, because the plan declined to cover the spouse, the employer interfered […]