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Beneficiary designations, and disputes over them, can be a disproportionate drain of time and other resources spent by administrators of tax-qualified retirement plans. The Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA) does not prescribe a particular manner by which participants in ERISA-covered plans must designate their beneficiaries.
A group of Republican senators has proposed a replacement bill for the Affordable Care Act (ACA) that would allow states to choose whether to keep Obamacare’s provisions in place. Because employers’ requirements would depend on where employees work, compliance could be a real challenge for companies with operations in multiple states, according to the Society […]
by Deanna L. Forbush Nevada is unique in so many ways. For instance, unlike other states, Nevada has a constitutional provision that authorizes a two-tiered minimum wage. It’s called the Minimum Wage Amendment (MWA). Under the MWA, if an employer provides qualifying health benefits, a minimum-wage employee may be paid $1 per hour less than […]
Employers everywhere are looking for new ways to attract and retain talent. While companies like Facebook and Apple® are offering to freeze its female employees’ eggs as a way to recruit more diverse talent, other companies are jumping on the crazy train and offering even weirder workplace perks. According to the Mirror, a new trend […]
In its inaugural “State of Employee Benefits 2016” report, Benefitfocus found companies are altering their healthcare plan design to shift greater financial responsibility to employees via voluntary benefits, driving the need for a different approach to healthcare consumption. These benefits can be powerful tools in helping cover the costs associated with consumer-driven health care, says […]
Millennial employees—18 to 34 years old—selected high deductible healthcare plans more than any other age group. However, while approximately 44% of employees in this group chose HDHPs, a much smaller number of these employees took full advantage of health savings accounts (HSAs), according to Benefitfocus inaugural “State of Employee Benefits 2016” report.
A prescription drug’s ability to prolong life is a top factor health plans are using when fixing benchmark prices for drug reimbursement, followed by the drug’s ability to improve the patient’s quality of life, health care stakeholders said at an April 15 briefing hosted by the Alliance for Health Reform. Steven Pearson, MD, MSc, president […]
by Tammy Binford The U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) has released its proposed regulations implementing President Barack Obama’s Executive Order requiring paid sick leave for employees of federal contractors. Executive Order 13706, signed on September 7, 2015, will apply to new contracts and replacements for expiring contracts that result from solicitations issued on or after […]
by Gregory J. Wartman In November, we reported that Pittsburgh had enacted a paid sick time ordinance for employees working in the city that was scheduled to take effect January 11, 2016 (see “Pittsburgh passes ordinance requiring paid sick time”). On December 21, 2015, a Pennsylvania judge struck down the ordinance, ruling that it is […]
An employer may require its workers to participate in a wellness program in order to receive health insurance benefits, a federal district court has ruled, dismissing a lawsuit brought by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. Granting summary judgment for the employer, the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Wisconsin said it disagreed […]