Benefits/Compensation

FMLA Final Rule Effective Date for 2013
 

WASHINGTON - The U.S. Department of Labor today marked the  20th anniversary of the signing of the Family and Medical Leave Act by issuing a final rule implementing two important expansions of FMLA protections. The first expansion provides families of eligible veterans with the same job-protected FMLA leave currently available to families of military service members and it also enables more military families to take leave for activities that arise when a service member is deployed. The second expansion modifies existing rules so that airline personnel and flight crews are better able to make use of the FMLA's protections.

Financial Incentives to Move Employees Off Group Health Plan

Question:

We have an employee who is reaching the age that they can receive Medicare benefit. The question of whether or not the school will contribute the equivalent of what we currently contribute toward their employer sponsored medical plan toward their cost for a supplemental Medicare plan has come up. My initial answer was "no" because it is not a part of the school sponsored medical plan. But I am wondering if anyone else has had experience with this question. or a policy regarding it.

2012 Employment Law Year In Review
Richard Meneghello  (Labor Letter, December 2012)  

The End of the World As We Know It?

If you're reading this after December 20, that means the Mayans got it wrong and the world isn't going to end in 2012. That's the good news. The bad news is that you still have to go to work tomorrow, and you've been putting off dealing with all of those labor and employment problems in the hopes that the end of the world would have happened by now. (Oops!)  

Or have you been hunkered down deep in an underground bunker for the better part of the last year ignoring your human resources duties, and now you feel out of the loop about what happened over the past 12 months?  

Either way – fear not! Fisher & Phillips once again presents you with our annual review of the last year in the world of labor and employment law. This time we’re handing out awards based on one of the most popular genre of movie – the end-of-the-world variety.

New Jersey Dept. of Labor & Workforce
Hurricane Sandy and Unemployment Benefits

Here is good information from the New Jersey Department of Labor and Workforce Development Employees who were unable to work due to Hurricane Sandy may be eligible for unemployment benefits.  The fastest way to file for unemployment insurance benefits is through the internet at www.njuifile.net

Deadline to Correct 409A Covered Documents Involving Employee Releases Is December 31, 2012
Callan Carter, Fisher & Phillips LLP

Section 409A is a relatively new Code provision, and after the regulations were finalized, the IRS issued some further guidance which provided tax relief for those deferred-compensation arrangements that were out of compliance with the final regulations. Internal Revenue Code Section 409A governs deferred compensation, which includes, with some exceptions, practically all agreements or plans in which an agreement is made in one year to pay an amount in a later year. Its most common form is a non-qualified deferred compensation plan in which the employer makes an unfunded promise to pay a dollar amount to the employee at a later time (termination of employment, specific age, etc.) 

HRMS — Efficient Tool or Expensive Toy?  It depends. Who’s really going to use it?

Increasingly, businesses are considering HR services to help improve their efficiencies in handling employee information? But are these services appropriate for schools?  EJ Herring reviews two services: Employee leasing and human resources management systems (HRMS).

Will You Be Ready For 2013?

Callan Carter and Partrica Harris, Fisher & Phillips LLP

2013 will mark not just the start of a new calendar year, but also new compliance obligations for employee benefits professionals. Now is the time to review your employee benefit plans and take the steps necessary to ensure continued compliance in 2013. We have outlined a number of key provisions impacting welfare, benefit, and retirement plans, including some that may need to be implemented prior to 2013. Will you be prepared?

Changes in FMLA 

FMLA for Schools

Although schools (regardless of size) are required to comply with the notice-and-posting requirements of the FMLA, they need only provide job-protected FMLA leave if the employee meets the Act's eligibility requirements where at least 50 employees are employed within 75 miles; be employed for 12 months, which need not be consecutive (there can be as much as a 7-year gap); and have worked 1,250 hours in the 12 months preceding the start of the leave. (FMLA leave notice for handbook is posted on the SOS website.)
 

Notice to SOS Members re TIAA CREF Plan Docs
Callan Carter, Fisher & Phillips LLP

Hi Bill: I have fielded several clients' issues brought up by their plan auditors (CPA firms, not the federal government) that their TIAA CREF-provided plan document does not (and cannot) match their actual administration of eligibility. 

Are Pregnant Employees Entitled to Reasonable Accommodation?

Our friends at the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission recently scored another big win in a pregnancy discrimination case -- actually got summary judgment against the employer, which is unusual.