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The Affordable Care Act (ACA) requires employers who file 250 or more W-2s to report the cost of coverage under an employer-sponsored group health plan on an employee’s W-2.This is reported in Box 12, with Code DD. This does not mean that the coverage is taxable—the reporting is for informational purposes only and is intended …
Continue reading “Reporting Health Care Costs on Form W-2—The Devil is in the Details”
The IRS announced cost of living adjustments affecting dollar limitations for employer plans for tax year 2021. Most IRS limits impacting employer retirement plans have remained the same because the increase in the cost-of-living index did not meet the legal thresholds that trigger their adjustment. See IRS Notice 2020-79 and IRS Revenue Procedure 2020-32 for …
Continue reading “The IRS Announces Updated Limitations Related to Employer Plans for 2021”
Most employers sponsoring 401(k) and 403(b) plans are well aware of the large number of lawsuits filed over the past decade or so alleging breach of ERISA fiduciary duty related to plan investment funds and service providers. Unfortunately for plan sponsors (and their employees who serve as investment related fiduciaries), the pace of these lawsuits …
With the delay in re-opening businesses, some companies are finding that they need to terminate employees who had been placed initially on furlough or a reduced-hours assignment. When analyzing the costs that will be incurred due to these terminations, companies that sponsor 401(k) plans or other qualified retirement plans should determine if the partial termination …
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (“USCIS”) recently cancelled its plan to furlough over two-thirds, or 13,400 of its 20,000 employees. The furlough was expected to cause USCIS to all but stop processing immigration benefits, creating a crisis for the U.S. immigration system. While this is welcome news, USCIS has also announced that it will be …
Continue reading “The USCIS Budget Crisis and Its Potential Impact on the U.S. Immigration System”
On August 3, 2020, the United States Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) announced that it will resume issuing charge closure documents. The EEOC had suspended issuing charge closure documents on March 21, 2020 due to the pandemic, unless a charging party requested closing charge documents be issued. Although the EEOC has continued to investigate cases, …
Continue reading “EEOC RESUMES ISSUANCE OF CHARGE CLOSURE DOCUMENTS”
The IRS recently announced the ACA affordability threshold for 2021 at 9.83%, a small increase from the 2020 level of 9.78%. In order to avoid triggering a penalty under Section 4980H(b) of the Internal Revenue Code (the “Code”), an applicable large employer must offer full-time employees health plan coverage that provides minimum value and is …
Continue reading “ACA Affordability Threshold for 2021 Announced”
In Notice 2020-29, the IRS gave plan sponsors additional flexibility to allow participants to make certain mid-year cafeteria plan election changes during calendar year 2020 without regard to the restrictions that typically apply, and to adopt an extended claims period for flexible spending accounts (“FSAs”). In Notice 2020-33, the IRS has increased the $500 carryover …
The DOL and IRS recently issued final regulations (the “Final Rule“) that extend notice and premium payment periods for participants and plans under COBRA. Specifically, a group health plan must disregard the period from March 1, 2020 through 60 days after the announced end of the COVID-19 national emergency (the “Outbreak Period”) in determining, among …
Continue reading “Benefits Briefs in the Time of COVID-19, Part 8: COBRA Complications”
The COVID-19 pandemic has employers strategizing on how to retain valuable employees while addressing declines in demand for the company’s products or services. Some employers have placed employees on unpaid leave status instead of terminating the employee’s service. Employers may call this unpaid leave a layoff or a furlough. This benefits brief describes how the …