Vigilant Blog

News, trends and analysis in employment law, HR, safety & workers' comp

 
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Showing posts for: Employee Benefits

Feb 26 2013
Q&AEmployee Benefits

Employer may have a duty to speak up when considering ERISA plan changes

Q: An employee recently gave notice that he is planning to retire at the end of the year. It has not yet been announced to employees, but the company is seriously considering implementing a new, more generous retirement plan early next year. I know that this employee would benefit if he stayed employed long enough to take part in the new plan. Do I have an obligation to tell him that?

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Dec 04 2012
Q&AEmployee Benefits

Electronic SPD Distribution Subject to DOL Rules

Q: It’s time consuming and expensive to print and distribute the summary plan descriptions (SPDs) and other plan materials for our medical and dental plans. Can I just e-mail them to employees, or better yet, post them on our company intranet site?

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Nov 09 2012
Drug and AlcoholEmployee BenefitsLeave Laws  

Alert: Initiatives on recreational marijuana and same-sex marriage raise questions for employers(WA)

Now that Washington voters have voted to legalize recreational marijuana use (I-502) and endorse same-sex marriage (R-74), employers have been asking whether these laws will impact their employment policies. Here’s Vigilant’s take on these two issues. Recreational marijuana use We don’t expect I-502 to affect employers’ ability to enforce their drug policies. The new law doesn’t…

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Aug 07 2012
Q&AEmployee Benefits

Employers should steer clear of Medicare incentives

Q: Can we pay our Medicare-eligible employees extra cash if they agree not to enroll in our health plan?

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Jun 12 2012
Employee Benefits

HIPAA violations can mean prison time

Think the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) privacy rules are just an exercise in compliance on paper? Think again. 

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Jun 05 2012
Employee Benefits

Don’t delay COBRA election notices

A recent court case shows why it’s so important to promptly send a COBRA notice to a qualified beneficiary after he or she experiences a COBRA qualifying event.

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Apr 12 2012
Employee Benefits

Supreme Court hears challenge to federal health care reform law

The U.S. Supreme Court has concluded hearing arguments about the constitutionality of various parts of the federal health care reform law known as the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA).

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Feb 17 2012
Employee Benefits

Health care reform: new guidance issued

The Departments of Health and Human Services (HHS), Treasury (IRS) and Labor (DOL) have jointly issued new guidance on a variety of topics under the federal Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) .

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Jan 20 2012
Employee Benefits

IRS issues more guidance on Form W-2 reporting of health coverage

Do you have lingering questions about how to report the value of employees employer-provided health coverage on their 2012 Forms W-2?

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Nov 07 2011
Employee Benefits

Beware coordinating benefits with Medicare

Can an employer reduce or eliminate benefits for a current employee when the employee becomes eligible for Medicare?

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