Benefit Beat - 2011 through current

July 01, 2024Rhode Island Joins Auto-IRA Bandwagon

RISavers, a state-facilitated auto-IRA program is signed into law by Governor McKee on June 26, 2024.

Washington DC’s City Council unanimously passed the 2025 Fiscal Year budget which includes a 0.49% increase to the employer payroll tax for Paid Family Leave.

Governor Walz signed amendments to the Earned Sick and Safe Time (ESST) Act which took effect May 24, 2024.

The Chevron Doctrine rendered 40 years ago provides that administrative agencies, such as the Department of Labor, have the authority to use their expertise to interpret ambiguous statutes. On June 28, 2024, the Supreme Court overturned the Chevron Doctrine indicating that the courts and not administrative agencies must interpret ambiguous statutes.

The Department of Labor’s (DOL) Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA) has reached a settlement with life insurance insurers regarding its evidence of insurability practices for participants in job-based life insurance plans.

A recent Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals decision preserves the requirement that health plans cover certain preventive services at no cost.

Employers can provide employees up to $5,250 each calendar year in the form of tax favored tuition reimbursement. Recently issued IRS FAQ guidance addresses the applicability to student loan repayment.

Beginning January 1, 2025, employers with 30 or more employees in Minnesota must disclose in each job posting the salary range and a general description of the benefits, including but not limited to any health or retirement benefits, for the job.

On May 8, 2024, Governor Ned Lamont signed legislation expanding the state’s mandated paid sick leave to almost every employee in Connecticut by 2027.

The Illinois Department of Labor has published final rules implementing the Paid Leave for All Workers Act, which requires most Illinois employers to provide up to 40 hours of paid leave per year for any purpose.

The Chicago Department of Business Affairs and Consumer Protection published the final rules for the new Paid Leave and Paid Sick Leave Ordinance which is set to take effect on July 1, 2024.

June 03, 2024Qualified Transportation

In a recent letter ruling the IRS responds to a taxpayer question about cash-out of unused qualified transportation benefits.

The IRS has released the 2024 Publication 15-B, the Employer's Tax Guide to Fringe Benefits.

The IRS has released Rev. Proc. 2024-25, with inflation adjusted amounts for health savings accounts (HSAs) and excepted benefit health reimbursement arrangements (EB-HRAs).

The United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit has issued a ruling in Kadel, et al. v. Folwell, et al. Case No. 22-1721 that gender-affirming care to treat gender dysphoria cannot be denied, that the failure to provide such coverage is discriminatory and violates the 14th Amendment’s Equal Protection Clause, and provisions of federal law, including the Medicaid Act and the Affordable Care Act.