In an article published by the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM), I provided insight on a proposed amendment to the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) that would allow time off for a child’s death. Since 2012, the chairmen of the board of directors of the Sarah Grace-Foundation for Children with Cancer have been calling for the FMLA to be modified. I pointed out that “while bereavement is not generally covered by the FMLA, the law mandates leave to address issues that arise when an employee’s covered family member (spouse, son, daughter or parent) dies on active military duty.”

The full article, “FMLA Bill Would Require Child Bereavement Leave,” was published by SHRM on March 24, 2017, and is available online.

As we previously reported, Congress has taken its final steps in repealing Obama’s Fair Pay & Safe Workplaces rule, one of the most controversial rules enacted by the Federal Acquisition Regulatory (FAR) Council under President Obama. On February 6, the Senate gave the final vote of approval of the House Resolution overturning the rule, and on March 27, President Trump, unsurprisingly, signed the Resolution into law. At the same time, he also signed legislation overturning three other rules, including the U.S. Bureau of Land Management’s land use planning rule and two rules issued by the U.S. Department of Education.  Though much of the Fair Pay rule had never been implemented due to a court injunction, this legislation formally revokes the rule and ensures that the FAR Council cannot enact a similar rule without Congressional approval.

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The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) recently issued updated audit guidelines for its agents regarding the substantiation requirements for hardship withdrawals from 401(k) and 403(b) plans. This guidance is welcome news for plan sponsors who rely on third party administrators to process participants’ requests for hardship withdrawals, as it relaxes previous IRS guidance which (1) required plan sponsors to obtain and store copies of the actual source documents (e.g., medical bills, cancelled checks, etc.) that established a participant’s request for a hardship withdrawal and (2) did not permit participant self-certification of hardship withdrawal requests.

Continue Reading The IRS Provides Updated Guidance on Hardship Distributions

Employers who pay employees commissions should evaluate their compensation schemes to ensure compliance with California law in light of the California Court of Appeals’ recent ruling in Vaquero, et al. v. Stoneledge Furniture, LLC. In Vaquero, the court of appeals held that employers who pay employees on a commission basis must pay employees a separate minimum wage for rest periods.  Paying employees purely on draw and commission is no longer sufficient, even if the average wage equals, or is in excess of, the statutorily required minimum wage.

Continue Reading Employees Paid on a Commission Basis Must Be Paid a Separate Minimum Wage for Rest Periods

Earlier this month, the Department of Labor (DOL) proposed a 60-day delay of the April 10, 2017 effective date of its (much debated) fiduciary rule.  The fiduciary rule – a vestige of the Obama Administration – was thought to be bound for the chopping block once President Trump took office.  However, the proposed rule has only thus far been delayed, concerning many in the industry that:  (1) there may be a gap period during which the fiduciary rule becomes law before a delay is published, or (2) the DOL could decide to simply leave the fiduciary rule in place.

Continue Reading DOL Announces Temporary No Enforcement Policy of Fiduciary Rule

Under a new proposed H.R. bill, employers may be able to strongly encourage employees to participate in genetic testing.  H.R. 1313, entitled the Preserving Employee Wellness Programs Act, was recently approved by a House of Representatives committee and would allow employers to ask about family medical history and request genetic information as part of a wellness program.

Continue Reading New House Bill Would Open Door for Genetic Testing in Wellness Programs

On March 6, 2017, Republicans in the House of Representatives unveiled two bills that aim to repeal and replace the 2010 Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA). The bills, collectively called the American Health Care Act, were introduced by the Ways and Means and Energy and Commerce committees, and both committees have since passed the legislation.

The much-anticipated Republican ACA replacement would dismantle many of the healthcare reforms put in place over the past seven years, including the individual mandate and Medicaid expansion.

Continue Reading Key Provisions of the American Health Care Act

In an article published by InvestmentNews, Bass, Berry & Sims attorney Doug Dahl provided insight on the Department of Labor’s (DOL) decision to remove its FAQs document regarding the fiduciary rule from its website. The FAQs provided numerous questions for investors to pursue with their advisers based on the requirements of the DOL fiduciary rule, which raises investment-advice standards in retirement accounts. Doug stated that it is “‘hard to know’ exactly what the FAQ removal means, but said that removing this sort of ‘informal guidance’ doesn’t have to go through a stringent regulatory process similar to a sought-after delay in the fiduciary rule.”

The full article, “DOL Removes Consumer FAQs on Fiduciary Rule from its Website,” was published by InvestmentNews on March 3, 2017, and is available online.

In an article published by the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM), Bass, Berry & Sims attorney Bob Horton provided insight on what responsibilities franchisors have for ensuring that franchisees comply with employment laws. Bob suggests that “simply providing training to franchisees regarding employment law should not transform, by itself, a franchisor into an employer. During the course of employment law training, supervisors will often ask for advice regarding specific situations that come to mind during the training. Responding to such inquiries during the course of training should certainly be avoided as those conversations could be used as evidence of indicia of control by the franchisor.”

The full article, “Franchisors Shouldn’t Micromanage Franchisees’ Compliance Training,” was published by SHRM online on February 21, 2017, and is available online.

California Legislature introduced and passed a law phasing in state-wide minimum wage increases that will ultimately reach $15.00 per hour by 2022 for large employers and by 2023 for small employers.  Specifically, for employers with more than 25 employees, the hourly minimum wage will increase according to the following schedule:

Continue Reading California Minimum Wage Increases

From the Bass, Berry & Sims Blog Network
From the Bass, Berry & Sims Blog Network

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