COMPLIANCE AND NEWS BRIEFS
Coffman Benefits helps clients stay compliant by sending pertinent news briefs as and when they happen. Below is a sample of our most recent compliance and news briefs for California based employers:
Two federal courts—the U.S. Supreme Court and the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals—recently ruled on cases involving wage claims by employees. These decisions set limits on wage claims in California.
On May 18, 2021, the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors passed an urgency ordinance requiring all private employers to provide paid leave for employees in unincorporated Los Angeles County for the purpose of receiving COVID-19 vaccinations. The ordinance became effective immediately and is retroactive to Jan. 1, 2021. The leave requirement expires Aug. 31, 2021.
On May 10, 2021, the IRS released Revenue Procedure 2021-25 to provide the inflation-adjusted limits for health savings accounts (HSAs) and high deductible health plans (HDHPs) for 2022. The IRS is required to publish these limits by June 1 of each year.
The U.S. Department of Labor’s (DOL) Wage and Hour Division (WHD) has updated its “COVID-19 and the Family and Medical Leave Act Questions and Answers” web page, originally published in 2020. As before, the Q&As explain that—under the FMLA—covered employers must provide eligible employees with job-protected, unpaid leave for specified family and medical reasons. Additionally, employees on FMLA leave are entitled to the continuation of group health insurance coverage under the same terms that were in effect before they took leave.
On May 5, 2021, the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) announced it will officially withdraw the Independent Contractor final rule. The withdrawal will be effective on the day the DOL’s official withdrawal is published in the Federal Register. The Federal Register is expected to publish the withdrawal on May 6, 2021.
As of Apr. 16, 2021, certain California employers are required to give preference to rehiring and retaining employees displaced by COVID-19 when filling new positions. This new law applies to hotels, private clubs, event centers, airport hospitality operations, airport service providers and enterprises that provide building service to office, retail or other commercial buildings. The law expires Dec. 31, 2024.
The FDA now recommends that high-risk populations avoid filling cavities with traditional dental amalgams (silver-fillings) in this recently released infographic.
The IRS has released new resources explaining the tax credits available for employers who opt to provide paid family leave and paid sick leave under the Families First Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRA) and the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) through Sept. 30, 2021. The new resources consist of a fact sheet and a “snapshot” document published on April 21, 2021, in conjunction with public remarks by President Joe Biden calling on employers to help their employees get vaccinated.
Recently, President Joe Biden issued a call for employers to take additional steps to help get their employees and communities vaccinated against COVID-19.
As part of that effort, president Biden announced a paid leave tax credit for small- and medium-sized businesses. This credit will allow eligible employers to fully offset the cost of paid leave for employees to get vaccinated and recover from any after-effects of the vaccination.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, you may have purchased masks or personal protective equipment (PPE) for the purpose of preventing the spread of the coronavirus (COVID-19). Now, according to a recent announcement from the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), those PPE purchases may be deductible from your income for tax purposes and eligible to be paid or reimbursed under certain savings accounts.
On April 7, 2021, the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) issued answers to frequently asked questions (FAQs) about the American Rescue Plan Act’s (ARP) premium assistance for health insurance continuation coverage under the Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1986 (COBRA) and similar state mini-COBRA programs. The DOL’s FAQs are reprinted in this Compliance Bulletin.
The Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021 (CAA) amended the Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act of 2008 (MHPAEA) to provide additional protections. On April 2, 2021, the Departments of Labor (DOL), Health and Human Services (HHS) and the Treasury (Departments) jointly issued FAQs to clarify these amendments.
Under a new law, California employers with more than 25 employees must provide up to 80 new hours of supplemental paid sick leave for specific COVID-19-related reasons. The leave requirement takes effect March 29, 2021, but is retroactive to Jan. 1, 2021.
Effective March 29, 2021 all California employers with more than 25 employees are required to display the newly introduced 2021 CA COVID-19 Supplemental Paid Sick Leave Notice.
This law extends up to 80 hours of paid sick leave to eligible employees in addition to leave that was provided under previous laws which expired on December 31, 2020. The law is retroactive to January 1, 2021 and will be in effect through September 30, 2021.
After reviewing the rule for consistency with law and policy, the DOL announced that it will allow provisions that increase worker protections and earnings to take effect in April, including provisions that:
Prohibit employers (including managers and supervisors) from keeping their employees’ tips, regardless of whether the employer takes a tip credit; and
Allow employers that do not take a tip credit to include non-tipped workers (including cooks and dishwashers) in nontraditional tip-sharing agreements.
The American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA), enacted March 11, 2021, includes changes to emergency paid sick leave and paid family leave under the Families First Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRA). The ARPA extended the tax credits through Sept. 30, 2021, for employers that continue to provide FFCRA leave voluntarily (beyond the Dec. 31, 2020, expiration date) and made changes to tax credit eligibility for both types of FFCRA leave.
On March 23, 2021, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) announced that it is extending access to a special enrollment period (SEP) through Exchanges on the federal www.HealthCare.gov platform due to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. Originally available through May 15, 2021, the extended SEP provides three additional months for enrollment, allowing eligible individuals to enroll in Exchange coverage through Aug. 15, 2021.
The American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA), signed into law March 11, 2021, provides a 100% subsidy of premiums for employer-sponsored group health insurance continued under the Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1986 (COBRA) and similar state continuation of coverage (mini-COBRA) programs.
ARPA subsidies cover the full cost of COBRA or mini-COBRA premiums from April 1, 2021, through Sept. 30, 2021, for employees (and their qualifying family members), if the employee lost or loses group health insurance due to an involuntary job loss or reduction in work hours.
President Joe Biden recently signed into law a $1.9 trillion relief bill, known as the American Rescue Plan.
The chart below provides an overview of the highlights of the bill and how it compares to the two previous relief bills signed into law in 2020.
On March 11, 2021, the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) announced a proposal to rescind the Independent Contractor final rule. The rule was originally published in January, but its effective date has been delayed as the result of a freeze the Biden administration ordered on regulatory changes adopted late into the previous administration.
On Feb. 26, 2021, the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) delayed the effective date of its 2020 employee tip rule to April 30, 2021. This rule was originally scheduled to go into effect on March 1, 2021.
The rule prevents employers from keeping their employees’ tips and specifically prohibits managers and supervisors from keeping any portion of employee tips, including any from a tip pool.
On March 1, 2021, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) issued Notice 2021-20 to provide guidance for employers claiming the 2020 employer retention tax credit. This tax credit was created by the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security Act (CARES Act) to encourage employers to keep employees on their payroll, despite experiencing economic hardships related to COVID-19.
California will provide the Golden State Stimulus payment to families and people who qualify. This is a one-time $600 or $1,200 payment. You may receive this payment if you receive the California Earned Income Tax Credit or file with an Individual Taxpayer Identification Number (ITIN).
On Feb. 26, 2021, the Department of Labor’s (DOL) Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA) issued Disaster Relief Notice 2021-01 to provide guidance on the duration of the COVID-19-related relief regarding certain employee benefit plan deadlines during the Outbreak Period.