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As skyrocketing COVID-19 cases deplete schools and max out hospitals, Gov. Kevin Stitt said he authorized employees of state agencies to substitute teach to stave off pandemic-related school closures.

The governor announced an executive order on Tuesday authorizing state agencies to allow their employees to substitute in public schools. Just under 32,000 people work for the state of Oklahoma.

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The email chains and phone calls among tribal leaders and lawyers started soon after President Joe Biden announced a sweeping plan Thursday to vaccinate millions of people against COVID-19.

Large private employers must require employees to get vaccinated or face frequent tests. Federal employees, federal contractors and staffers of many health care facilities must also get vaccinated.

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Defined benefit plans that are qualified, have ever been qualified, or have ever been determined by the IRS to be qualified are subject to the minimum funding standards of IRC Section 412. The minimum required contribution for a single-employer defined benefit plan (other than a CSEC plan) is determined under IRC Section 430. IRC Section 4971 imposes excise taxes on unpaid minimum required contributions. Title I of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA) also contains minimum funding standards.

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Despite rising case numbers in the United States amid the emergence of the delta variant of the COVID-19 virus, a sense of normalcy has returned to most parts of the country in recent months.

The economy, despite inflation concerns, has rebounded and more employers are welcoming workers back to the office. This, however, has also led to a white-hot jobs market that’s seen many people wave goodbye to their employer in lieu of greener pastures.

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Yesterday (April 7), the Department of Labor issued a series of frequently asked questions (“FAQs”) regarding the COBRA provisions of the American Rescue Plan of 2021 (“ARP”) – along with four model COBRA notices. The FAQs clarify a number of issues. Employers need to take action right now. CLICK HERE to read more.

The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) has announced that amounts paid by individuals for certain personal protective equipment (PPE), including masks, sanitizing wipes, and hand sanitizer—for the primary purpose of preventing the spread of COVID-19 (the disease that results from SARS-CoV-2)—are treated as expenses incurred for medical care under Internal Revenue Code Section 213(d) (Announcement 2021-7 (Mar. 26, 2021)). Accordingly, these amounts may be deductible under the Code or reimbursed under health flexible spending arrangements (health FSAs), health reimbursement arrangements (HRAs), health savings accounts (HSAs), or Archer medical savings accounts (Archer MSAs).

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The IRS has issued COVID-19-related guidance that extends certain compliance deadlines relating to health savings accounts (HSAs) (Notice 2021-21 (Mar. 29, 2021)). The guidance also extends the deadline by which individuals must file their 2020 federal income tax returns.

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Effective July 1, 2020, the Seattle ordinance at issue in this case requires large hotel employers (and related businesses) to make employee health care expenditures on behalf of covered employees. Employers may satisfy the requirement by making monthly expenditures in specified dollar amounts that vary depending on whether a covered employee has a spouse/domestic partner and dependents.

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In a coverage dispute over autism treatment, the District Court for the Northern District of California held that a health plan's autism-related exclusion for Applied Behavioral Analysis (ABA) therapy violated the Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act of 2008 (MHPAEA). The court also concluded that the plan's third-party administrator (TPA) was an ERISA fiduciary regarding its denial of benefits under the plan's exclusion.

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Many employers have established wellness programs to promote employee health and, in doing so, help counter the ever increasing costs associated with employer-sponsored health benefit plans. Often employers want to establish programs that provide employees with incentives to achieve certain health outcomes, such as smoking cessation or weight loss. Employers must exercise caution in creating such health-contingent wellness programs, which necessarily require employees to disclose health information, because the Americans with Disabilities Act (“ADA”) and the Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act (“GINA”) prohibit medical inquiries unless there is a demonstrated business necessity or responding to the health inquiry is voluntary.

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