New FMLA Rule Defining “Spouse” Based on Marriage “Place of Celebration” Rather Than Employee’s “State of Residence”

Same-Sex-CouplesOn February 25, 2015, the Department of Labor published updated FMLA rules pursuant to which employees in legal, same-sex marriages, regardless of where they live, will have the same rights as those in opposite-sex marriages to federal job-protected leave under the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA).

Originally enacted in 1993, the FMLA entitles eligible employees of covered employers to take unpaid, job-protected leave for specified family and medical reasons. Employees are, for example, entitled to take FMLA leave to care for a spouse who has a serious health condition.

This rule change updates the FMLA regulatory definition of “spouse” so that an eligible employee in a legal same-sex marriage will be able to take FMLA leave for his or her spouse regardless of the state in which the employee resides. The new rules are effective March 27, 2015. Previously, the regulatory definition of “spouse” did not include same-sex spouses if an employee resided in a state that did not recognize the employee’s same-sex marriage. Under the new rule, eligibility for federal FMLA protections is based on the law of the place where the marriage was entered into.

This “place of celebration” rule brings FMLA into alignment with the rules applicable to qualified retirement plans since the Supreme Court’s Windsor decision in 2013.

We recommend that employers review and update their FMLA policies to ensure compliance with the new rules. In addition, while it is still theoretically permissible for employers to use a different definition of “spouse” for purposes of welfare benefit plans, such as medical, dental, life, and disability (because ERISA does not require spousal coverage under those plans), we recommend that employers seriously consider aligning their definition of “spouse” for all purposes.

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King v. Burwell Isn’t About Obamacare – Abbe R. Gluck – POLITICO Magazine

This article provides a good primer on one of the rationales the Supreme Court (including some of the conservative justices) could uphold the individual mandate and the employer mandate in the states that have not adopted their own Marketplaces. In essence, the argument is that by interpreting the ACA to preclude subsidies in the 36 states with a Federal Marketplace, the Court would be construing the ACA in a way that unconstitutionally infringes on federalism principles (i.e. states’ rights). The Court would then adopt the constitutional interpretation rather than the unconstitutional one. Of course, this argument could also backfire – if the ACA individual mandate/ employer mandate/ Marketplace structure is not ambiguous and it does unconstituitionally infringe on federalism principles then it is unconstitutional in its entirety (even in the states that have adopted their own Marketplaces).

icon King v. Burwell Isn’t About Obamacare – Abbe R. Gluck – POLITICO Magazine.

Calculating and Paying the Excise Tax for Violating the ACA Market Reforms

Code Section 4980D imposes an excise tax equal to $100 per day per individual (theoretically, $36,500 per year per person) for not complying with the ACA market reforms. For employers with “employer payment plans” that do not satisfy the ACA market reforms, this penalty theoretically could be imposed for every employee who receives reimbursement of insurance premiums. In addition to the transition relief discussed in a prior post the tax can be reduced, or potentially eliminated entirely, if it was due to reasonable cause and not willful neglect.

No Tax If No-One Knew or Should Have Known About the Failure

First, the penalty could be avoided entirely for any period that the employer could show that no-one at the employer knew, or exercising reasonable diligence would have known, that the failure occurred. Code Section 4980D(c)(1). It is not clear what evidence a taxpayer would need to support taking this position. The Excise Tax return used to report the tax (Form 8929) permits tax payers to calculate the tax as $0 by claiming this exemption without submitting anything other than the Form 8928 claiming the exemption. See the form 8928 here and the Form 8928 Instructions here

No Tax If Failure Was Due to Reasonable Cause and Is Corrected Within 30 Days

Second, the penalty could be avoided if the employer could show that (1) the failure was due to reasonable cause and not willful neglect, and (2) the failure is corrected within 30 days after the employer learned of the failure. Code Section 4980D(c)(2). Correction means the failure is retroactively undone to the extent possible and each beneficiary of the plan is put in the same financial position they would have been in if the failure had not occurred.

It is not clear how one would correct a failure to satisfy the market reforms. In the case of employer re-imbursement plans, options to consider include (1) undo the premium reimbursement arrangement by requiring the recipients to return the re-imbursement; (2) make the reimbursements taxable and then provide additional taxable compensation to all employees so that all employees receive the same amount of additional taxable compensation (either as a percentage of their base, or as a dollar amount); or (3) determine whether anyone was subject to an annual limit or preventative care cost sharing provision under the individual policy (i.e. the market reforms applicable to group plans) that they would not have been subject to had those policies complied with the group policy mandates in that regard, and then provide them additional reimbursement to cover the costs of those services. Each of these options has potential problems and none of them is specifically approved. We recommend employers consult their counsel regarding their particular facts and circumstances before fashioning a correction.

The Tax is Limited to 10% of the Premiums paid.

Finally, for a single employer plan the maximum penalty in the case of a failure that was due to reasonable cause and not willful neglect, is 10% of the amount paid for the group health plan by the employer for the year. In the case of a n employer reimbursement plan, this would be 10% of the mount of the premiums paid or reimbursed by the employer. Code Section 4980D(c)(3).

DOL to Propose New Fiduciary Rules

The White House today announced that in the coming months, the Department of Labor will propose a new fiduciary rule that, according to the announcement, will:

  • Expand the types of retirement investment advice subject to ERISA’s fiduciary standards.
  • Continue to allow private firms to set their own compensation practices by proposing a new type of exemption from limits on payments creating conflicts of interest that is more principles-based than the current rules. The exemption will still permit many common forms of compensation, such as commissions and revenue sharing, whether paid by the client or the investment firm.
  • Allow advisers to continue to provide general education on retirement saving across employer-sponsored plans and IRAs without triggering fiduciary duties.

The DOL will issue a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) in the coming months. Then there will be a comment period before the final rule is issued.

icon FACT SHEET: Middle Class Economics: Strengthening Retirement Security by Cracking Down on Backdoor Payments and Hidden Fees | The White House.

Filing Requirements for IRS Forms 1094 and 1095

The IRS has released final Forms 1094 and 1095, which will be used to enforce the ACA employer mandate penalties and the individual mandate and tax credit eligibility rules. These forms must first be filed by employers and insurers in early 2016, for the 2015 calendar year. Filing is optional in 2015 for the 2014 calendar year. While we do not recommend voluntary filing, we do recommend employers review the forms and the instructions so they are aware of what filing in 2016 will involve because they need to be gathering the information to report now.

IRS Announces Transition Relief for Employer Payment Plans (IRS Notice 2015-17)

IRS Notice 2015-17 provides transition relief for employers that are not Applicable Large Employers (“ALEs”) (i.e. those with less than 50 FTEs) that pay, or reimburse employees for individual health policy premiums. These “employer payment plans” do not satisfy the ACA market reforms, which exposes the employers to excise taxes under Code § 4980D ($100 per day per affected individual), as of January 1, 2014. Notice 2015-17 provides that the excise tax will not be asserted (1) for 2014 against employers that are not ALEs for 2014 , and (2) for January 1 through June 30, 2015 for employers that are not ALEs for 2015. After June 30, 2015, such employers may be liable for the Code § 4980D excise tax.

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icon Our subsequent post about reporting and paying the excise tax