The U.S. Supreme Court declined to review the Second Circuit’s decision in Laurent v. PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP, which held that retirees could receive money damages in the form of recalculated benefits in a class action over how the company’s cash balance pension plan calculated lump-sum benefits.

The Colorado Court of Appeals recently decided an issue of first impression regarding the Employee Retirement Income Security Act’s (ERISA) preemptive power over Colorado’s divorce-revocation statute. The decision in Ragan v. Ragan, 2021 COA 75, settled an open question in Colorado regarding whether ERISA preempts “post-distribution” lawsuits under Colorado’s divorce-revocation statute. Specifically, the court held that ERISA preempts lawsuits against a former spouse to recover plan benefits that were distributed to the former spouse as the named beneficiary.

Sarah Bryan Fask explains how the special financial assistance will affect union-brokered pensions.

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A federal court in New Jersey recently applied the arbitrary and capricious standard of review for a denial of benefits claim despite the enactment of an anti-discretionary statute in Minnesota, which governed the benefit plan policy. Hocheiser v. Liberty Mut. Ins. Co., 2021 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 32154 (D.N.J. Feb. 22, 2021).

Sarah Bryan Fask explains the future of multi-employer pension reforms.

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Sarah Bryan Fask shares her insight about the future of pension plans for unionized employees.

Bloomberg Law

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On March 10, 2021, the Department of Labor’s Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA) announced that it will not enforce or otherwise pursue enforcement actions with respect to two recently issued final rules amending the “investment duties” regulation under Title I of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA).

On March 11, 2021, President Biden signed into law the $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan Act of 2021, which includes the Butch Lewis Emergency Pension Plan Relief Act of 2021.  This law is designed to forestall the insolvency of approximately 100 multiemployer pension plans that were expected to run out of money necessary to pay vested benefits over the next 20 years.  Included among these funds is a particularly large fund that – absent congressional intervention – would have gone insolvent by 2025, leaving millions of retirees without their expected monthly pension. 

Sarah Bryan Fask provides insight on multi-employer pension plans. 

DCReport

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House Education and Labor Chairman Bobby Scott (D-VA) recently introduced legislation that seeks to provide aid to multiemployer pension plans (MEPs) facing insolvency. Entitled the Emergency Pension Plan Relief Act (EPPRA), the bill would fund this aid directly from the U.S. Treasury.

On January 8, 2021, the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC) issued its final rule modifying the calculation of withdrawal liability by multiemployer pension plans.  This final rule amends the agency’s regulations on allocating unfunded vested benefits to withdrawing employers (29 C.F.R. § 4211) and notice, collection, and redetermination of withdrawal liability (29 C.F.R. § 4219).

Stephen T. Melnick discusses the Massachusetts Department of Industrial Accidents (DIA)’s revised workers’ compensation notice for employees, which Massachusetts employers will start using Sept. 16, 2024.

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James A. Paretti Jr. says the DOL’s new overtime rule is likely to face a legal challenge, so employers should start reviewing their workforces but stop short of implementing changes right away.

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Alex MacDonald explains the key questions in the first test of a National Labor Relations Board ruling that threatens to make employers pay more to workers whose rights they violate.

Law360 Employment Authority

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With 2023 in the rearview mirror, Connecticut employers may want to confirm they have implemented the necessary changes to address legislative developments that became effective January 1, 2024.

Connecticut Minimum Wage

Jeff Nowak discusses the problems that negative favoritism in a department can cause if it is not corrected.

SHRM Online

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Johane Severin says a few of New York’s new employment laws serve to protect the public from losing rights and protecting people who don’t have the same access to resources as others have.

International Employment Lawyer

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On August 8, 2023, the Governor of Puerto Rico signed into law Act No. 85-2023, effective immediately. The statute amends Puerto Rico’s Workers’ Compensation Act by further incentivizing safe workplaces.

Sara Olabarría explains how courts determine whether stress is the cause of a work accident. 

El País

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The First Special Session of the 131^st Maine Legislature included debate about more than 2,000 bills. Many that were adopted will impact employers in the Pine Tree State. Below is a brief summary of important employment law changes enacted this session. 

An Act to Create the Maine Paid Family and Medical Leave Benefits Program

The budget signed by Maine Governor Janet Mills on July 11, 2023, included funding for one of the broadest and most generous paid family and medical leave programs in the country.

While significant bills impacting Connecticut employers were signed into law, proposed employer mandates on pay transparency, paid sick leave, and predictive scheduling failed to gain the necessary votes for passage in 2023. Here are some of the year’s notable legislative developments.

What Passed . . .

Effective October 1, 2023, unless otherwise noted:

The state of epidemic emergency in Poland will be lifted on July 1, 2023, and Paweł Sych explains how this will affect workers and employers.

interia biznes

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Joy Rosenquist offers employers tips to manage compliance challenges that may arise from California’s new regulations that are designed to increase pay transparency.

WorldatWork

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Teresa Trigueros talks about formulas companies can use to balance wage increases, as long as they do not cross certain insurmountable limits or requirements that are conventionally or legally established.

El Pais

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Sebastian Chilco and Wendy Buckingham discuss a new San Francisco law that aims to increase income and employment security for private-sector employees when they perform military service.

SHRM Online

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Claire Deason weighs in on whether employers are obligated to pay for remote employees' commutes into work, business expenses and paid sick time.

Law360 Employment Authority

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Michael Lotito weighs in on the U.S. Department of Labor's Wage and Hour Division’s key proposals and nominations.

Law360 Employment Authority

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Denise Visconti offers tips to help employers navigate California’s SB 1162, which will require employers to disclose median and mean hourly rates and pay information on contractors, starting in May 2023.

Law360 Employment Authority

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Michael Lotito talks about the fifth-annual Labor Day Report from Littler’s Workplace Policy Institute, which examined the state of the labor market and several impending worker-friendly changes to state and federal workplace policy.

Law360 Employment Authority

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Melissa Cee and Erin Webber discuss hiring the sixth shareholder at Littler – Noah Garber – since July as part of Littler’s new talent strategy that the firm began developing last year. 

The Recorder

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David Carvalho Martins answers questions about the payment of remuneration – or benefits – in cryptocurrencies. 

Human Resources Portugal

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Paul Piccigallo talks about considerations for employers when raising minimum wage in the midst of rising inflation.

SHRM Online

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Shannon Meade talks about states implementing minimum wage increases, increases in employers’ total compensation packages and the trend in “unretirements.”

HR Dive

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Lee Schreter comments on the U.S. Department of Labor’s proposed overtime rule, which is tentatively slated to be released in October, and the Fair Labor Standards Act’s independent contractor rule.

SHRM Online

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Lee Schreter comments on why raising the overtime salary threshold might not be a good idea with a recession on the way.

Law360 Employment Authority

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Iván López García de la Riva discusses Spain’s plan to raise severance payments in certain situations. 

CincoDías

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Rhonda Levy and George Vassos explain Ontario’s Election Act, under which every employee who is qualified to vote is entitled to three consecutive hours to vote while the polls are open.

Human Resources Director Canada

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Devjani Mishra, Barry Hartstein and Michael Lotito provide insight into the findings of Littler’s Annual Employer Survey and several workplace issues and the fast-changing regulations facing employers. (Subscription required.)

Human Resource Executive

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Lee Schreter and Justin Brown suggest four practical recommendations for companies that opt to issue crypto outright in connection with employees’ wages.

The Fashion Law

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Eli Freedberg discusses New York’s controversial new pay transparency law.

Law360 Employment Authority

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Eli Freedberg explains that there are lots of gray areas for employers in a New York City law that requires them to post pay ranges in their job ads.

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Rhonda Levy and George Vassos discuss a recent British Columbia Supreme Court case that directed an employee’s CERB payment to be deducted from wrongful dismissal damage awards.

Human Resources Director Canada

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William Foster and Katie Towery share the changes in the legal landscape and how it could result in manufacturers’ increased liability for workplace accidents. 

Industry Today

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Jorge Sales Boyoli discusses the Participation of Workers in the Utilities (PTU) in Mexico and how it is affecting employers and employees this year.

El Heraldo de Aguascalientes

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Jorge Sales Boyoli talks about the outsourcing law came into force last year, who will receive profits and the new challenges that have come with it. 

El Heraldo de México

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Jeanine Conley Daves discusses the fact that women still, in the year 2022, are rarely compensated on par with their male counterparts and suggests solutions for workplace parity.

Philadelphia Business Journal

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Jorge Sales Boyoli weighs in on a reform that was almost passed in Mexico, which “violates the most sacred thing that a worker has: his salary.” 

El Heraldo de Mexico

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As a result of subcontracting reform, Jorge Sales Boyoli explains that some companies want to distribute profits under conservative criteria and plan to compensate by distributing an additional bonus. 

El Diario Mexico

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