Are You Ready For Obamacare’s Employee Notice Requirements?

An important deadline for employers regarding the Affordable Care Act, or Obamacare, is just around the corner.

By October 1, 2013, employers must notify employees of the coverage options available on health insurance marketplaces or exchanges. The requirement applies to companies with one or more employees and not less than $500,000 in annual business — in other words most employers. More ›

Proposed Employer tax Rules Available for Obamacare

The U.S. Department of the Treasury and the Internal Revenue Service have published proposed rules establishing reporting requirements for employers and insurers under the Affordable Care Act (“ACA”), or Obamacare.

Under the ACA, employers with 50 or more full-time employees must offer health insurance or pay a penalty. The new proposed rules flesh out how employers must report information to the IRS with respect to their employees’ enrollment in qualified health plans. More ›

Recently Issued Final Regulations Provide Clarification on Employee Wellness Programs

On May 29, 2013, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), U.S. Department of the Treasury (Treasury), and U.S. Department of Labor issued the final rule governing employee wellness programs under the Affordable Care Act (ACA). This rule is intended to provide comprehensive guidance as to the general requirements for wellness programs by restructuring the regulations proposed by the departments in November 2012. These regulations replace the wellness program provisions of paragraph (f) of the 2006 Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) nondiscrimination and wellness provisions jointly published by HHS and the Treasury and implement Section 2705 of the Public Health Service Act (PHS). As amended by the ACA, the PHS’ nondiscrimination and wellness provisions largely reflect the 2006 regulations and extend the HIPAA nondiscrimination protections to the individual market. The rule applies to group health insurance coverage for plan years starting on or after January 1, 2014. More ›

DOL Issues ObamaCare Self-Compliance Checklists for Employers

The Department of Labor has issued a “self-compliance tool,” (complete with a handy checklist) to help employers operating group health plans comply with the Affordable Care Act. More ›

Employers must give Breast-Feeding Mothers time and Privacy Under The Affordable Care Act

Under the Affordable Care Act (ObamaCare), an employer is required to provide the following for breastfeeding mothers who are employees:

• A reasonable break time for an employee to express breast milk for her nursing child for 1 year after the child’s birth each time such employee has need to express the milk;
• A place, other than a bathroom, that is shielded from view and free from intrusion from coworkers and the public, which may be used by an employee to express breast milk.

The employer is not  required to compensate the employee receiving break time for expressing milk for any work time spent for this purpose. More ›

New Data Shows that DOL is Actively Enforcing FLSA’s new Breastfeeding Break Requirement

Statistics released earlier this week by the Department of Labor show that the Department is taking seriously the Affordable Care Act’s requirement that employers provide employees with an opportunity for expression of breastmilk. The data — released pursuant to a Freedom of Information Act request by the Wage and Hour Laws blog —– shows that over four dozen employers were investigated for alleged wrongful practices during the first two years of the requirement’s existence. Three dozen of the investigated employers were ultimately cited for violations of the law.  These statistics underscore the need for employers to be aware of and comply with the new breastfeeding-break requirement — the Department of Labor is obviously taking the rule seriously, and employers should do the same. More ›

District Court: Affordable care act does not Provide Private Cause of Action to Employee Denied Private Space for Expression of Breast Milk

The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (i.e., the ACA or “Obamacare”) requires employers to provide their employees with comfortable opportunities to express breast milk while at work. Specifically, the ACA mandates that employers must provide employees with unpaid breaks during which to express breast milk as well as “a place, other than a bathroom, that is shielded from view and free from intrusion with coworkers and the public” in which to do so. 29 U.S.C. §207(r). A federal district court judge in Iowa ruled earlier this week, however, that an employee whose rights are violated under this provision may not sue her employer. Instead, she must file a claim directly with the Department of Labor, which is then charged with enforcing the rules. More ›