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Category Archives: Employee Benefits

PROPOSED EEOC WELLNESS PLAN REGULATIONS FOCUS ON COVERAGE, INCENTIVES AND VOLUNTARINESS OF PARTICIPATION

On April 20, 2015, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission published its proposed regulations regulating employer wellness plans under the Americans with Disabilities Act. The proposed rules attempt to strike a balance between allowing wellness plans to offer incentives for employee participation while, at the same time, limiting incentives to defined percentages in order to prevent […]

With Same-Sex Marriage Permissible In Many States, Plan Sponsors Should Clarify the Rights Of Affected Children

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By: Alan M. Levy and John E. Murray Two years ago, in United States v. Windsor, the U.S. Supreme Court held that the Defense of Marriage Act (“DOMA”) is unconstitutional in its requirement that “marriage” be defined as restricted to heterosexual couples. After that, regulations were issued which treated same-sex married couples as entitled to […]

Supreme Court Alters Pregnancy Accommodation Requirements for Employers

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By Kristofor L. Hanson The U.S. Supreme Court on March 25, 2015, issued a decision that alters the landscape for employers under the Pregnancy Discrimination Act (“PDA”). In the decision, the Court held that employers are now required to assess their ability to accommodate a pregnant employee’s restrictions in a manner consistent with efforts to […]

Registration is now open for our Annual Compliance/Best Practices Seminar!

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Registration and a continental breakfast will be served beginning at 7:30 a.m. Click here to register. April 28, 2015 8:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m. Sheraton Milwaukee Brookfield Hotel 375 South Moorland Road Brookfield, Wisconsin This FREE half-day event will address current topics in labor, employment, benefits and worker’s compensation law and provide employers across industries with practical […]

Public Employers May Reduce Prospective Retiree Health Insurance Benefits

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February 16, 2015 By: Alan M. Levy and Oyvind Wistrom On February 12, 2015 the Wisconsin Supreme Court held that Milwaukee County could eliminate its payment of Medicare Part B premiums for otherwise eligible employees who retired more than three months after its adoption of ordinance amendment to that effect. Wisconsin Federation of Nurses and […]

Wisconsin Supreme Court Rules that Municipalities May Implement Prospective Reductions in Employee Benefits

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December 29, 2014 By: Alan M. Levy On December 19, 2014, the Wisconsin Supreme Court issued its decision in Stoker v. Milwaukee County and Milwaukee County Pension Board. In 2011, the County had amended its previous ordinance to reduce the multiplier used to calculate the amount of a person’s pension payments from 2% to 1.6% […]

EEOC Challenges Employer Wellness Programs

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November 13, 2014 By: Alan M. Levy and Samantha J. Wood The Affordable Care Act (ACA) has recently popularized employer wellness programs. The Department of Labor and Health and Human Services are presenting the ACA as promoting such programs by encouraging employers to offer “rewards” for participation. According to the final regulations, such “rewards” can […]

WI COURT OF APPEALS HOLDS MUNICIPAL EMPLOYERS MAY MODIFY RETIREE HEALTH INSURANCE BENEFITS

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By: Alan M. Levy On October 1, 2013 the Wisconsin Court of Appeals held that Milwaukee County could eliminate the reimbursement of Medicare Part B premiums for employees who had not retired before that modification took effect on April 1, 2011. Reversing the decision below, the Court held that the Supreme Court’s decision in Loth […]