Compliance Stuff

 Pension plans are increasingly rare these days.  If a business is considering acquiring a company that sponsors a pension plan, there are new diligence and deal considerations that come into play for the transaction(s).  This can be daunting. especially if the business does not already sponsor a pension plan. Pension plans are fundamentally different than defined contribution plans, such as 401(k) plans, in may respects. JD Supra shares some issues that businesses should consider if the target entity sponsors a pension plan: 1. Do You Understand the Funding Status of the Pension Plan? Pension plans are not required to be fully funded, i.e., it is not a legal requirement that the plan’s assets equal the plan’s liabilities. The “funded status” of a defined benefit pension plan can be viewed in different ways depending on the purpose for which the funding status is determined. For example, a pension plan that is considered “fully funded” (at 100% or more) for the plan’s mos...

Below, we list five actionable steps New York employers should take to tackle the ever-growing challenge of meeting their obligations under applicable law. 1. Review leave and accommodations policies and watch for further guidance. At the end of April 2024, the New York Legislature enacted its fiscal year 2025 budget. The $237 billion budget created significant new leave obligations for New York employers, which are described below. Employers should, therefore, review their leave and accommodations policies and watch for further guidance from the state regarding how to implement the prenatal personal leave and paid lactation breaks described below. Paid prenatal personal leave (reported on  May 10, 2024) New York became the first state in the US to create a paid leave program for prenatal care, as part of the governor’s broader effort to improve statewide infant and maternal mortality. Effective January 1, 2025, every employer will be required to provide employees with 20 hours of ...

 The US Department of Labor (DOL) released a document that outlines several principles with regards to Artificial Intelligence (AI) to provide employers that create and deploy AI with guidance for designing and implementing these emerging technologies in ways that enhance the job quality and protect workers' rights.   The AI Principles apply during the entire lifecycle of AI: from development to testing to deployment of AI in the workplace to oversight, use and auditing.  The AI Principles (thought not an exhaustive list, but should be used as a guiding framework) can be applied to all sectors and are intended to be mutually reinforcing, thought not all principles will apply to the same extent in every industry or workplace. The Department's AI Principles for Developers and Employers include: [North Star] Centering Worker Empowerment: Workers and their representatives, especially those from underserved communities, should be informed of and have genuine input in th...

 GovDocs published a piece on May 17, 2024 with regards to Election Season and Politics in the Workplace.  The Compliance Department felt it worthwhile to share the perspective: The Challenges of Election Season for Employers Election season is upon us, and so are the many political minefields that employers are expected to navigate during the months leading up to voting day. Polarizing opinions (expressed loudly and often), heated arguments between employees, and complicated voting leave requirements are just a few areas that could dampen employee morale and challenge your company’s compliance.  Multi-State Policies for Politics: Untangling the Web To further complicate matters, companies with locations in multiple states must track and manage a complex web of election-related legislation to inform their policies and procedures related to voting rights and workplace politics.  This all might seem a bit overwhelming – and for good reason. This is complicated stuff. R...

 On May 10, 2024, CISA, along with the FBI, HHS, and MS-ISAC, issued a joint  Cybersecurity Advisory relating to Black Basta ransomware affiliates "that have targeted over 500 private industry and critical infrastructure entities, including healthcare organizations, in North America, Europe, and Australia. Black Basta is a ransomware-as-a-service (RaaS) variant, first identified in April 2022. Black Basta uses double extortion tactics, encrypts data and threatens to leak it and has links to Conti and FIN7 threat actors. The  Black Basta Advisory  provides information on how the threat actors gain initial access to victim's systems, which primarily use spear phishing tactics. The Advisory lists indicators of compromise, file indicators, and suspected domains used by Black Basta.  This can be helpful for IT professionals to compare against company systems.  Mitigations listed by the Advisory include current patching, MFA, training, securing remote access sof...

 On May 20, 2024, the Department of Labor announced a final rule from its Occupational Safety and Health Administration that will update the current Hazard Communication Standard to protect workers by improving the amount and quality of information on labels and safety data sheets.  This will allow first responders and workers to react quickly in the event of an emergency.  The updates will take effect on July 19, 2024, Aligned primarily with the  seventh revision  of the UN's Globally Harmonized System of Classification and Labelling of Chemicals the  updated standard will require labels on small packaging to be more comprehensive and readable and makes changes to ensure trade secrets no longer prevent workers and first responders from receiving critical hazard information on safety data sheets. Workers will also receive a clearer hazard classification process to provide more complete and accurate hazard information on labels and safety data sheets; there...

Field Assistance Bulletins (FAB) are utilized to provide guidance to filed staff on enforcing the federal statutes administered by the Department of Labor's Wage and Hour Division (WHD). On May 20, 2024, JacksonLewis reported that the WHD has published a FAB on the application of federal labor standards to employers' use of artificial intelligence (AI) and other automated systems in the workplace. FAB No. 2024-1 emphasizes that statutory protections apply as usual, disregarding the new tools and systems employers are using.  However, the use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) may provide challenges in compliance. "Regardless of the exact AI or other technologies used, the principles described here provide guidance for evaluating how to comply with the law," the FAB states. The bulletin also addresses the potential impact of AI on compliance with the protections FLSA provides for nursing employees.    The FAB also provides guidance on the challenges that may arise with t...

It's not new news that the number of employers with remote employees has increased, following the pandemic.  We are reminded as employers to monitor employment laws and ensure compliance in all jurisdictions in which we have employees performing work.  Employment laws such as discrimination, anti-harassment, wage and hour, and leaves of absence may indeed cover employees performing work in remote locations---even if their employer does not have a physical presence there. There are several jurisdictions that require employers to provide sexual harassment and/or bystander intervention training to their employees.  To evaluate whether state and local training requirements apply, employers should engage two types of analysis to determine the following: if they are a "covered employer" under a state or local law, and, if yes whether the remote employee is a "covered employee" under those laws. JD Supra (Proskauer) provides a summary of only some states (not all) of t...

 Colorado Senate Bill 24-205 ("SB205") introduces statutory tort liability ( laws that govern the rights of victims to pursue legal claims against tortfeasors. When a victim is harmed or suffers damages, the victim can pursue a claim in civil court under tort laws.) If enacted, the bill would require employers using "high-risk" AI tools to implement risk management policies, conduct impact assessments, and provide detailed notices by February 1, 2026.   The bill defines "high-risk" (if the AI either "makes," or is a "substantial factor" in making, "a decision that has a material legal or similarly significant effect on the provision, denial, cost or terms" of any of the following: education, finance, health-care, housing, insurance, legal services, essential government services, and critically, hiring and employment in general. Compliance with this bill will place burden on any employer doing business in Colorado to identify ...

 The US Department of Labor (DOL) filed an  amicus brief (friend-of-the-court) brief  urging the Seventh Circuit to affirm the district court's ruling that employers must pay for such travel time and to extend the district court's ruling to include travel time outside of regular work hours.  If the court adopts this position, it will significantly expand the scope of compensable travel time for non-exempt employees in the Seventh Circuit who travel to remote jobsites. Source(s): Olgetree Deakins, received on May 10, 2024; YouTube , accessed on May 21, 2024.

 Under the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA), final privacy rules set basic limitations on the use or disclosure by covered entities (such as employer health benefit plans) and their business associates of reproductive health care information.  The final rules state that reproductive care is presumed to be legal unless the employer health benefit plan or its business associate has "actual knowledge" that the care was not lawful under the circumstances. The final rules generally require compliance on December 23, 2024.  Effective February 16, 2026, covered entities (such as employer health benefit plans) will be required to update their notices of privacy practices.  Additionally, the 2024 rules modify the HIPAA rules on disclosure of PHI to report abuse or neglect and for public health purposes to limit access to reproductive care information. For example, under current rules, a health benefit plan can refuse to treat an individual a...

 The Department of Justice (DOJ) launched a new pilot program on April 15, 2024.  This program will allow individuals who report certain criminal conduct (such as money laundering, fraud, or fraudulent noncompliance) to federal authorities to avoid prosecution under certain circumstances. The program incentivizes individual actors to disclose to federal authorities "actionable, original information about criminal conduct that might otherwise go undetected or be impossible to prove."  Those that do report must  provide full cooperation, including payment of applicable victim compensation, restitution, forfeiture, or disgorgement (legal requirement to return gains from illegal or unethical activities). The pilot program has certain criteria for a "whistleblower" to be considered: Original Information —The reporting individual’s disclosure must pertain to new, nonpublic information not already known by the DOJ or federal law enforcement. Voluntary —The disclosure must ...