2019 ended with a bang for stakeholders of retirement plans with the passage of the SECURE Act, a major piece of federal legislation that will alter the retirement plan landscape for years to come. Signed into law as part of a $1.4 trillion bipartisan spending bill on December 20, the SECURE Act (the full name
On December 20, 2019, President Trump signed into law H.R. 1865, the Further Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2020 (now Pub. L. 116-94) (the “Appropriations Act”), which, among other things, contains the Setting Every Community Up for Retirement Enhancement (SECURE) Act (the “Act”). The Act is a significant piece of retirement legislation which seeks to expand access
United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (“USCIS”) has published a final rule increasing the fee to use its Premium Processing Service from $1,410 to $1,440. The new fee will take effect on December 2, 2019, and requests for Premium Processing postmarked on or after this date must include the new fee.
USCIS offers Premium Processing
New statistics released by the CHRO show that in the last year, claims of discrimination and harassment are up overall. For employers, that means more “visits” — at least virtually through e-mail, from the agency.
But what should you do when you get such a complaint from the CHRO? Well, a few things. The first,
USCIS has announced that on January 2, 2020 it will dispose of its E-Verify records for cases that are more than 10 years old. Specifically, USCIS will be destroying its E-Verify records that were created on or before December 31, 2009. After January 2, 2020, employers will no longer be able to access USCIS’ E-Verify
One hotly debated aspect of the Affordable Care Act (“ACA”) has been the so-called “Cadillac Tax” on high-cost health benefits, currently slated to take effect in 2022. The Cadillac Tax is a 40% excise tax on the amount of employer-sponsored health care coverage which exceeds $10,200 for individuals and $27,500 for families. (Higher thresholds apply
ICE is now conducting worksite inspections for STEM OPT employers. ICE’s stated purpose for conducting these inspections, or “site-visits”, is to confirm that STEM OPT students are receiving work-based practical training that directly relates to their area of study. See our previous post. Since instituting its new “site-visit” enforcement measure, ICE has issued guidance
Last week, the DOL unveiled its new regulations aiming to increase the annual salary threshold to $35,000 for “white collar” overtime exemptions, up from the current $23,660 set in 2004. The DOL estimates that this will result in approximately 1.3 million additional workers now qualifying for overtime. The DOL also increased the “highly compensated worker”
Recently, the Legislature passed and the Governor signed two Public Acts that made significant changes to the statutes addressing sexual harassment in the workplace. These bills are collectively known as the Time’s Up Act. Among the significant changes made by the Act were changes that (1) expanded the training requirement from employers with 50 employees
The STEM OPT program allows foreign students who have graduated from a U.S. STEM-degree program to gain paid, on-the-job “Optional Practical Training (“OPT”) that supplements and directly relates to the knowledge and skills gained in their academic studies. In order to engage in post-graduation practical training, foreign students must select an appropriate STEM employer who