Weekly legislative updates affecting the U.S. workforce and workplace
United States of America
On November 10, 2009, the Treasury and IRS issued Announcement 2009-82, which provides relief to cash balance plans regarding the requirement under the Pension Protection Act of 2006 that interest crediting rates not exceed a market rate of return.
The United States House of Representatives took a major step toward enactment of legislation to reform the U.S. health care system, passing a landmark health care reform bill late in the evening on Saturday, November 7, 2009.
On October 28, 2009, President Obama signed into law the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2010 (P.L. 111-84), which among other things amends the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA).
While the Medicare Part D retiree drug subsidy (RDS) Web site alerts employers to key deadlines regarding the application, RDS continues to be a complicated administrative process.
The DOL has issued revised regulations for the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA). Several FMLA Hewitt resources are available for employer reference.
On October 29, Hewitt's Rick Jones testified before the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (H.E.L.P.) Committee in a hearing entitled "Pensions in Peril: Helping Workers Preserve Retirement Security Through a Recession."
Cash balance plan sponsors should consider whether they need to adopt plan amendments by the end of the 2009 plan year to reflect two provisions of the Pension Protection Act of 2006 (PPA).
Interim final rules were issued under the Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act (GINA) on October 7, 2009.
UPDATE: By a vote of 14 to 9, the Senate Finance Committee (SFC) on October 13, 2009 adopted the "America's Healthy Future Act of 2009" sponsored by Senate Finance Chairman Max Baucus (D-MT).
On October 7, 2009, the IRS issued much-anticipated final regulations on valuing assets and liabilities for the funding of single employer defined benefit pension plans and benefit restrictions for underfunded defined benefit plans. The final rules apply to plan years beginning on or after January 1, 2010.
On October 7, 2009, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) issued a final rule rescinding its "no-match" rule.
Hewitt's Alison Borland shares ideas to improve the defined contribution retirement system with the ERISA Advisory Council.
On September 5, 2009, President Obama announced new initiatives for retirement savings in his weekly radio address. On the same day, the Treasury and Internal Revenue Service (IRS) issued a group of Notices and Revenue Rulings intended to advance the President's retirement savings initiatives.
The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) issued guidance (Notice 2009-75) on September 8, 2009 that provides some additional clarifications around the taxation of rollovers from an employer plan to a Roth individual retirement account (IRA).
President Obama delivered a nationally televised address on health care reform September 9, 2009, telling a joint session of Congress that "now is the time to deliver on health care."
