Earlier this month, the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California recognized the retroactive application of United States v. Windsor.

In Schuett v. FedEx Corporation, plaintiff and her long-time same-sex partner, Lesly Taboada-Hall were married in a civil ceremony on June 19, 2013. Taboada-Hall, a fully-vested participant in the FedEx Pension Plan, passed away the following day from cancer. As of the date of Taboada-Hall’s death, marriage licenses for same-sex couples were not available in California due to enforcement of Proposition 8, a voter-enacted ban on same-sex marriage. Six days later, the U.S. Supreme Court issued its landmark Windsor decision declaring Section 3 of the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) unconstitutional.

Here’s where this gets interesting. On August 6, 2013, plaintiff filed a Petition to Establish the Fact, Date, and Place of Marriage, as permitted by California Health & Safety

Signed into law in December 2014 and effective January 1, 2016, the Small Business Efficiency Act (“SBEA”) provides welcome federal statutory recognition of Professional Employer Organizations (“PEOs”). PEOs, who act as “co-employers”, are becoming popular for many small to mid-size businesses struggling to maintain compliance with an ever-increasing volume of regulations impacting human resources and benefits compliance.

In the past, many states individually recognized PEOs through licensing or registration statutes, and there were only a handful of pieces of federal guidance concerning how PEOs should be treated under federal law. The SBEA changes the federal legal landscape by instituting a voluntary certification process for PEOs. By completing this voluntary certification process, a PEO has clear statutory authority to collect and remit taxes on behalf of their clients. Businesses can breathe a sigh of relief

On January 4, 2016, the Internal Revenue Service published its annual update of user fees Rev. Proc. 2016-8 for various letter ruling and determination letter requests. The 2016 update now includes user fees and guidance for Voluntary Correction Program (VCP) submissions under the Employee Plans Compliance Resolution System. In many cases the user fee for VCP submissions is reduced under Revenue Procedure 2016-8. The revised fee schedule for employee plan user fees (including VCP submissions) is effective February 1, 2016.

Below are the current user fees for regular VCP submissions for qualified plans and 403(b) plans as set forth in Section 12.02 of Revenue Procedure 2013-12.*

Participants Revenue Procedure 2013-12 Fee 20 or fewer participants $750 21 to 50 participants $1,000 51 to 100 participants $2,500 101 to 500 participants $5,000 501 to 1,000 participants $8,000 1,001 to 5,000 participants $15,000 5,001 to 10,000 participants $20,000

The ball dropped on 2016, but don’t drop the ball on your benefit plan compliance.  As part of our annual tradition, we’re pleased to present this year’s Top Ten New Year’s Countdown for the reading pleasure of our fellow ERISA geeks.  You may remember last year’s Top Ten list was set to Pop Culture themes that dominated 2014?  Well, we’ve decided to embrace the Star Wars fever that currently has a firm grip on our society and devote our entire list to Star Wars’-themed tips.  Get your lightsabers ready…

We have been shouting the ACA reporting compliance deadlines from the rooftops for months now.  Well, I guess it is a case of the “boy who cried wolf”.  At the eleventh hour, the IRS has caved to a slew of complaints, concerns and continuing questions about the new (and complex) ACA reporting requirements and given employers a post-holiday present in the form of IRS Notice 2016-4.   But is it too little too late? The Notice relaxes the current deadlines for those who are not ready to file (or still have unanswered questions preventing them from filing).  Specifically, the Notice provides:

• an automatic 60-day extension for furnishing Forms 1095-C and 1095-B to employees, and
• an automatic three-month extension for filing the required forms with the IRS.

By “automatic”, we mean that no action is required (and nothing needs to be sent to the IRS) to avail yourself

Ever since ERISA was first promulgated, and notwithstanding consequential economic, societal and demographic changes, efforts at improving the nation’s employer-based retirement structure have had fits and starts mostly due to the failure of Congress and the Nation to revisit retirement policy in a meaningful way. A cynic (or maybe a pragmatist) would surely believe that Congress’ part in failing focuses primarily on using the retirement system as a tool to exact revenue for the federal treasury, contrary to policies that enhance tax advantages for retirement saving. The smoke and mirrors of Congressional budgeting lead to intentional ignorance of most of the impact of long-term revenue from the retirement system.(To say nothing of changes to the Social Security system, which is beyond the scope of this piece.)

ERISA was a wonderfully crafted and meaningful

Recently, the DOL released proposed amendments to the current procedural rules for employees claiming disability benefits under an ERISA plan. The proposed rules enhance existing procedures, mirror the procedural protections for claimants contained in the PHS 2719 Final Rule, and update the ERISA claims procedures (set forth in ERISA Section 503) to align with these standards.

Summaries of the major provisions follow:

• Independence and Impartiality – avoiding conflicts of interest. All claims must be adjudicated in a manner which ensures that the persons making the decision are independent and impartial. The proposed rules specify that this independence and impartiality requirement mandates that decisions involving the hiring, compensation, termination, promotion, or similar matters of individuals making claims-related decisions, such as a claims adjudicator or medical experts, cannot be made based on the likelihood that the individual will support the denial of disability benefits.
•  Enhanced