Labor & Employment Law Update

The IRS released Notice 2014-19 earlier this month, answering many of the open questions on the application of the Supreme Court’s decision in U.S. v. Windsor to qualified retirement plans.  Although the IRS provided initial guidance on the impact on employee benefit plans shortly after the Court found the Defense of Marriage Act’s (DOMA) ban on same-sex marriage unconstitutional, many details specific to retirement plans were still outstanding.

Effective Date and Retroactivity

The recent release reaffirms that qualified retirement plans are required to recognize ...

Federal:   The OFCCP has published the data for federal contractors and subcontractors who must now comply with having protected veteran benchmarks for their affirmative action plans and hiring goals.  Currently, that nationwide threshold is 7.2% unless the contractor wants to create its own individualized benchmarks, to which that state specific veteran data is supplied. 

That is not all.  Contractors are now required to also request individuals to self-identify if they are an individual with a disability pre-offer stage.  Again, the OFCCP has given us guidance on how to do ...

This should be an easy one to cross off your to-do list.  Dust off the confidentiality and non-disclosure language that you require your non-supervisory employees to adhere to – whether through a specific agreement, employee handbook or general company policy.  Last week, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit served up a reminder that what used to be considered standard language regarding an employer’s expectation of confidentiality, now opens the door to potential liability under federal labor law, for both union and non-union employers.

In Flex Frac ...