BW INSIGHTS

Texas Federal Court Strikes Down Biden Administration’s Overtime Rule Raising Salary Threshold for While Collar Exemptions

By Danielle Smid | 11.18.2024
According to a Texas Federal Judge on Friday, the United States Department of Labor lacked authority to raise the salary threshold for the Fair Labor Standards Act white collar overtime exemptions. The Court’s ruling strikes down on a nationwide basis the Biden Administration rule that has been in effect since July. The Court rules that each of... Read More

How A Trump Second Term Will Affect the National Labor Relations Board and the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission

By John R. Watson | 11.14.2024
With a change of administration employers can expect shifting policies. For a second Trump term, employers can likely expect similar policies as to the first Trump administration. A Republican president typically means that the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) will ease up on prosecuting employers for alleged labor violations and shift... Read More

IRS Issues Guidance on Matching Contributions for Student Loan Payments

By Maggie Simonson Schild & Cynthia Boyle Lande | 09.16.2024
Background On August 19, 2024, the IRS issued Notice 2024-63 (the “Notice”) to provide highly anticipated interim guidance on Section 110 of Secure 2.0 Act (“Secure 2.0”), which was enacted in 2022. Secure 2.0 amended the definition of matching contributions to allow an employer to make matching contributions beginning in 2024 to 401(k), 403(b),... Read More

Texas Court Ruling on FTC Rule

By Kathryn A. Leidahl | 08.21.2024
On August 20, 2024, Judge Ada E. Brown for the Northern District of Texas issued a nationwide injunction barring the implementation of the Federal Trade Commission’s (FTC) regulation banning noncompete agreements. In April 2023, the FTC issued a final rule banning most new and existing noncompetes nationwide. Judge Brown’s ruling means the FTC ban... Read More

Supreme Court Tightens Standards for NLRB Injunctive Relief

By Danielle Smid | 07.03.2024
The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) is an independent federal agency tasked with safeguarding employees' rights and addressing unfair labor practices by employers. In the recent Supreme Court case Starbucks Corp. v. McKinney, 144 S. Ct. 1570 (2024), the Court's 8-1 decision imposed the stricter traditional four-factor test for granting... Read More

Recent Challenges to Plan Forfeitures

By Caleb J. Brus | 05.24.2024
Recent lawsuits are challenging 401(k) plan sponsors’ use of forfeitures to reduce employer contributions. Such practice is a long-standing precedent permitted by the Internal Revenue Service “IRS.” Plaintiffs in these suits claim that the decision on how to apply forfeitures is a fiduciary determination. The plaintiffs further allege it is a... Read More

Understanding ERISA Fiduciary Duties

By Caleb J. Brus | 05.17.2024
The Employee Retirement Income Security Act (“ERISA”) is a federal law that sets minimum standards for most voluntarily established retirement and health plans in private industry. ERISA provides protection for individuals in such plans. Central to ERISA is the concept of fiduciary duty, which mandates that those managing and controlling plan... Read More

Final DOL Fiduciary Rule

By Caleb J. Brus & Cynthia Boyle Lande | 04.26.2024
On April 23, 2024, the Department of Labor (“DOL”) released its new fiduciary investment advice rule titled the “Retirement Security Rule” (the “Fiduciary Rule”). The Final Rule is scheduled to take effect September 22, 2024. The changes to exemptions PTE 2020-02 and PTE 84-24 will have an additional one-year transition period where exemptive... Read More

EEOC Adopts Expansive Final PWFA Rule

By Becca E. Coleman | 04.22.2024
At the end of 2022, President Biden signed the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act (PWFA) into law. The Act, among other things, requires employers to offer reasonable workplace accommodations to workers who are pregnant, or have a condition related to pregnancy or childbirth, unless the accommodation would cause the business an undue hardship. The law... Read More

Employee Retention Credit Withdrawal Process and Voluntary Disclosure Program

By BrownWinick | 12.21.2023
The Employee Retention Credit (the “ERC”) is a refundable tax credit against payroll taxes that was created under the CARES Act to help employers and employees affected by the COVID-19 pandemic by encouraging employers to keep employees. In short, the ERC could be claimed if there was a significant decline in gross receipts over certain periods, a... Read More

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