Workforce Bulletin - Insights on Labor and Employment Law | Epstein Becker Green

Fast Facts About the Proposal for Excepted Fertility Benefits

Cassandra Labbees, Samuel C. Nolan — Thu, 02 Jul 2026 09:00:01 -0700

What are the proposed rules on fertility benefits?

A cross-agency proposal would amend regulations implementing the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA), the Internal Revenue Code, and the Public Health Service Act to add fertility benefits as a category of “excepted” benefits that are exempt from certain requirements, for the purpose of expanding access to fertility treatments and services.

Why Employers Need to Review Their Tuition Reimbursement Plans in 2026

Tzvia Feiertag, Cassandra Labbees — Wed, 25 Feb 2026 10:00:00 -0800

Employers offering or considering tuition reimbursement plans are facing significant regulatory changes in both California and New York. Tuition reimbursement plans are offered by employers as a fringe benefit that reimburses employees who want to continue their education in a degree program or receive certain certifications. Many employers impose certain conditions for receiving reimbursement, including staying on the job and requiring employees to repay the employer if they terminate employment within a specified period of time. Recent changes to state laws governing employer recoupment rights and repayment agreements require review of the administration and documentation of employer’s tuition reimbursement plans. Like many workforce-facing benefits, tuition reimbursement is no longer just an HR perk, it is a compliance issue. While California and New York requirements are very similar, there are important differences.

We’re Not in Kansas Anymore: ESG, Cryptocurrency, and Alternative Asset Investments in 401(k) Plans, Oh My!

Cassandra Labbees, Heather Stone Fletcher — Thu, 14 Aug 2025 14:20:00 -0700

What You Need to Know

The Trump Administration has shifted away from Biden-era rules related to certain investments, like alternative asset investments, ESG, and cryptocurrency in 401(k) plans.
Plan fiduciaries still need to proceed with caution.

Mental Health Parity Rules Incoming: What Employers Need to Know

David Shillcutt, Cassandra Labbees — Fri, 23 Aug 2024 16:00:00 -0700

The U.S. Departments of Labor (DOL), Health and Human Services, and the Treasury (collectively, the “Tri-Departments”) published a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) on August 3, 2023, to propose new regulations for the Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act (MHPAEA). In particular, the proposed rules would implement amendments to MHPAEA that were passed under the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2021 (CAA) to require documentation of comparative analyses for Non-Quantitative Treatment Limits (NQTLs). We anticipate that the Tri-Departments will publish new regulations for MHPAEA that will finalize most provisions of the NPRM in the coming days or weeks.

We anticipate that most provisions of the new regulations will finalize the proposed requirements without significant modifications. However, robust public comments were submitted with regard to several key provisions that may cause the Tri-Departments to modify or rescind the proposed rules.

Three of the most controversial provisions from the proposed rules to watch for in the final rules are:

Quantitative testing for Non-Quantitative Treatment Limits
- Current guidance: Health plans must ensure that financial requirements (such as copays and coinsurance) and quantitative treatment limits (such as day or visit limits) that apply to benefits for the treatment of mental health and substance use disorders (MH/SUDs) are no more stringent than the predominant level of the financial requirement or treatment limit that applies to substantially all medical and surgical benefits. This is a mathematical test that has been well-established for these numerical limits since the first MHPAEA regulations were published in 2011.
- Potential Change: The 2023 NPRM also proposed to apply this mathematical test to NQTLs. If finalized, this new requirement may effectively prohibit most applications of prior authorization, step therapy, and other forms of utilization management for outpatient and prescription drug benefits for MH/SUD conditions.

SECURE 2.0: Roth Catch-Up Contribution Delay

Cassandra Labbees — Thu, 31 Aug 2023 09:00:05 -0700

Section 603 of the SECURE 2.0 Act of 2022 (“Section 603”) implements changes to catch-up contributions and is applicable to employers who maintain a 401(k), 403(b), or 457(b) plan with participants who are age 50 and older and whose income from the prior year exceeded $145,000. Section 603 requires that catch-up contributions must be made as Roth contributions (i.e., after tax basis) for those earning more than $145,000. Originally, Section 603 was set to become effective starting in 2024. However, on August 25^th, 2023, in response to many industry groups urging for an ...

Benefits Guidance in the Time of COVID-19: RIFs, Furloughs, Layoffs, and Leaves of Absence

Tzvia Feiertag, Cassandra Labbees, John Houston Pope — Thu, 09 Apr 2020 09:00:06 -0700

As the COVID-19 state of emergency continues, businesses are implementing and considering a variety of employee-related measures to manage the impact of the crisis. While some businesses may avail themselves of payroll protection programs and loans to maintain the status quo, others may be faced with having to implement reductions-in-force (RIFs), furloughs and layoffs. Added to this, employers may be faced with larger numbers of leaves of absence both because of COVID-19-related health and family care reasons, but also when certain workers have been called to duty. The ...

Benefits Guidance in the Time of COVID-19: Continuing Employer Group Health Coverage During Temporary Layoffs or Furloughs

Cassandra Labbees — Thu, 19 Mar 2020 09:00:07 -0700

During this global health emergency, many employers are facing the necessity of curtailing operations and imposing temporary layoffs or furloughs with their workforce. As a critical consideration, employers have been asking whether and to what extent they may permit group health care coverage to continue during a period of temporary layoff or furlough.

The following questions and answers provide some general guidelines and legal issues to consider in deciding whether to extend group health coverage during a temporary layoff or furlough.

What do we mean by temporary layoffs or ...