The Health Care Security Ordinance is a local San Francisco law that mandates employers spend or contribute a minimum amount of money towards health care for employees.
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A new year brings new employment laws and regulations for employers, and 2018 is no exception for California. A variety of measures were passed on both the State and local levels that will take effect on January 1.
In an effort to make health coverage more affordable and accessible, the Affordable Care Act (ACA) implemented parameters to the premium rating methodologies used by insurers in the individual and small group markets. Insurers in these markets can vary premium based on age so long as the insurers adhere to the proper age band rating procedure. This procedure has remained unchanged since 2014, but pursuant to a rule issued by the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), the rating methodology will change come 2018.
On November 2, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) issued revised FAQs on the employer shared responsibility provisions under the Affordable Care Act (ACA). Question sets 55-58 now detail the procedure the IRS will use to begin issuing proposed penalty assessments to employers that failed to comply with these provisions in 2015. Though the IRS was previously silent on the details of penalty assessments, this new information serves as a reminder to employers that compliance enforcement is a priority for the IRS.
The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA) remains intact after several failed attempts by Congressional Republicans to repeal and replace the law. However, executive action taken throughout the month of October will result in substantive changes to various components of the ACA.
In California yesterday, Governor Brown signed into law two bills, SB 63 and AB 168, that will significantly impact California employers come January 1, 2018:
An opt-out arrangement offered as part of a group health plan can provide significant advantages to employers. Through such an arrangement, employees who have alternative sources of coverage are incentivized to forego participation in the employer plan. In exchange for the waiver, the employee receives a (taxable) payment. However, recent developments - both regulatory and judicial - may undermine the effectiveness of opt-out arrangements in certain circumstances.
In September 2016, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) released a new version of the EEO-1 reporting form. The new form, which would require employers to supply employee pay and hours data, was to go into effect in March 2018 for reporting year 2017. The EEOC indicated that the inclusion of pay data would facilitate the agency’s investigations into gender, race, and ethnicity pay discrimination.
In April 2016, San Francisco Board of Supervisors passed the Paid Parental Leave Ordinance (PPL) - the first local mandate in the nation to require fully paid parental leave for new parents. Under PPL, covered employers are required to provide supplemental income to eligible employees who take parental leave and receive Paid Family Leave (PFL) benefits through the State. PPL took effect January 1 of this year, but its application is phased-in over the course of the year.