On December 13, 2016, President Obama signed the 21st Century Cures Act. Title XVIII of the Act overturns a portion of ACA regulations (IRS Notice 2013-54) that prohibits employers from offering employees standalone health reimbursement arrangements (i.e., HRAs that are not integrated with a group health plan). This change will allow eligible small employers the opportunity to contribute money to HRA accounts of their employees that can be used to pay health insurance premiums as well as deductibles, copayments, and other out-of-pocket medical expenses. The prohibition on standalone HRAs is lifted somewhat, but only as to small employers who employ …
Wage-Hour Update: Latest on Salary-Exempt Status Litigation
In our blog entry dated November 23, 2016, Coolidge Wall announced that a federal judge in Texas had issued an injunction halting the Department of Labor’s new wage and hour regulations from being implemented on December 1, 2016, as anticipated. These amended regulations purported to increase the threshold salary requirement for most exempt positions from $455 to $913 per week, which would have impacted more than an estimated four million workers throughout the country. Many employers were poised to implement changes in compliance with the amendments, and others had already implemented such changes in advance of the effective date. Since …
Tax considerations for an Ohio business: running the gamut
Businesses in Ohio and throughout the country vary significantly, of course, with the goods and services they offer consumers being richly distinct. Given that reality, shared uniformity among businesses, although seen to some extent, seldom exists in any broad-based way. If one company is a grocery retailer and another an auto-parts distributor, for example, their respective business plans will obviously differ in material respects. At least in one sense, though, all enterprises share a common bond, regardless of their business pursuits, and that is this: a close and unremitting tax-related focus. We reference that truth on the business and commercial …
Coolidge Wall Attorneys Speak on FLSA Wage-Hour Regulations
On December 7, 2016, Marc Fleischauer and David Pierce presented on the topic of the Fair Labor Standards Act to a group of lawyers as part of the Dayton Bar Association’s Annual Labor and Employment Law Roundup. The presentation focused on the Department of Labor’s proposed amendments to its wage and hour regulations that had been set to take effect on December 1, 2016, before a last-minute nationwide preliminary injunction was granted by a federal court in Texas. Pierce and Fleischauer provided background on the proposed regulations and up-to-the-minute information and analysis on the legal battle now taking place before …
Corporate Landlords: Why You Must Have an Attorney File and Handle Your Eviction Actions
The statute governing forcible entry and detainer claims, often referred to as evictions, allows landlords to file complaints against their tenants for a number of different reasons, including breaching a lease agreement, failing to pay rent, or engaging in illegal drug activity. If the landlord is a corporation, that corporation is required to be represented by an attorney in filing complaints for eviction and appearing before the Court. Non-lawyers are not permitted to file legal papers or represent the interests of a corporation before a Court except under very limited circumstances which do not apply to eviction actions. See /blog/2016/09/claim-limits-in-ohio-small-claims-court-increase-to-6000–.shtml. …
Did You Miss the Retirement Plan Restatement Deadline?
By April 30, 2016, profit sharing, 401(k), and money purchase pension plans using pre-approved IRS documents were required to restate their plans to comply with the Pension Protection Act of 2006. If an employer finds this year end that the company’s plan was not timely restated, the error can be corrected with the IRS. More importantly, if the error is found and corrected before April 30, 2017, the IRS fee to correct the error is reduced. Errors with retirement plans are corrected through the IRS voluntary correction program known as the Employee Plans Compliance Resolution System (“EPCRS”). An employer would …
New Attorneys Join the Firm
The law firm of Coolidge Wall Co., L.P.A. is pleased to announce that Christopher J. Hartman and Patrick Martin recently have joined the firm. Mr. Hartman’s work focuses primarily on tax and estate planning, real estate, and financial transactions. Mr. Martin is a member of the firm’s Corporate and Business Department. Mr. Hartman’s prior experience as a Certified Public Accountant at a large accounting firm gives him a unique perspective on tax and estate issues and complex financial transactions. He also has experience representing clients in trials and formal appeals. In law school, Mr. Hartman actively participated as a member …
Six Attorneys Selected for 2017 Ohio Super Lawyers
Coolidge Wall Co., L.P.A. is pleased to announce that six of its attorneys have been selected by their peers for inclusion in 2017 Ohio Super Lawyers®: Michelle D. Bach — Workers’ Compensation Christopher R. Conard — General Litigation Marc L. Fleischauer — Employment & Labor David C. Korte — Workers’ Compensation Stephen M. McHugh — State/Local/Municipal Law David P. Pierce — Business Litigation Super Lawyers, a Thomson Reuters business, is a rating service of outstanding lawyers from more than 70 practice areas who have attained a high degree of peer recognition and professional achievement. The annual selections are made using …
Six Attorneys Selected for 2017 Ohio Super Lawyers
Coolidge Wall Co., L.P.A. is pleased to announce that six of its attorneys have been selected by their peers for inclusion in 2017 Ohio Super Lawyers®: Michelle D. Bach — Workers’ Compensation Christopher R. Conard — General Litigation Marc L. Fleischauer — Employment & Labor David C. Korte — Workers’ Compensation Stephen M. McHugh — State/Local/Municipal Law David P. Pierce — Business Litigation Super Lawyers, a Thomson Reuters business, is a rating service of outstanding lawyers from more than 70 practice areas who have attained a high degree of peer recognition and professional achievement. The annual selections are made using …
“Blacklisting” Reporting Requirements for Federal Contractors
On August 24, 2016, the federal government published the Federal Acquisition Regulatory Council’s Final Rule and the Department of Labor’s (DOL) Final Guidance implementing President Obama’s July 2014 Fair Pay and Safe Workplaces Executive Order 13673. The Final Rule and Guidance imposes numerous and substantial burdens on federal contractors. First, federal contractors, both prime contractors and subcontractors, bidding on new contracts with an estimated value of more than $500,000, must disclose any labor law decision rendered against them in the past three years, regardless of when the underlying conduct occurred. This reporting requirement has often been referred to as the …