Sign Up
Stay current with GH&R Newsletters. Click here to sign up.
HR Matters
HR Matters - December 2007 - Volume XI, Issue 128
December 21, 2007
LABOR & EMPLOYMENT NEWSNew Pregnancy Leave Regulations Delayed. In the October edition of HR Matters , we informed you that the Ohio Civil Rights Commission had approved new pregnancy leave regulations that would require all Ohio employers with 4 or more employees to offer 12 weeks of unpaid maternity time off of work. The regulations had to go through a legislative committee before taking effect. Earlier this month the legislative committee voted to send the rule back to the OCRC because it did not provide a sufficient fiscal analysis of the effect of the rule on school districts, counties, townships and municipal corporations. This committee action means that the OCRC must wait 90 days to submit an updated application for the revised maternity rule for further consideration by the committee. Since the rule was delayed, employers do not need to take any action at this time. We will update you when more developments occur.
WORKPLACE HEALTH & SAFETY NEWS
Kentucky Multi-State Employers and Workers’ Compensation . The Kentucky Court of Appeals recently upheld a Workers’ Compensation Board ("WCB") decision to allow Kentucky employers to rely on their workers’ compensation insurance, even when their employees are injured while working in another state. A multi-state construction employer hired an employee in June 2004 out of its Kentucky location to work throughout Kentucky, Ohio, and Indiana. The employer laid off the employee during its winter off-season, but recalled him in May 2005 to work in its Cincinnati holding yard. The employee sustained an injury while working in Ohio. When the employer submitted a claim, its insurance company denied the claim because it was for an out-of-state injury. However, the WCB approved the claim. The Court of Appeals upheld the WCB’s decision as long as the employment was localized and the contract for hire was made in Kentucky. The court based its decision on the following theories: workers’ compensation statutes should be construed liberally to provide more coverage; the place of hire will govern; and the place of hire cannot be supplanted without evidence of a transfer of the relationship. Those theories allowed the court to determine that the Kentucky workers’ compensation statute applies to Kentucky workers even when they are injured while working in another state. (Kentucky Associated General Contractor Self-Insurance Fund v. Tri-State Crane Rental)
EMPLOYEE BENEFITS & EXECUTIVE COMPENSATION
EB Question of the Month: How should employers maintain employee contributions or salary reductions to their cafeteria or flexible benefit plan? The Department of Labor considers employee salary deferral contributions to a cafeteria or flexible benefit plan to be plan assets under ERISA. ERISA generally requires plan assets to be held in trust, and reported on an annual Form 5500. However, the trust requirement can be avoided if the employee contributions are held in the employer’s general assets until used to pay benefits. If the assets are held in an account in the name of the plan or in the name of a third party (e.g., a third party administrator), the plan needs to comply with the ERISA trust requirements, including the expanded filing requirements of Form 5500. We recommend that you review with your TPA how your cafeteria plan is funded so as to be sure that your plan is not unintentionally made subject to these trust and reporting requirements.
This Newsletter is a periodic publication of Graydon Head & Ritchey LLP and should not be construed as legal advice or legal opinion on any specific facts or circumstances. The contents are intended for general information purposes only, and you are urged to consult your own advisor concerning your situation and any specific legal question you may have.