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Each month, Mployer collects and presents some of the most relevant and most pressing recent changes in law, compliance, and policy in areas related to employee benefits, health care, and human resources.
Beginning on January 13, 2025, the extension period for certain renewal Employee Authorization Document (EAD) applications filed on May 4, 2022 or later is now formalized at 540 days.
You can read more here.
As of January 1, 2025, the IRS mileage reimbursement rate for road miles driven for business purposes increased by 3 cents per mile from 67 to 70 cents per mile driven.
The IRS released a statement announcing a 25-cent increase in Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute fees for covered plan years ending on or after October 1, 2024, and before October 1, 2025.
The new fee is $3.47 per covered life.
You can read more here.
In response to a Federal Court of Appeals Decision that vacated the so-called 80/20/30 rule that was instituted in 2021, the Department of Labor officially reverted to the previous tip credit rule.
You can read more here.
In the final days before Christmas a few weeks ago, the Paperwork Burden Reduction Act and the Employer Reporting Improvement Act both became law.
The former will provide an alternative means for employers to distribute forms 1095-B and 1095-C to employees, and the latter extends the time employers have to respond to IRS notice of audit 226-J forms from 30 days to 90 days.
In 2025, the threshold for what qualifies as affordable coverage also increases from 8.39% to 9.02%, which means that an employee’s required contribution to the plan can be no more than 9.02% of their salary in order for the plan to be considered affordable and to avoid potentially paying the penalty.
You can read more about the affordability threshold here.
A federal court in Texas determined that the Department of Labor exceeded its authority last summer by increasing the minimum pay thresholds for employees to qualify under the executive, administrative, and professional and highly-compensated employee exceptions to minimum wage and overtime protections.
Those minimum pay thresholds have reverted to their prior levels - back to $684 per week for the EAP exemption (down from $844 per week under the now defunct rule), and back to $107,432 per year for the HCE exemption (down from $132,964 per year under the now defunct rule).
The National Labor Relations Board has issued a decision prohibiting employers from forcing employees under threat of punishment to attend meetings during which the employer will share views on unionization or its impacts.
Employers are allowed, however, to convene employees and share their views on unionization and potential impacts so long as employees are not disciplined or adversely affected in any way for not attending (or leaving early). Employers should not even keep or maintain such attendance records.
You can read more here.
Colorado: The City of Boulder increased the minimum wage to $15.57 ($12.55 for tipped employees) as of January 1, 2025.
Oregon: As of January 1, 2025, Paid Leave Oregon provides leave for employees completing necessary legal steps associated with adopting and/or fostering children.
New York: New York employers that receive criminal history records for applicants and employees must now provide those applicants and employees with a copy of those records and a copy of the applicable New York corrections law as well as an opportunity to correct any inaccurate information that may be contained in those records.
Further, as of January 1, 2025, New York employers are required to provide 20 hours of paid prenatal leave during a 52 week period. Also, as of the new year, the characteristics to which equal protection was extended via the New York State Human Rights Law and the resulting protections are formally enshrined in the New York State Constitution. Those characteristics include: age, disability, ethnicity, gender identity, gender expression, national origin, pregnancy, and anything else related to reproductive healthcare.
You can read more here.
You can find the complete IRS 2025 benefit contribution limit list here.
As of January 1, 2025, the minimum wage for work conducted in association with federal contracts covered by Executive Order 13658 is $13.30 ($9.30 for tipped employees), while the minimum wage paid for work conducted in association with federal contracts covered by Executive Order 14026 is $17.75 per hour for both tipped and non-tipped employees.
Additional guidance about which kinds of contracts are covered by which executive order can be found here.
You can find guidance for ERISA 403(b) plan eligibility requirements for long-term, part-time employees according to the updated standards from the Secure ACT 2.0 here.
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