IRCA requires employers to hire and retain only individuals authorized to work in the United States, and imposes strict penalties on those that knowingly employ illegal aliens. To enforce these guidelines, IRCA requires employers to verify a potential employee’s eligibility to work in the United States by completing the Employment Eligibility Verification Form (Form I-9).

Whether you suffer a concussion falling off a ladder or dislocate your shoulder moving the couch, injuries can lead to costly medical care, loss of work time and various other related expenses. If you don’t want to be caught financially unprepared to handle an accident, consider accident insurance.

The Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) is a federal law that provides eligible employees of covered employers with unpaid, job-protected leave for specified family and medical reasons. Under the FMLA, eligible employees may take leave for their own serious health conditions, for the serious health conditions of family members, to bond with newborns or newly adopted children or for certain military family reasons. In addition to providing eligible employees with an entitlement to leave, the FMLA requires that employers maintain employees’ health benefits during leave and restore employees to their same or equivalent job positions after leave ends.

The Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) is a federal law that provides eligible employees of covered employers with unpaid, job-protected leave for specified family and medical reasons. Under the FMLA, eligible employees may take leave for their own serious health conditions, for the serious health conditions of family members, to bond with newborns or newly adopted children or for certain military family reasons.

The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) recently announced that amounts paid for personal protective equipment (PPE)—such as masks, hand sanitizer and sanitizing wipes—used for the primary purpose of preventing the spread of COVID-19 are deductible expenses for medical care. Because these amounts are expenses for medical care, the amounts paid for PPE are also eligible to be paid or reimbursed under any of the following:
• Health flexible spending arrangements (FSAs)
• Archer medical savings accounts (Archer MSAs)
• Health reimbursement arrangements (HRAs)
• Health savings accounts (HSAs)

However, if an amount is paid or reimbursed under a Health FSA, Archer MSA, HRA, HSA or any other health plan, it will not be considered a deductible medical expense.

President Biden signed the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 (ARPA) into law on March 11, 2021. The law generally provides financial relief for individuals, state and local governments, schools, businesses and for other purposes. In addition, the law contains the following measures of special interest to employers and their employees: A subsidy for COBRA premiums funded through employer tax credits, extension of employer tax credits for FFCRA employee leave voluntarily provided through Sept. 30, 2021, expansion of employee earnings eligible for the FFCRA tax credit, and inclusion of testing and immunization as reasons for FFCRA leave along with other provisions.

The Affordable Care Act (ACA) includes numerous reforms for group health plans and creates new compliance obligations for employers and health plan sponsors. The ACA, for example, requires health plans to eliminate preexisting condition exclusions and provide coverage for preventive care services without cost-sharing. Some of the reforms for health plans apply to all health plans, while others apply only to non-grandfathered plans or to insured plans in the small group market. Failing to comply with the ACA’s requirements can cause severe consequences for an employer. The potential consequences vary depending on the ACA requirement that is involved and the nature and extent of the violation. Employers should keep these consequences in mind as they continue to work on ACA compliance.