The Wisconsin Supreme Court ruled on Tuesday, March 1, 2016 that Hormel workers must be paid for the six minutes a day they spend putting on and taking off special gear and clothing required for their jobs. The decision affirmed a 2013 circuit court ruling that Hormel Corp. owed $195,000 to about 330 current and former employees at its Beloit plant, where it makes products like Hormel Chili and Mary Kitchen Hash.  

Do you have an ERISA compliant Summary Plan Desription document? If that question only generates more questions, don't worry, you are not alone. 

Many employers are unaware of the SPD requirements under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA). And many who have SPDs don't have all of their bases covered either. 

Preparing an ERISA compliant SPD requires a great deal of time and resources and it can be incredibly costly. But if you fail to comply with U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) regulations, you can be subject to fines for non-compliance as well as greater exposures during an audit.

Update (11/12/2015): Due to an overwhelming number of responses to the proposed DOL overtime regulations, the DOL indicated that any final regulations on the new overtime rule likely will not be published before late 2016.   Over 250,000 public comments were received on the proposed rule changes. We will provide further updates as we receive them. 

The U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) has issued proposed changes to the overtime eligibility rules with respect to the executive, administrative and professional employee classifications otherwise known as “salaried” or “exempt” employees.

MARK BRAULT, JD
Compliance Advisor/Benefits Attorney at HNI

Last week, on October 7, 2015, President Obama signed legislation called the Protecting Affordable Coverage for Employees (PACE) Act that amends the Affordable Care Act (ACA) definition of a “small employer” for the purpose of purchasing health insurance coverage.