The Washington Report
January 17, 2024
Note to Subscribers
While we do our best to provide timely updates, it is possible that the information shared in the newsletter may change after our publication deadline.
Health
HHS Publishes Final Rule Safeguarding the Rights of Conscience as Protected by Federal Statutes; Partially Rescinds 2019 Final Rule
On January 9, 2024, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) published a final rule to partially rescind the May 21, 2019, final rule entitled, “Protecting Statutory Conscience Rights in Health Care; Delegations of Authority” (2019 Final Rule), while leaving in effect the framework created by the February 23, 2011, final rule entitled, “Regulation for the Enforcement of Federal Health Care Provider Conscience Protection Laws,” which has been in effect continuously since March 25, 2011. Though the 2019 Final Rule never took effect, HHS also retains, with some modifications, “certain provisions of the 2019 Final Rule regarding federal conscience protections, but eliminates others that are redundant or confusing, that undermine the clarity of the statutes Congress enacted to both safeguard conscience rights and protect access to health care, or because significant questions have been raised as to their legality.” The final rule is effective on March 11, 2024.
The news release is available here.
The final rule is available here.
A Fact Sheet is available here.
Retirement
PBGC Announces Launch of New e-Filing Portal
On January 8, 2024, the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC) announced it will launch a new and improved e-Filing Portal on February 1. Key changes will include a new, more secure, login process and a streamlined appearance across all applications (e.g., 4010 and reportable event filings, certain multiemployer plan filings). The PBGC instructs users to refer to the e-Filing Portal Login.gov Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) for additional information.
The PBGC announcement is available here.
The e-Filing Portal Login.gov FAQs are available here.
PBGC Releases Comprehensive Premium Filing Instructions for 2024 Plan Years
Also on January 8, 2024, the PBGC released the Comprehensive Premium Filing Instructions for 2024 Plan Years. According to the PBGC, the filing requirements for 2024 are almost identical to the filing requirements for 2023. Some key changes to note for 2024 are below:
- Changes in premium rates:
- Single-employer plans other than Cooperative and Small Employer Charity (CSEC) plans:
- The Flat-rate Premium is $101 per-participant, up from $96.
- The cap on the Variable-rate Premium is $686 per person, up from $652.
Note that because legislation enacted in 2022 eliminated indexing on the Variable rate Premium rate, the 2023 rate of $52 per $1,000 of unfunded vested benefits remains unchanged.
- Multiemployer Plans:
- The Flat-rate Premium is $37 per-participant, up from $35. Multiemployer plans do not pay Variable-rate Premiums.
Premium rates for CSEC plans are not indexed, and thus those rates have not changed.
The PBGC Comprehensive Premium Filing Instructions for 2024 Plan Years is available here.
Other HR/Employment
DOL Releases Final Rule on Classifying Workers as Employees or Independent Contractors Under the FLSA; Rescinds 2021 Independent Contractor Rule
On January 9, 2024, the Department of Labor (DOL) issued a final rule (Employee or Independent Contractor Classification Under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), to “help employers and workers analyze whether a worker is an employee or an independent contractor under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA).” The announcement follows a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking on October 13, 2022, which led to numerous public comments. According to the DOL, the final rule does the following:
- Restores the multifactor, totality-of-the-circumstances analysis to assess whether a worker is an employee or an independent contractor under the FLSA.
- Ensures that all factors are analyzed without assigning a predetermined weight to a particular factor or set of factors.
- Uses the longstanding interpretation of the economic reality factors. These factors include opportunity for profit or loss depending on managerial skill, investments by the worker and the potential employer, the degree of permanence of the work relationship, the nature and degree of control, the extent to which the work performed is an integral part of the potential employer’s business, and the worker’s skill and initiative.
- Rescinds the 2021 Independent Contractor Rule.
The final rule is effective March 11, 2024. For additional information, please refer to the Employee or Independent Contractor Classification Under the FLSA website.
The news release is available here.
The final rule is available here.
The Final Rule: Employee or Independent Contractor Classification Under the Fair Labor Standards Act, RIN 1235-AA43 website is available here.
The Frequently Asked Questions - Final Rule: Employee or Independent Contractor Classification Under the FLSA website is available here.