2023 ERISA Welfare Plan Automatic Participant Disclosures Checklist

The U.S. Department of the Treasury and IRS recently issued temporary regulations that provide an immediately effective framework for establishing and administering “Trump Accounts,” including broad automatic enrollment and large-scale contributions funded by governmental and charitable donors. The regulations became effective September 30, 2026, apply to taxable years beginning on or after January 1, 2026, and expire September 30, 2029.

The IRS has released Revenue Procedure 2026-24, establishing new inflation-adjusted limits for Health Savings Accounts and high-deductible health plans effective in 2027. These updates include increased contribution limits, higher minimum deductibles, and expanded out-of-pocket maximums, along with new provisions for direct primary care service arrangements under the One, Big, Beautiful Bill Act. How will these changes impact employee benefit planning and healthcare coverage strategies?

On Tuesday, October 20, 2026, the Allegheny County Council passed legislation requiring employers with at least 15 workers to provide 12 weeks of paid parental leave, ending months-long debate on the proposal. We previously reported on the initial 18-week proposal in May 2026 (summarized here), the revised proposed legislation (summarized here), and the Allegheny County Board of Health passing the legislation (summarized here). The measure was passed in an 11-4 vote. It will become effective in one year, as County Executive Sara Innamorato signed the bill on, October 22, 2026.

The Trump Administration has launched an unprecedented enforcement action suspending permanent labor certification processing for eight major employers, linking immigration sponsorship to layoff histories and recruitment practices. This development signals a fundamental shift in how the government evaluates employer access to H-1B and green card programs, with investigations already underway and subpoenas served.

Donald Dowling says abusive labor practices are a huge problem around the world, and often the smaller local manufacturers, miners and growers within countries that are committing labor...

Illinois employers face new requirements for Equal Pay Registration Certificate submissions as the state Department of Labor eliminates the "prefers not to identify" option for employee demographic data. Starting January 1, 2027, businesses must report definitive sex and race information for all employees, raising questions about data collection methods and compliance strategies.

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security published a final rule that will shift the H-1B cap registration selection process from a random lottery to a weighted selection process...

Maryland employers must comply with new posting requirements under the Worker Freedom Act, which prohibits penalizing employees who decline attendance at employer-sponsored meetings on religious or political matters. The Maryland Department of Labor has released official notices in English and Spanish that must be displayed prominently in workplaces and provided to new hires starting November 1, 2026.

In the intricate landscape of employment law, wrongful termination poses a significant challenge for employees who find themselves at the unfortunate intersection of job loss and potential injustice.

As artificial intelligence races forward, California employment law sprints alongside. Two new employment-related AI bills have been signed into law imposing new requirements...

The Federal Communications Commission has fundamentally altered how businesses must handle consumer opt-out requests under the Telephone Consumer Protection Act, replacing the broad "revoke all" mandate with a more nuanced, category-specific approach for informational messages. This regulatory shift allows companies to maintain separate consent tracks for different types of non-marketing communications while preserving stricter opt-out requirements for telemarketing messages. The Updated Order introduces ne

Healthcare M&A activity maintained steady momentum through Q2 2026, driven by physician practice consolidation, AI-enabled technology acquisitions, and strategic outpatient expansion. Private equity investment persisted despite intensifying regulatory scrutiny of MSO arrangements, while digital health buyers paid significant premiums for platforms demonstrating production-grade AI capabilities and proprietary data assets.

The Department of Justice announced a $25 million settlement with Accenture Federal Services over allegations that the company violated the False Claims Act by falsely certifying compliance with anti-discrimination requirements while allegedly using race or sex in hiring, promotion, and access to professional development programs. This marks the third major DEI-related FCA enforcement action in 2026, following similar settlements with IBM and Deloitte.

The Department of Justice secured a $2 million settlement with Honeywell Aerospace for allegedly failing to comply with NIST SP 800-171 cybersecurity requirements under a Department of War contract. This case demonstrates how cybersecurity compliance failures can trigger False Claims Act liability even without an actual data breach or cyberattack, and highlights the growing role of whistleblowers in exposing contractors' gaps between contractual obligations and actual security practices.

The SEC's Division of Corporation Finance has announced it will no longer respond to Rule 14a-8 no-action requests, marking a significant shift in the shareholder proposal process. Companies must still comply with notification requirements under Rule 14a-8(j), but without staff guidance on exclusion decisions, they will need to rely on existing SEC guidance, precedent, and judicial decisions.

The CAS Board has raised contract thresholds to $35 million and eliminated CAS 407, fundamentally changing cost accounting requirements for federal contractors. At the same time, the Department of War is demanding unprecedented cost and pricing transparency through new memoranda requiring actual cost information for negotiations valued at $10 million or more, creating a complex landscape where contractors face fewer formal CAS requirements but heightened scrutiny of their pricing data.

California's SB 690 eliminates private lawsuits under CIPA for pen register and trap-and-trace device theories, but website tracking litigation continues under federal wiretapping statutes, ECPA's crime-tort exception, and sector-specific claims. Businesses face ongoing risk from cookies, pixels, and tracking technologies that may unlawfully intercept visitor communications or collect routing data without proper consent.

The SEC’s proposed rules would eliminate the $75 million public float requirement to register an unlimited amount of securities on Form S-3 and allow companies to use Form S-3 immediately upon registering a class...

The healthcare mergers and acquisitions (M&A) market began 2025 with a slower start than expected given the easing headwinds and building momentum at the end of last year...

The U.S. Department of Commerce's Bureau of Industry and Security reached a $1.7 million settlement with Plexon, Inc. over unlicensed exports of neural recording systems to a Chinese research institution on the Entity List. This enforcement action demonstrates that medical and research products are subject to U.S. export controls, and even EAR99 items may require licenses based on destination, end user, or end use.