Resource Center

Earlier this summer, the U.S. Supreme Court struck down a key section of the Defense of Marriage Act (“DOMA”), which had limited the federal government’s definition of “spouse” to opposite-sex spouses. This decision has far-reaching implications and affects more than one thousand provisions in federal law. The Family and Medical […]

As many of you have undoubtedly heard, the Obama Administration announced in July that the employer penalties in the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (“PPACA”) will not be enforced until January 1, 2015. To read this Alert in pdf, click here. This delay was announced in a blog post […]

While we have all been focused on Health Care Reform, the government has also been active on other fronts affecting employer-provided medical benefits. If you are providing group health coverage to your employees – including major medical coverage or even a health flexible spending account – you also need to […]

Health care reform requires employers with self-insured medical plans to pay an annual fee for each individual who is covered under the plan. This fee, which is known as the “PCOR fee,” will be due for the first time for most employers this summer – on July 31, 2013.  The […]

In recent years, those of us who work in the employee benefits area have witnessed a virtual explosion in the number of notices that employers must provide to their employees.  That list was recently expanded again by the Department of Labor (“DOL”) with the addition of a new mandatory notice […]

In February, a bill was introduced in the Kansas Senate to reform the Kansas Restraint of Trade Act in response to a May 2012 Kansas Supreme Court decision, addressing pricing agreements. The Bill was passed by the Senate in late February and heard in the House on March 13. The […]

One year ago, we published an Alert on a new rule issued by the National Labor Relations Board (“NLRB”), requiring virtually all employers to post a notice about employees’ rights under the National Labor Relations Act. (Click here to view that Alert.) The rule was supposed to take effect in […]

Hinkle has a national reputation for helping clients with every facet of business litigation. We also can help you before litigation ever arises and, in many cases, help position you to avoid litigation events through strategic planning. As a part of our service to you, we will be sending out […]

Once upon a time, most retirement plan investment advisors, broker-dealers, and consultants were largely an afterthought in the mind of the Department of Labor (“DOL”).  The agency concentrated nearly all of its employee benefit enforcement resources on plan sponsors, plan administrators, and plan trustees.  Absent some glaring conflict of interest […]

To celebrate the 20th anniversary of the Family & Medical Leave Act (“FMLA”) on February 5, 2013, the U.S. Department of Labor (“DOL”) has issued new FMLA regulations that will take effect on March 8, 2013. Employers should immediately review the changes to the regulations and then make necessary revisions […]