Under the current system, all companies with 401(k) plans must pass complex "nondiscrimination" tests annually.
Apart from tax law, employee status carries protection under nondiscrimination laws, pension and benefits laws.
In 2008, for example, America's Congress passed the Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act, banning the use of genetic information in job recruitment.
In order to make that model work, it is critical for every government within the larger system to adopt a nondiscrimination rule.
But the benefits of this so-called safe harbor from the nondiscrimination tests may outweigh the costs, says Elinor Merl, a principal with Towers Perrin.
Without a blanket policy of nondiscrimination, corporate or foundation giving to the Boy Scouts of America at the national level is a veritable landmine.
Under the old law, if a worker contributed 5% of his pay to a 401(k), the company had to kick in 4% to get out of the nondiscrimination test.
The Boy Scouts of America should move as quickly as its members will allow in implementing a single national policy of nondiscrimination to streamline and assure these funding sources.
Apart from tax law, employee status carries a host of nondiscrimination laws, pension and benefits laws and wage and hour protections that apply to employees but not to independent contractors.
Under the new law, if a company uses automatic enrollment and wants to get out of the nondiscrimination test, it need only give a 3% contribution to a worker who saves 5%.
The case helped lead to a 2008 law, the Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act, which prohibits HMOs from raising rates and employers from discriminating against workers on the basis of their genetic profiles.
An employer must comply with wage and hour laws, nondiscrimination, the provision of benefits, and other employment laws covering its employees, but in most cases is not required to do so for independent contractors.
FORBES: Some Control Won't Convert Independent Contractors To Employees
The data are inescapable: 62% of all Republicans believe in either same-sex marriage or another form of legal recognition of same-sex relationships and 73% of Republicans support employment nondiscrimination protections for gays and lesbians.
While the Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act was signed into law in the United States in 2008, the protection it will provide against discrimination by employers and health insurance companies for employment and coverage issues has not been clearly established.
Under the new law, employers can actually contribute a slightly lower match to each worker's 401(k) without having to pass complicated "nondiscrimination" tests, provided they automatically enroll workers--meaning employees have to opt out of, rather than opt into, a plan.
应用推荐