Legal Corner – February 2020

Welcome to the Trüpp Legal Corner designed to keep business leaders informed of critical employment legislation and case law.

I-9 Update

The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has released a new Form I-9. Employers should begin using the new form as soon as possible but have until May 01, 2020, to make the switch.

W-4 Update

There is a new Form W-4 that was updated twice in December. Starting January 1, 2020, all new employees must use the most recent form. The IRS also issued an Income Tax Withholding Assistant spreadsheet to aid employers.

New Model COBRA Notices Released

The Department of Labor (DOL) has released updated versions of its model COBRA General Notice and model COBRA Election Notice, both with an expiration date of Jan. 31, 2023. As a reminder, these notices are required to be provided as follows:

• Plan administrators must provide covered individuals with a general notice within 90 days after their group health plan coverage begins.
• Plan administrators must provide qualified beneficiaries with an election notice within 14 days after receiving notice of a qualifying event (44 days under certain circumstances).

Hairstyle Bans

More and more states are passing hairstyle discrimination bans with very short deadlines. You can find a map of CROWN Act updates by state on the main website. Learn more about the CROWN Act in our informative article.

Colorado Increases the Minimum Salary Threshold

Following AK, CA, NY, ME, and WA, CO has increased the minimum salary threshold for exempt status employees. These provisions are known as the Colorado Overtime and Minimum Pay Standards Order #36 (“COMPS Order”). Most of the new provisions will take effect on March 16^th, 2020 and will increase the salary threshold above federal regulations.

Pittsburgh Paid Sick Leave Takes Effect in March

After being passed in August 2015, The City of Pittsburgh’s Paid Sick Days Act goes into effect on March 15, 2020. Covered employees must begin accruing paid sick time hours from that date.