Please note the list below is not intended to be comprehensive. Our team is constantly monitoring for updates that may impact organizations across the country.
In this edition of Regulatory Roundup, your monthly guide to the world of compliance, we look at changes across the country, among four states and our nation’s capital:
Alabama
Delaware
North Carolina
New York
Washington, D.C.
Federal updates
Starting in 2022, employees will be allowed to add an extra $100 annually to their health care flexible spending accounts (FSA), raising the limit to $2,850. This also raises the carryover limit to $570, which may be due to pending COVID-19 relief. View the official IRS announcement about this change and more.
Effective Jan. 30, 2022, the minimum hourly wage for certain federal contractors will raise to $15. Read the Department of Labor’s final rule for more information.
The Safer Federal Workforce Task Force specified that federal contractors covered under their revised guidance must be fully vaccinated against COVID-19 before Jan. 18, 2022.
The Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act retroactively moved the end date of the Employee Retention Credit to Sept. 30, 2021, except for employers registered as a “recovery startup business.” Read the bill’s text for more information.
Alabama
Effective immediately, Senate Bill 9 allows employees to request an exemption to an employer’s COVID-19 vaccine requirement. Additionally, this bill prevents an employer from firing workers for requesting an exemption and offers an appeal option for denied requests.
Delaware
Beginning Aug. 1, 2024, Senate Bill 111 (or the “Clean Slate Act”) automates expungement for eligible adult and juvenile charges, and Senate Bill 112 outlines the eligibility requirements.
North Carolina
Effective immediately, Senate Bill 105 (or the “2021 Appropriations Act”) expunges some drug-related charges for first-time offenders who were below the age of 21 when charged. The bill also requires businesses that receive certain state grants to provide health insurance for their full-time employees who make less than $150,000 annually.
New York
Effective May 23, 2022, Assembly Bill 430 (Senate Bill 2628) requires employers to inform new hires in writing of all electronic monitoring the business uses. Employers must also post notices of any electronic monitoring in conspicuous places.
Effective immediately, Assembly Bill 459 (Senate Bill 674) vacates some convictions and provides confidentiality for charges related to compelled prostitution and sex and labor trafficking.
Effective Jan. 1, 2023, Assembly Bill 6098 (Senate Bill 2928) adds siblings to the scope of family members as it relates to paid family leave.
Washington, D.C.
Effective immediately, the COVID Vaccination Leave Emergency Amendment Act of 2021 requires employers to provide paid leave for employees to receive and possibly recover from a COVID-19 vaccine, as well as for their minor children to do the same.
DISCLAIMER: The information provided herein does not constitute the provision of legal advice, tax advice, accounting services or professional consulting of any kind. The information provided herein should not be used as a substitute for consultation with professional legal, tax, accounting or other professional advisers. Before making any decision or taking any action, you should consult a professional adviser who has been provided with all pertinent facts relevant to your particular situation and for your particular state(s) of operation.
