Upcoming Employment Deadlines

For HR professionals and employees alike, it is important to make note of the upcoming changes to various laws, such as:

Date Requirement

7/24/09 The federal minimum wage increases to $7.25 per hour.

1/1/10 A qualified long-term-care rider may be added to an annuity or life insurance contract such that the rider is fully funded through a partial cash surrender. Prior to the PPA, this would have been a taxable event. But as of taxable years beginning after Dec. 31, 2009, the act allows for this transaction as long as the investment in the original contract is large enough to support the transaction.

5/22/10 For collectively bargained plans, the rules on phased retirement pension distributions apply after the first plan year that begins after the last of the agreements terminates or, if earlier, this date.

12/31/10 The Economic Growth and Tax Relief Reconciliation Act (EGTRRA) amendments to pension provisions of the Internal Revenue Code and ERISA do not expire because the PPA eliminates EGTRRA's sunset provision.

1/1/15 Most U.S. companies will have until at least this date to fully fund their pension plans.