Rebecca Scandaliato, Vice President of Employee Benefits, reviews the NY State Paid Family Leave.
Paid Family Leave will be in effect for New Yorkers January 1, 2018.
All private sector employers with at least 1 employee (not counting the owner) will have to offer this coverage.
Leave can be taken to participate in providing care (physical or psychological) for a family member, to bond with an employee’s child during the first 12 months after the child’s birth, or the first 12 months after the placement of the child for adoption or foster care or for a qualified military exigency as defined by FMLA.
Paid Family Leave requires that the employee has worked for their employer for 26 weeks before becoming eligible for the benefit or 175 days if part-time.
Benefits will phase in over the next four years and will be fully funded by the employee. For year 2018 the maximum benefit is 8 weeks at 50% of employees weekly wage up to 50% of the State Average weekly wage.
A cafeteria plan, also known as a Section 125 Plan, is a written plan that provides employees an opportunity to receive certain benefits on a pretax basis by allowing them to choose between receiving a taxable benefit (such as cash) or certain qualified benefits for which the law provides an exclusion from wages (such as health insurance).
A “premium-only-plan” (POP) is a basic type of cafeteria plan that allows for pretax health insurance premium contributions by employees.
Cafeteria plans must meet the specific requirements and regulations of Section 125 of the Internal Revenue Code, which generally include the development of a written plan describing the benefits and establishing rules for eligibility and elections, as well as satisfy various tests for nondiscrimination with respect to certain highly compensated and key employees.
For more information, please contact us.
