Epstein Becker Green Featured in "EEOC Warns of 'Chaos' if Workplace Wellness Rules Are Vacated"

The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, warning of “significant disruptive consequences,” urged a Washington federal judge not to toss out the agency’s disputed workplace wellness rules as companies set in place their health insurance plans for t2018. …

Bates must now decide whether to scrap the rules entirely or keep them in place to give the agency a chance to revise the rules. Two law firms cited by the EEOC in court papers this week – Alston & Bird and Epstein Becker & Green – argued in comments about the rules that companies need six months’ notice to change plans and as many as 170,000 enrollment guides would have to be tossed and re-done in a short window. …

According to Epstein Becker, “the employer planning for this fall’s open season for the 2016 plan year is essentially complete. An effective date before Jan. 1, 2017, would likely require employers to drop their wellness programs because they would have insufficient time to bring them into compliance.” The firm continued: “It would be impractical to have plans attempt to redesign their programs during or after the open enrollment period to comply with new rules from the EEOC.”