This fall has seen two important developments in the area of veterans’ rights under employee benefit plans. On September 20, 2004, the Veterans’ Employment and Training Service (“VETS”) of the Department of Labor (“DOL”) issued proposed regulations under the Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployments Rights Act of 1994, as amended (“USERRA”). (For more information about […]

The Issue Same-sex marriages produce uncertainty as to who is a “legal spouse” and create confusion for benefit plan administrators who must make many determinations based on an individual?s status as a “spouse.” For example, a plan administrator might need to determine whether a same-sex spouse is eligible to enroll in health benefits as a […]

On October 10, 2003, Governor Davis signed Assembly Bill 17 (“AB-17”), which made California the first state in the nation to prohibit its contractors from discriminating in the provision of benefits