U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services has revised Form I-9, Employment Eligibility Verification to incorporated regulation changes brought about by the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996 (IIRIRA). The I-9 Revision Fact Sheet lists the differences:

Five documents have been removed from List A of the List of Acceptable Documents:

• Certificate of U.S. Citizenship (Form N-560 or N-561)
• Certificate of Naturalization (Form N-550 or N-570)
• Alien Registration Receipt Card (I-151)
• Unexpired Reentry Permit (Form I-327)
• Unexpired Refugee Travel Document (Form I-571)

One document was added to List A of the List of Acceptable Documents:

• Unexpired Employment Authorization Document (I-766)

All the Employment Authorization Documents with photographs that are in circulation are now included as one item on List A:

• I-688, I-688A, I-688B, I-766

Download Form I-9 or the Handbook for Employers with Instructions for Completing the Form I-9 from the USCIS website.

The annual six-week enrollment period for Medicare Prescription Drug Plans (Part D) begins today. To assist those Medicare-eligible choose between the myriad of plans available, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services provides a website tool that can find area plans and compare their costs and benefits. The State Health Insurance Assistance Program (SHIP) also provides listings for counselors available to provide free one-on-one help with your Medicare questions or problems.

Older Workers: Employment and Retirement Trends, a Congressional Research Service Report, wonders if a mass exodus of retirement age “baby boomers” might significantly alter the profile of the American Workplace.

According to the Census Bureau, while the number of people between the ages of 55 and 64 will grow by about 11million between 2005 and 2025, the number of people who are 25 to 54 years old will grow by only 5 million. This trend could affect economic growth because labor force participation begins to fall after age 55.

Employers may soon be facing a shortage of labor force participation and experienced job candidates as Boomers retire en mass, although current trends away from defined benefit pension plans and the decline in retiree health insurance offerings may force Boomers to work until they are eligible for Medicare at age 65. The report predicts that many employers may lure older workers back into employment with “phased retirements” – job sharing, reduced work schedules, and rehiring retired workers on a part-time or temporary basis.

The complete report can be found at benefitslink.com.

After years of issuing various proposed regulations on Section 125 Cafeteria Plans, the Treasury Department and the IRS recently issued new proposed regulations replacing most of the previous citations. The good news is that the new rules replace previous final and proposed regulation that go as far back as 1984. These new regulations generally preserve the rules of the existing proposed regulations, while clarifying many regulatory and administrative provisions. Fortunately, the regulations clarify many areas in question such as the requirement for a plan document, how to apply the nondiscrimination rules, and the effect of noncompliance.

CONTINUE READING