Masters in HRER 501 – Labor and Employment Law
Masters in HRER 501 – Labor and Employment Law
Textbook: Employment Law for Human Resource Practice 6TH 19; Author: Walsh, David J;
Publisher – Cengage Learning
Essay Assignment – Lesson 10: Essay Assignment
Please respond to each question set in the order in which it appears below, inserting the number of the question set as a heading or in the first line of the response to that set.
QUESTION SET ONE
Repacordy, Inc. is thinking about revising its employee 401(k) plan. When it recently met with Total Investments:
Total suggested that after deducting employee plan contributions from paychecks, Repacordy delay investing the funds for 90 days. Total said that many employers use that approach to create a floating pool of income for their own operational costs.
Total agreed that the 401(k) plan documents should continue to permit employees to choose investments, but recommends that the SPD be modified so that it appears to limit investment choices and thereby encourages employees to invest mainly in Repacordy stock.
Total also suggested that the SPD limit the divestment period for Repacordy stock to an annual five-day window between July 1 and July 5.
Finally, Total submitted a proposal to manage and handle the record-keeping for Reparcordy’s 401(k) plan. Although Total’s fees would be almost double what the plan currently pays, Reparcordy is inclined to accept the proposal because of Total’s creative approach to plan management.
In light of the Lesson 10 course reading:
1. State whether Total’s suggestions and proposal raise any legal issues. If so, identify, describe and analyze each issue.
2. Identify and describe the applicable laws and how they impact each issue.
QUESTION SET TWO
Total has also made a pitch to administer Repacordy’s employee health care plan, offering these cost saving ideas:
• Repacordy should genetically test all applicants for their potential to develop expensive disorders so that Repacordy could avoid hiring those applicants in the first place.
• Repacordy should genetically test all current employees for their likelihood to develop expensive disorders so that the employee health care premium contributions could be adjusted, i.e., expensive employees could be charged their “fair share” of health insurance costs.
In light of the Lesson 5 and Lesson 10 course reading,
1. State whether Total’s ideas raise any legal issues. If so, identify, describe and analyze each issue.
2. Identify and describe the applicable laws and how they impact each issue.
QUESTION SET THREE
Jake has two children with cystic fibrosis, each of whom has undergone a series of expensive medical procedures and requires medication on a continuing basis. When Jake submitted a request for approval for an experimental surgical treatment (with supporting medical documentation), the Repacordy plan administrator, well aware that the plan had already spent a lot of money on Jake’s kids, immediately sent the request back to Jake with one word, “Denied,” written across the first page.
A few days later, Repacordy told Jake that he was being permanently laid off because the company had decided to downsize his department. Jake was provided with no documentation related to his lay off and was escorted out of the plant the same afternoon. For the last 2 months, Jake has been looking for comparable work, so far unsuccessfully. Although he received a check for his accrued vacation pay, he’s received nothing else related to his Repacordy benefits or lay off. Today he found out that the company replaced him almost immediately and has since hired two additional employees for his department. All three new hires are single males with no dependents.
• In light of the course reading:
1. Does this fact pattern raise any legal issues? If so, identify and describe each of them.
2. Identify and describe the applicable laws and how they impact each of the issues.
3. If you believe that Jake could bring a lawsuit based on this fact pattern, identify each claim and the law upon which it could be based, identify the elements of the claim, and explain to what extent he could establish each element.
4. If you believe that Jake could not bring a lawsuit at this time, explain your analysis in detail.
5. If additional information would be helpful to your analysis, explain how and why it would impact your analysis.
Reading and Activities – Lesson 10 Commentary
Textbook: Chapter 12 Walsh Text
Other Resources:
Defined Benefit Pension Plan Video https://psu.instructure.com/courses/2183006/modules/items/35109957
Please use APA Style for references.
Please include page nos. from the text for all references.
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