Court Puts Pressure on EEOC to Revise Wellness Program Rules

The U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia has vacated the incentive sections of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission's (EEOC) wellness program rules under the Americans with Disabilities Act and the Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act, reports PlanSponsor . The AARP alleged in a lawsuit that the commission's final wellness program rules implemented at the start of last year are arbitrary, capricious, an abuse of discretion, and not in accordance with law. The association requested the invalidation of the rules, which allow employers to implement incentives for participating in workplace wellness programs worth up to 30 percent of the cost of health insurance. In August, U.S. District Judge John D. Bates ruled, "It is far from clear that it would be possible to restore the status quo ante if the rules were vacated; rather, it may well end up punishing those firms — and employees — who acted in reliance on the rules." At that time, Bates "remanded' the rules to the EEOC for reform and/or elucidation. He also observed the EEOC's statement that it does not plan to issue a notice of proposed rulemaking until August 2018, nor does it intend to issue a final rule until October 2019. Given the time required for employers to comply, the EEOC said any new final rule "likely would not be applicable until the beginning of 2021." Bates noted this is not the timeline he had in mind when he remanded the rules to the EEOC, so he vacated the rules' incentive portion while issuing a stay on his decision until January 1, 2019.