New D.C. Transportation Benefits Law Creates Potentially Bumpy Road for Employer Compliance

(Parking benefits for employees who are required to use a personal motor vehicle to perform their work are excluded from the definition.) "Market value" is defined as "the publiclyadvertised price of parking available for rent to the public at a privately-owned parking facility within...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inEmployee Benefit Plan Review Vol. 75; no. 1; pp. 15 - 17
Main Authors Friedman, Sarah, Chittenden, S Michael
Format Trade Publication Article
LanguageEnglish
Published New York Aspen Publishers, Inc 01.01.2021
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Summary:(Parking benefits for employees who are required to use a personal motor vehicle to perform their work are excluded from the definition.) "Market value" is defined as "the publiclyadvertised price of parking available for rent to the public at a privately-owned parking facility within one-quarter mile of the business premises," or, if there is no such facility, an amount calculated pursuant to forthcoming District Department of Transportation ("DDT") guidance. The Act appears to prohibit employers from allowing employees to use both such benefits simultaneously, so employers should tread carefully if they offer such hybrid benefits. (Because "parking benefits" under the Act include only parking in the vicinity of the employee's workplace, subsidized parking provided at a WMATA park-and-ride facility would presumably be permissible.) * Amount of Clean-Air Transportation Fringe Benefits: A Clean-Air Transportation Fringe Benefit must be equal to or greater than the market value of the parking benefit that is offered to employees. [...]Would offering additional employer contributions to only certain employees implicate nondiscrimination testing concerns for the health plan? ° If the employer's workforce is collectively bargained, will providing additional compensation or employer health coverage contributions violate the collective bargaining agreement? REPORTING REQUIREMENT The Act also requires covered employers who offer parking benefits to report the following: (1) the total number of employees, and (2) the number of employees (a) offered a parking benefit, (b) using a parking benefit, (c) offered a Clean-Air Transportation Fringe Benefit, and (d) using a Clean-Air Transportation Fringe Benefit. The Act's applicability to an employer who leased on, and continues to lease after, the Act's Applicability Date will be delayed until the end of the current lease term, even if the lease agreement contemplates extensions of the lease. * Current party to a transportation demand management plan or Campus Plan: The Act also provides for delayed applicability to employers who are party to a transportation demand management plan or a Campus Plan. © A Clean-Air Transportation Fringe Benefit must be equal to or greater than the market value of the parking benefit that is offered to employees.
ISSN:0013-6808