Maria Isabel Rey provides counseling on the design, establishment, and administration of employee pension and welfare benefit plans. She advices plan administrators and other benefit plan fiduciaries on fiduciary duties, plan governance, and reporting and disclosure requirements under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA). She provides guidance to employers and plan administrators on the compliance with the Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act (COBRA), the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act’s (HIPAA) privacy and security regulations, the Affordable Care Act (ACA) and other laws that impact the administration of welfare and pension benefit plan, as well as on the administration and compliance with qualified domestic relations orders (QDRO’s) and qualified medical child support orders (QMCSO’s). She has ample experience in litigation of employee benefit claims, claims involving breaches of fiduciary duties and ERISA preemption claims before federal and Puerto Rico courts, and in representing employers, plan sponsors, plan administrators, TPA’s, insurance companies and other ERISA fiduciaries in benefits matters before administrative agencies, including the U.S. Department of Labor and the Pension Benefit Guarantee Corporation (PBGC). She also counsels in employee benefits matters in business transactions, and provides advice on employee benefits issues arising out of reductions in force, and in collective bargaining negotiations.
María Isabel has extensive experience in providing business immigration counseling on work visas, employment based immigration, employment verification, and preparation of visa petitions, including H-1B visas for professionals, L-1 visas for intracompany tranferees, TN visas for Canadian and Mexican professionals, E visas for investors, labor certifications and petitions for employment based permanent residence. She also provides advice on employment verification practices (I-9’s, E-Verify), including performance of internal audits, and has represented employers on ICE audits.
María Isabel also counsels employers on employment law issues, including terminations, employment discrimination, sexual harassment, and military leave, and litigates wrongful dismissal and discrimination claims before federal and Puerto Rico courts.
María Isabel has been a frequent speaker in employee benefits and immigration topics. She has served as speaker for clients and, among others, at the following conferences: the Retirement Plans Conference of Popular Fiduciary Services; 2015 Littler Global – Latin America Conference in Miami, FL; Littler’s Employee Benefits Summit NYC 2015 in New York, NY; The 2017 Executive Employer Conference in Phoenix, AZ; and Littler Global Annual Puerto Rico Conference.