On October 30, 2020, the U.S. Department of Labor (the “DOL”) released a Final Rule to “provide clear regulatory guideposts for fiduciaries of private-sector retirement and other employee benefit plans in light of recent...more
11/12/2020
/ Amended Regulation ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Duty of Loyalty ,
Duty of Prudence ,
Employee Benefits ,
Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) ,
Environmental Social & Governance (ESG) ,
Fiduciary ,
Fiduciary Duty ,
Investors ,
Required Documentation ,
Retirement ,
Retirement Plan ,
Retirement Plan Providers ,
Section 404
Spotlight -
U.S. Supreme Court Rules in Favor of Burr's Petition for the South Carolina Election Commission: South Carolina's Witness Requirement on Absentee Ballots is Here to Stay -
On October 5th, the Supreme Court...more
10/30/2020
/ Absentee Voting ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
H-1B ,
Health Care Providers ,
Immigration Reform ,
Infectious Diseases ,
Masks ,
OSHA ,
Political Campaigns ,
Presidential Elections ,
Retirement Plan ,
Right to Vote ,
SCOTUS ,
Wage and Hour ,
Witnesses ,
Workplace Safety
In March 2020, I posted a blog reviewing the evolution of the legal analysis applied to a retirement plan’s holding of “employer securities” under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974, as amended (“ERISA”)......more
9/28/2020
/ Breach of Duty ,
Corporate Officers ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Duty of Prudence ,
Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) ,
Fiduciary Duty ,
Insider Information ,
Insider Trading ,
Petition for Writ of Certiorari ,
Popular ,
Retirement Plan ,
Retirement Plan Providers ,
Securities Violations
Spotlight -
Wrongfully Convicted of Murder, Tennessee Board of Parole Recommends Adam Braseel to be Exonerated -
On June 24, 2020, The Tennessee Board of Parole voted unanimously to recommend that Gov. Bill Lee...more
7/24/2020
/ 401k ,
Contraceptive Coverage Mandate ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Criminal Convictions ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Employee Benefits ,
Employer Group Health Plans ,
Exonerate ,
Immigration Procedures ,
Legislative Agendas ,
Little Sisters of the Poor Saints Peter and Paul Home v Pennsylvania ,
Loan Forgiveness ,
Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) ,
Personal Protective Equipment ,
Private Equity ,
Religious Exemption ,
SCOTUS ,
Trump Administration ,
Work Visas
The U.S. Department of Labor (the “DOL”) recently released an information letter that concludes, if certain conditions are met, a plan fiduciary will not violate his fiduciary duties under the Employee Retirement Income...more
7/16/2020
/ 401k ,
404(c) Plans ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Employee Benefits ,
Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) ,
Fiduciary Duty ,
Information Letters ,
Investment ,
Investment Adviser ,
Investment Management ,
Private Equity ,
Private Equity Funds ,
Retirement Plan
Presently, many human resource departments are scrambling to address issues raised by the passage of the Families First Coronavirus Response Act (the “FFCRA”) and the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security Act (the...more
“Employer securities” in retirement plans have been the source of a significant amount of litigation under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974, as amended (“ERISA”). In general, “employer securities” are...more
3/6/2020
/ Appeals ,
Breach of Duty ,
Corporate Officers ,
Dismissals ,
Duty of Prudence ,
Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) ,
Employee Stock Purchase Plans ,
ESOP ,
Failure To Disclose ,
Fiduciary Duty ,
FIfth Third Bancorp v Dudenhoeffer ,
Fraud ,
Inflated Projections ,
Insider Information ,
Misrepresentation ,
Plan Participants ,
Pleading Standards ,
Remand ,
Retirement Plans Committee of IBM v Jander ,
Reversal ,
SCOTUS ,
Securities Violations ,
Vacated
On December 20, 2019, President Trump signed the Further Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2020 (the “Appropriations Act”) that includes the “Setting Every Community Up for Retirement Enhancement Act of 2019” (the “SECURE...more
12/27/2019
/ 401k ,
Employee Benefits ,
Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) ,
Individual Retirement Account (IRA) ,
Inherited IRA ,
Investment Management ,
Multiple Employer Plan (MEP) ,
Retirement ,
Retirement Plan ,
Safe Harbors ,
SECURE Act ,
Tax Credits
Generally, a 403(b) plan is a retirement planning program whereby a public school or tax-exempt 501(c)(3) organization (including churches) makes contributions for their employees (and certain ministers) to specific types of...more
10/9/2019
/ 403(b) Plans ,
Church Plans ,
Employee Benefits ,
Employer Contributions ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Final Rules ,
Individual Retirement Account (IRA) ,
IRS ,
Plan Documents ,
Public Schools ,
Regulatory Requirements ,
Retirement Plan ,
Tax Exempt Entities ,
Tax Extensions ,
Tax Shelters
On July 17, 2019, the Internal Revenue Service (the “IRS”) released Notice 2019-45 which expands the list of permissible preventive care benefits for high deductible health plan (“HDHP”) purposes. Among other requirements, an...more
7/25/2019
/ Affordable Care Act ,
Chronic Care Managment (CCM) ,
Deductibles ,
Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Employer Group Health Plans ,
HDHP ,
Health Insurance ,
Health Savings Accounts ,
IRS ,
Medical Expenses ,
Out-of-Pocket Expenses ,
Preventive Health Care ,
Safe Harbors
On April 29, 2019, the United States Department of Labor (the “DOL”) released a policy statement providing transitional relief from the potential adverse consequences arising from a District Court’s vacating portions of the...more
5/16/2019
/ Affordable Care Act ,
Association Health Plans ,
Contract Terms ,
Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Employee Benefits ,
Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) ,
Employer Group Health Plans ,
Final Rules ,
Health Insurance ,
MEWAs
A health wellness program is broadly defined as any program of health promotion or disease prevention. My recent article entitled “Taxonomy of Health Wellness Programs – Part I” reviewed the classification of health wellness...more
A health wellness program is broadly defined as any program of health promotion or disease prevention. In a recent article entitled “Health Wellness Programs – An Introduction and a Resource”, I reviewed certain...more
With increasing employee health costs, many employers are adopting or expanding their health wellness programs. In the retirement plan area, some employers are also adopting programs to assist their employees with managing...more
Generally, an employer is required to deduct and withhold Federal Insurance Contribution Act taxes (“FICA”), Federal Unemployment Tax Act taxes (“FUTA”), and income tax withholding from its employee’s wages and is separately...more
On April 23, 2018, the U.S. Department of Labor (the “DOL”) released Field Assistance Bulletin No. 2018-01 (“FAB 2018-01”) which provides guidance regarding (1) the exercise of shareholder rights and written statements of...more
Section 403(b) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended (the “Code”) authorizes a type of retirement plan that can be sponsored by certain tax exempt organizations (e.g., a Code Section 501(c)(3) organization,...more
4/6/2018
/ 403(b) Plans ,
501(c)(3) ,
Benefit Plan Sponsors ,
Employee Benefits ,
Former Employee ,
Income Taxes ,
Internal Revenue Code (IRC) ,
IRS ,
Required Minimum Distributions ,
Retirement Plan ,
Tax Exempt Entities
On January 22, 2018, President Trump signed into law H.R. 195 (hereinafter referred to as the “2018 Budget Deal”) which ended the federal government shutdown and funds the federal government through February 8, 2018. In...more
1/30/2018
/ Affordable Care Act ,
Budget Reconciliation ,
Cadillac Tax ,
Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP) ,
Delays ,
Employer Healthcare Costs ,
Excise Tax ,
Federal Funding ,
Fees ,
Health Care Providers ,
Health Insurance ,
Healthcare Costs ,
Internal Revenue Code (IRC) ,
IRS ,
Medical Devices ,
Trump Administration
In early November, I posted an article entitled “Tax Reform Proposal Nixes Favorable Tax Treatment of Several Employee Benefits”. That article reviewed the Ways and Means Committee’s proposal (H.R. 1, the Tax Reform and Jobs...more
1/4/2018
/ Adoption ,
Dependent Care ,
Educational Assistance Programs ,
Employee Benefits ,
Employee Relocations ,
Income Taxes ,
Individual Retirement Account (IRA) ,
Internal Revenue Code (IRC) ,
IRA Rollovers ,
IRS ,
New Legislation ,
Repeal ,
Roth IRA ,
Tangible Property ,
Tax Cuts and Jobs Act ,
Tax Reform ,
Time Extensions ,
Trump Administration
On November 3, 2017, House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Brody began the legislative consideration of Tax Reform by releasing an amendment (in the nature of a substitute) to the Tax Reform and Jobs Act (H.R. 1 hereinafter...more
11/14/2017
/ Adoption ,
Cafeteria Plans ,
Dependent Care Assistance Program (DCAP) ,
Employee Benefits ,
Employee Relocations ,
Income Taxes ,
Internal Revenue Code (IRC) ,
Markups ,
Proposed Amendments ,
Proposed Legislation ,
Reimbursements ,
Tax Credits ,
Tax Exemptions ,
Tax Reform ,
Ways and Means Committee
On September 27, 2017, the Secretary of the Treasury, the Director of the National Economic Council, the Chair of the U.S. House Ways and Means Committee, the Chair of the U.S. Senate Finance Committee, the Speaker of the...more
10/5/2017
/ Alternative Minimum Tax ,
C-Corporation ,
Charitable Deductions ,
Corporate Taxes ,
Dependents ,
Estate Tax ,
Foreign Subsidiaries ,
Gift Tax ,
Income Taxes ,
Mortgage Interest ,
Parent Corporation ,
Personal Exemptions ,
Proposed Legislation ,
S-Corporation ,
Secretary of the Treasury ,
Standard Deduction ,
Surtax ,
Tax Code ,
Tax Planning ,
Tax Rates ,
Tax Reform ,
Tax Relief ,
Transfer Taxes
A recent Tax Court decision suggests that employers may want to review their 401(k) plan loan programs and payroll practices. In Louelia Salomon Frias and Mervyngil Salomon v. Commissioner, TC Memo 2017-139 (July 11, 2017),...more
The United States Department of Labor (DOL) recently announced its Wage and Hour Division (WHD) is reinstating its practice of issuing opinion letters with respect to the application of the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) and...more
On April 26, 2017, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and U.S. National Economic Council Director Gary Cohn, presented the blue print for President Trump’s tax reform proposal (referred to as the “2017 Tax Reform for Economic...more
On March 6, 2017, the Ways and Means Committee of the U.S. House of Representatives released a section by section summary of the tax related sections of the American Health Care Act (the “AHCA”). On March 9, 2017, the Ways...more