As the COVID-19 pandemic continues to impact our society, we are seeing employers grapple with furloughs, reductions in force and other alternatives, which are discussed in this Legal Alert. After some negotiations, Congress...more
In our 2019 End of Year Plan Sponsor “To Do” List (Part 3) Qualified Plans, we suggested that sponsors of all qualified retirement plans should be on the lookout for the Internal Revenue Service’s (“IRS”) 2019 Required...more
As 2019 comes to an end, we are happy to present our traditional End of Year Plan Sponsor “To Do” Lists. This year, we present our “To Do” Lists in four separate Employee Benefits Updates. Part 1 covered year-end health and...more
12/16/2019
/ Benefit Plan Sponsors ,
Best Practices ,
Board of Directors ,
Corporate Governance ,
Deferred Compensation ,
Employee Stock Purchase Plans ,
Equity Compensation ,
Executive Compensation ,
Incentive Stock Options ,
Section 162(m) ,
Section 409A ,
Stock Options ,
Year-End Compliance Checklist ,
Year-End Planning ,
Year-End Tax Planning
The Department of Labor recently issued a proposed rule that allows certain retirement plan disclosures to be posted online, rather than requiring such disclosures to be printed and mailed. The Department of Labor anticipates...more
11/22/2019
/ Beneficiaries ,
Benefit Plan Sponsors ,
Comment Period ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Electronic Disclosure ,
Employee Benefits ,
Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) ,
Notice Requirements ,
Plan Administrators ,
Proposed Rules ,
Public Comment ,
Retirement Plan ,
Safe Harbors
As 2019 comes to an end, we are happy to present our traditional End of Year Plan Sponsor “To Do” Lists. This year, we are publishing our “To Do” Lists in four separate Employee Benefits Updates. Part 1 covered year-end...more
11/11/2019
/ 401k ,
Cost-of-Living Adjustment (COLA) ,
Defined Benefit Plans ,
Defined Contribution Plans ,
Employee Benefits ,
Flexible Spending Accounts ,
HDHP ,
Health and Welfare Plans ,
Retirement Plan ,
Year-End Planning ,
Year-End Tax Planning
As 2019 comes to an end, we are pleased to present our traditional End of Year Plan Sponsor “To Do” Lists. This year, we present our “To Do” Lists in four separate Employee Benefits Updates. This Part 1 covers year-end health...more
10/18/2019
/ Affordable Care Act ,
Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) ,
Benefit Plan Sponsors ,
Civil Rights Act ,
COBRA ,
Cost-of-Living Adjustment (COLA) ,
Employee Benefits ,
Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) ,
Federal Contractors ,
HDHP ,
Health and Welfare Plans ,
Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) ,
Individual Mandate ,
IRS ,
Minimum Essential Coverage ,
OFCCP ,
Retirement Plan ,
Shared Responsibility Rule ,
Title VII ,
TPAs ,
Wage and Hour
In Notice 2019-18, the Internal Revenue Service (the “IRS”) changed its position and now will permit employers to offer lump sum payments to retirees who are currently receiving annuity payments from a defined benefit plan....more
As 2018 comes to an end, we are happy to present our traditional End of Year Plan Sponsor “To Do” Lists. This year, we are publishing our “To Do” Lists in four separate Employee Benefits Updates. Part 1 covered year-end...more
As 2018 comes to an end, we are pleased to present you with our traditional End of Year Plan Sponsor “To Do” Lists. This year, we are publishing our “To Do” Lists in four separate Employee Benefits Updates. Part 1 covered...more
As 2018 comes to an end, we are happy to present our traditional End of Year Plan Sponsor “To Do” Lists. This year, we are publishing our “To Do” Lists in four separate Employee Benefits Updates. Part 1 covered year-end...more
11/16/2018
/ 401k ,
457(b) Plans ,
Contribution Limits ,
Cost-of-Living Adjustment (COLA) ,
Defined Benefit Plans ,
Employee Benefits ,
HDHP ,
Health Savings Accounts ,
IRS ,
PCORI ,
Qualified Retirement Plans ,
Retirement Plan
The Internal Revenue Service (“IRS”) recently released guidance that contains two updated safe harbor notices that retirement plans may use to satisfy the requirements of the Internal Revenue Code (the “Code”) to provide an...more
On August 21, 2018, the IRS released Notice 2018-68 (“Notice”) providing its initial guidance on the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (“Act”) transition rule for changes made to Section 162(m) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as...more
9/13/2018
/ Contract Terms ,
Corporate Taxes ,
Covered Employees ,
Executive Compensation ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Initial Public Offering (IPO) ,
IRS ,
New Guidance ,
Publicly-Traded Companies ,
Section 162(m) ,
Tax Cuts and Jobs Act
On April 3, we blogged about a reduction in the HSA contribution limit for family coverage in 2018 from $6,900 to $6,850. This was a technical change resulting from the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act that adjusted the method for...more
Tax reform made few changes that directly impact qualified retirement plans; however, it made some changes that may indirectly impact qualified retirement plans. We previously blogged on the indirect changes that tax reform...more
On December 22, 2017, the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (“the Act”) was signed into law, and it has various implications for employers who sponsor employee benefit plans. This newsletter focuses on the provisions in the Act that...more
1/30/2018
/ Affordable Care Act ,
Compensation & Benefits ,
Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) ,
Fringe Benefits ,
Health and Welfare Plans ,
Individual Mandate ,
Minimum Essential Coverage ,
New Legislation ,
Paid Leave ,
Popular ,
Reimbursements ,
Tax Cuts and Jobs Act
In our 2017 End of Year Plan Sponsor “To Do” List (Part 4) Qualified Plans, we suggested that sponsors of all qualified retirement plans should be on the lookout for the Internal Revenue Service’s (“IRS”) 2017 Required...more
As 2017 comes to an end, we are pleased to present you with our traditional End of Year Plan Sponsor “To Do” Lists. This year, we are publishing our “To Do” Lists in four separate Employee Benefits Updates. Part 1 covered...more
11/21/2017
/ 401k ,
Affordable Care Act ,
Automatic Enrollment ,
Benefit Plan Sponsors ,
Best Interest Contract Exemptions ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Determination Letter ,
Disability Benefits ,
Employee Benefits ,
Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) ,
Fiduciary Rule ,
Filing Requirements ,
Form 5500 ,
Hardship Distributions ,
IRS ,
Natural Disasters ,
Proposed Rules ,
Qualified Retirement Plans ,
Retirement Plan ,
Safe Harbors ,
Summary Plan Description
As 2017 comes to an end, we are happy to present our traditional End of Year Plan Sponsor “To Do” Lists. This year, we are publishing our “To Do” Lists in four separate Employee Benefits Updates. Part 1 covered year-end...more
11/17/2017
/ Deferred Compensation ,
Employee Stock Purchase Plans ,
Equity Compensation ,
Executive Compensation ,
FASB ,
Incentive Compensation ,
Information Statements ,
Internal Revenue Code (IRC) ,
IRS ,
ISOs ,
Section 162(m) ,
Section 409A
As 2017 comes to an end, we are happy to present our traditional End of Year Plan Sponsor “To Do” Lists. This year, we are publishing our “To Do” Lists in four separate Employee Benefits Updates. Part 1 covered year-end...more
11/6/2017
/ 401k ,
Benefit Plan Sponsors ,
COLA ,
Cost-of-Living Adjustment (COLA) ,
Cost-Sharing ,
Employee Benefits ,
ESOP ,
HDHP ,
HSA ,
IRS ,
Retirement Plan ,
Social Security Benefits
As 2017 comes to an end, we are pleased to present our traditional End of Year Plan Sponsor “To Do” Lists. This year, we are presenting our “To Do” Lists in four separate Employee Benefits Updates. This Part 1 will cover...more
10/18/2017
/ 21st Century Cures Act ,
AARP ,
Affordable Care Act ,
Breach Notification Rule ,
Cadillac Tax ,
Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) ,
Civil Rights Act ,
Cloud Service Providers (CSPs) ,
COBRA ,
Code Sections 4980H ,
Cost-of-Living Adjustment (COLA) ,
Cost-Sharing ,
Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) ,
Disability Benefits ,
Electronic Protected Health Information (ePHI) ,
Employee Assistance Programs ,
Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) ,
Employer Group Health Plans ,
Employment Discrimination ,
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) ,
Executive Orders ,
Federal Contractors ,
Federal Poverty Line ,
Filing Deadlines ,
Form 5500 ,
Form 720 ,
Full-Time Employees ,
Health Insurance Exchanges ,
Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) ,
Healthcare Reform ,
Information Letters ,
IRS ,
MHPAEA ,
Minimum Essential Coverage ,
Non-Grandfathered Health Plans ,
Open Enrollment ,
PCORI ,
Preventive Health Care ,
Qualified Small Employer Health Reimbursement Plan (QSEHRAs) ,
Religious Exemption ,
SBC ,
Section 1557 ,
Section 6055 ,
Section 6056 ,
Shared Responsibility Rule ,
Tax Credits ,
Tax Penalties ,
Telemedicine ,
Title VII ,
Trump Administration ,
Wellness Programs
In Announcement 2017-11, the IRS relaxed standards for hardship distributions and loans from qualified retirement plans for those affected by Hurricane Harvey. This relief applies to employees or former employees and their...more
Imagine it’s March 31 and you are a retirement plan administrator. You have a participant who terminated employment 15 years ago. He turned 70½ last year and now you owe him his first required minimum distribution from the...more
The IRS has recently warned employers of another scam targeting employee information. The IRS has learned that scammers are posing as internal executives and are requesting Forms W-2 and Social Security Numbers from payroll...more
In a previous blog, we addressed an issue of Employee Plans News in which the IRS took the position that 401(k) plan administrators must maintain hardship distribution records and should not rely on electronic participant...more
In a previous blog, we discussed the IRS’ elimination of its five year staggered determination letter cycle for individually designed plans. The IRS recently provided guidance to help sponsors of individually designed plans...more