As reported in our April 18th blog, the Department of Labor (“DOL”) officially delayed the applicability of the Fiduciary Rule for 60 days, until June 9, 2017. Given the multiple delays leading up to the proposed June 9th...more
As public companies continue to prepare for the 2017 proxy season, we wanted to provide a final reminder of an executive compensation related item that might require shareholder approval in 2017. As reported in Part 1 of our...more
As reported in Part 1 of our 2016 End of Year Plan Sponsor “To Do” List, Section 6039 of the Code requires employers to provide a written information statement to each employee or former employee and file information returns...more
As 2016 comes to an end, we are pleased to present you with our traditional End of Year Plan Sponsor “To Do” Lists. Like last year, we are presenting our “To Do” Lists in three separate Employee Benefits Updates. Part 1 of...more
11/16/2016
/ 401k ,
403(b) Plans ,
Benefit Plan Sponsors ,
Defined Benefit Plans ,
Defined Contribution Plans ,
Employee Benefits ,
Fiduciary Rule ,
Qualified Retirement Plans ,
Safe Harbors ,
Summary Plan Description ,
Year-End Compliance Checklist ,
Year-End Planning
As 2016 comes to an end, we are pleased to present you with our traditional End of Year Plan Sponsor “To Do” Lists. Like last year, we are presenting our “To Do” Lists in three separate Employee Benefits Updates. Part 1 of...more
11/10/2016
/ Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) ,
Benefit Plan Sponsors ,
Business Associates ,
Cadillac Tax ,
Civil Rights Act ,
Cloud Service Providers (CSPs) ,
Cost-of-Living Adjustment (COLA) ,
Employee Benefits ,
Employer Group Health Plans ,
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) ,
Federal Contractors ,
Form 1094 ,
Form 1095 ,
GINA ,
Grandfathered Status ,
Health and Welfare Plans ,
Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) ,
Health Savings Accounts ,
Healthcare Reform ,
HIPAA Audits ,
Large Employer ,
Mental Health Parity Rule ,
Minimum Essential Coverage ,
Non-Discrimination Rules ,
OFCCP ,
PCORI ,
Section 1557 ,
Section 6055 ,
Section 6056 ,
Self-Insured Health Plans ,
Shared Responsibility Rule ,
Summary of Benefits and Coverage ,
Telemedicine ,
Title VII ,
Wellness Programs ,
Year-End Compliance Checklist
As 2016 comes to an end, we are pleased to present you with our traditional End of Year Plan Sponsor “To Do” Lists. Like last year, we are presenting our “To Do” Lists in three separate Employee Benefits Updates. Part 1 of...more
11/7/2016
/ Benefit Plan Sponsors ,
Confidentiality Agreements ,
Deferred Compensation ,
Employee Stock Purchase Plans ,
Equity Compensation ,
Executive Compensation ,
FASB ,
Incentive Stock Options ,
Internal Revenue Code (IRC) ,
Section 162(m) ,
Section 409A ,
Shareholder Approval ,
Year-End Planning
In response to recent lawsuits by the plaintiffs’ bar, I have previously posted about why public company employers may wish to consider adding a separate annual limit on non-employee director equity awards. Just last month...more
On July 23rd of last year, I blogged on a set of proposed regulations eliminating the requirement that a taxpayer attach a copy of his or her Section 83(b) election to their individual tax return. This July, the IRS made the...more
Earlier this year the Financial Accounting Standards Board released Accounting Standards Update No. 2016-09 (the “ASU”) to improve the accounting treatment of certain stock-based compensation payments. Among other updates,...more
In response to the Delaware Chancery Court’s 2012 and 2015 decisions in Seinfeld v. Slager and Calma v. Templeton and Facebook’s 2016 settlement of Espinoza v. Zuckerberg, public companies that are adopting or amending...more
In a case of first impression in the Ninth Circuit, the Court held that the Booz Allen Hamilton, Inc. Stock Rights Plan (“SRP”) was not subject to ERISA because its primary purpose was not to provide deferred compensation or...more
“Middle class economics means that Americans should be able to retire with dignity after a lifetime of hard work. But loopholes in the retirement advice rules have allowed some brokers and other advisers to recommend products...more
Last summer the Internal Revenue Service updated its Audit Techniques Guide (“ATG”) for nonqualified deferred compensation arrangements. While the ATG provides little instruction on how the IRS will review nonqualified...more
The $1,000,000 limitation on deductions imposed by Section 162(m) of the Internal Revenue Code applies to “covered employees.” In Notice 2007-49, the IRS defined the term “covered employees” as follows...more
As 2015 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 presenting our “To Do” Lists in three separate Employee Benefits Updates....more
12/11/2015
/ Benefit Plan Sponsors ,
Deferred Compensation ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Executive Compensation ,
FASB ,
Institutional Shareholder Services (ISS) ,
Pay Ratio ,
Pay-for-Performance ,
Private Equity ,
Publicly-Traded Companies ,
Section 409A ,
Year-End Planning
As 2015 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 presenting our “To Do” Lists in three separate SW Benefits Updates. Part 1 of the series...more
As 2015 comes to an end, we are pleased to present you with our traditional End of Year Plan Sponsor “To Do” Lists. Like last year, we are presenting our “To Do” Lists in three separate Employee Benefits Updates. Part 1 of...more
11/23/2015
/ Affordable Care Act ,
Benefit Plan Sponsors ,
Cadillac Tax ,
Cafeteria Plans ,
Employer Group Health Plans ,
Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) ,
Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) ,
Large Employer ,
PCORI ,
Same-Sex Marriage ,
Section 6055 ,
Section 6056 ,
Self-Insured Health Plans ,
Shared Responsibility Rule ,
Summary of Benefits and Coverage ,
W-2 ,
Wellness Programs ,
Year-End Planning
The IRS has announced cost of living adjustments for health flexible spending accounts (“health FSAs”) in Section 125 cafeteria plans, contributions to health savings accounts (“HSAs”), out-of-pocket maximums under high...more
In this issue of the Corporate Communicator, we bring you an article about the SEC’s recently released proposal to adopt rules for the clawback of executive compensation. The proposal is already controversial and it may prove...more
8/20/2015
/ Board of Directors ,
Clawbacks ,
Corporate Officers ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Dodd-Frank ,
Executive Compensation ,
Financial Statements ,
Incentive Compensation ,
Indemnification ,
Internal Revenue Code (IRC) ,
Reporting Requirements ,
Section 409A ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Total Shareholder Return (TSR)
As explained in a prior blog post, an employee who timely files a Section 83(b) election will be taxed on the fair market value of property transferred (typically restricted stock) to him or her in exchange for services on...more
As reported in a prior blog post, public company employers that are adopting or amending equity-based compensation plans should consider adding a separate annual limit on director equity awards. In a recent Delaware Chancery...more
On May 1, the IRS released a Chief Counsel Memorandum that clarifies the IRS’ position with respect to the correction of deferred compensation arrangements outside of the IRS’ formal Section 409A correction programs....more
The IRS recently released final regulations clarifying two aspects of the “performance-based compensation” exception to the $1,000,000 limit on deductible compensation paid to covered employees under Section 162(m) of the...more
Section 409A, the provision of the Internal Revenue Code that regulates the time and form of payment of nonqualified deferred compensation, contains a helpful exception for “short-term deferrals.”...more
As reported in my October 24, 2014 post, Institutional Shareholder Services Inc. (“ISS”), a leading proxy advisory firm, has adopted a new “scorecard” approach to evaluating public company equity compensation plans. In a...more