Seyfarth Synopsis: As Seyfarth has blogged about on multiple occasions, the CARES Act provided relief for qualified plans as a result of COVID-19. With respect to qualified defined benefit pension plans, the CARES Act...more
8/31/2020
/ Benefit Plan Sponsors ,
CARES Act ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Defined Benefit Plans ,
Employee Benefits ,
Employee Contributions ,
Form 5500 ,
IRS ,
PBGC ,
Pensions ,
Retirement Plan
Seyfarth Synopsis: As Seyfarth has blogged about on multiple occasions, the CARES Act provides participants in tax-qualified retirement plans the opportunity to request distributions on a tax-favored basis by self-certifying...more
Seyfarth Synopsis: A key component of the SECURE Act, passed at the end of 2019, was the expansion of opportunities to combine the 401(k) plan assets of multiple unrelated employers. ...more
Seyfarth Synopsis: The IRS recently issued proposed regulations providing guidance under Internal Revenue Code (“Code”) Section 4960, which provides for an excise tax on tax-exempt organizations that pay certain executives in...more
6/12/2020
/ Compensation & Benefits ,
Employee Benefits ,
Excise Tax ,
Executive Compensation ,
Golden Parachutes ,
Internal Revenue Code (IRC) ,
IRS ,
Popular ,
Tax Cuts and Jobs Act ,
Tax Exempt Entities ,
Tax Planning
Seyfarth Synopsis: After the Senate failed to secure the needed votes for a comprehensive coronavirus rescue package over the prior weekend, on Friday, Congress finally passed a $2 trillion package (the “CARES Act”) amidst...more
Even before the California Supreme Court decided Edwards in 2008, employers knew all too well the woes of attempting to enforce non-competes against California employees. Edwards simply reaffirmed California’s long-standing...more
6/7/2019
/ Contract Terms ,
Deferred Compensation ,
Denial of Benefits ,
Employee Benefits ,
Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Contract ,
Employment Litigation ,
Forfeiture ,
Intellectual Property Protection ,
Non-Compete Agreements ,
Retirement
On May 1, 2019, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) issued guidance re-opening its storied determination letter program to hybrid plans and certain plans impacted by plan mergers....more
Hopefully still in time for 2019 plan design discussions, on November 9, 2018, the Department of the Treasury and the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) issued a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking to amend IRS regulations related to...more
11/16/2018
/ 401k ,
403(b) Plans ,
Employee Benefits ,
Hardship Distributions ,
Internal Revenue Code (IRC) ,
IRS ,
New Regulations ,
QMAC ,
QNEC ,
Regulatory Requirements ,
Retirement Plan
The Internal Revenue Service has announced cost-of-living adjustments applicable to dollar limitations for retirement plans and other benefits for 2019. ...more
On Friday, February 9, 2018, the Bipartisan Budget Act of 2018 (the “Act”) was signed into law by President Trump, ending a brief government shutdown that began at 12:01 a.m. on Thursday, February 8, 2018. In addition to...more
This is the fourth issue in a planned series of alerts designed to provide an in-depth analysis on topics related to tax reform. This Tax Reform Management Alert issue focuses on executive compensation and employee benefits...more
12/21/2017
/ Compensation & Benefits ,
Corporate Taxes ,
Employee Benefits ,
Executive Compensation ,
Fringe Benefits ,
Hardship Distributions ,
Income Taxes ,
Legislative Agendas ,
Pending Legislation ,
Retirement Plan ,
Section 162(m) ,
Tax Deductions ,
Tax Rates ,
Tax Reform ,
Trump Administration
This is the second issue in a planned series of alerts for employers on selected topics on tax reform. The series of Tax Reform Management Alerts is designed to provide an in-depth analysis of executive compensation and...more
12/11/2017
/ Compensation & Benefits ,
Corporate Taxes ,
Deferred Compensation ,
Executive Compensation ,
Fringe Benefits ,
Hardship Distributions ,
Income Taxes ,
Legislative Agendas ,
Proposed Legislation ,
Retirement Plan ,
Section 162(m) ,
Tax Deductions ,
Tax Rates ,
Tax Reform ,
Trump Administration
This is the first issue in a planned series of alerts for employers on selected topics on tax reform. The series of Tax Reform Management Alerts is designed to provide an in-depth analysis of executive compensation and...more
11/27/2017
/ Compensation & Benefits ,
Deferred Compensation ,
Employee Benefits ,
Executive Compensation ,
Individual Mandate ,
Internal Revenue Code (IRC) ,
Legislative Agendas ,
Medical Expenses ,
Proposed Legislation ,
Retirement Plan ,
Section 162(m) ,
Tax Deductions ,
Tax Rates ,
Tax Reform ,
Trump Administration
Seyfarth Synopsis: The Internal Revenue Service released guidance detailing specific procedures qualified retirement plans may utilize to satisfy required minimum distribution standards for missing participants and...more
The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) and Department of Labor (DOL) issued temporary relief on deadlines and procedural requirements applicable to employee benefit plans for employers impacted by Hurricane Harvey.
...more
9/6/2017
/ 401k ,
403(b) Plans ,
457(b) Plans ,
COBRA ,
Defined Contribution Plans ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Employee Benefits ,
Employee Contributions ,
Employer Group Health Plans ,
Form 5500 ,
Hardship Distributions ,
Hurricane Harvey ,
IRS ,
Natural Disasters ,
Reporting Requirements ,
Retirement Plan
Substantiation Requirement Clarified for Examination Purposes -
Over the past few years, employers and plan administrators have frequently asked how hardship withdrawal requests can/should be substantiated from 401(k)...more
Seyfarth Synopsis: A recently published IRS memorandum provides that employees of a single-member LLC treated as a disregarded entity must be allowed to participate in a section 403(b) plan sponsored by its parent 501(c)(3)...more
On January 29, 2016, the IRS issued Notice 2016-16, which provides much-needed guidance and flexibility for mid-year amendments to safe harbor plans. The notice provides that a mid-year amendment either to a safe harbor...more
On January 25, 2016, in Amgen, Inc. v. Harris, 2016 WL 280886, the Supreme Court sent a strong message to the lower courts, plaintiffs and ERISA fiduciaries that pleading standards for breach of fiduciary duty prudence claims...more
With Announcement 2015-19, the Internal Revenue Service has effectively ended the determination letter program for individually designed qualified plans as of January 1, 2017. Individually designed plans can still obtain...more
The Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act (“Dodd-Frank”) became federal law on July 21, 2010 to provide safeguards for consumers and increase transparency in the U.S. capital markets in response to public...more
8/31/2015
/ CEOs ,
CFOs ,
Clawbacks ,
Corporate Officers ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Dodd-Frank ,
Executive Compensation ,
Financial Statements ,
Incentive Compensation ,
Median Employee ,
Nasdaq ,
NYSE ,
Pay Ratio ,
Recovery Plans ,
Regulation S-K ,
Rule 10D-1 ,
Sarbanes-Oxley ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Securities Exchange Act