Many companies are scrambling to quickly assess how to reduce the business impact of the upheaval to U.S. manufacturing and trading with the recent onslaught of tariffs threatened or imposed by the United States and the...more
4/22/2025
/ 401k ,
COBRA ,
Collective Bargaining Agreements (CBA) ,
Compensation & Benefits ,
Deferred Compensation ,
Employee Benefits ,
Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) ,
Employer Contributions ,
Layoffs ,
Retirement Plan ,
Severance Agreements ,
Stock Options ,
Tariffs ,
Vesting
In January, the Department of the Treasury (“Treasury”) and Internal Revenue Service (IRS) issued proposed regulations on the catch-up contribution provisions under the SECURE 2.0 Act of 2022 (“SECURE 2.0”). While the...more
3/25/2025
/ 401k ,
Compliance ,
Employee Benefits ,
Employee Contributions ,
FICA Taxes ,
IRS ,
New Legislation ,
Recordkeeping Requirements ,
Regulatory Requirements ,
Retirement Plan ,
Roth IRA ,
SECURE Act ,
Tax Planning ,
Tax Reform ,
U.S. Treasury
As a member of your company’s human resources or employee benefits department, one of the most difficult calls you may receive is from a colleague or an employee’s family member notifying you of the death of an employee. This...more
3/25/2025
/ Beneficiaries ,
Benefit Plan Sponsors ,
COBRA ,
Compensation & Benefits ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Death Benefits ,
Deferred Compensation ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Employee Benefits ,
Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) ,
Estate Planning ,
FICA Taxes ,
Flexible Spending Accounts ,
FUTA ,
Health and Welfare Plans ,
Human Resources Professionals ,
Internal Revenue Code (IRC) ,
Pensions ,
Probate ,
Retirement Plan ,
Wills
Most SECURE 2.0 articles focus on the changes applicable to defined contribution plans, such as 401(k) plans, and rightly so, since those plans were the most impacted by the law. However, SECURE 2.0 did make a handful of...more
This article is the third in our series on equity-based compensation intended to assist employers with answering a common question: What type of equity compensation award is best for our company and our employees?...more
8/28/2024
/ Alternative Minimum Tax ,
Capital Gains Tax ,
Compensation ,
Consultants ,
Equity ,
Fair Market Value ,
Future Tax Treatment ,
Incentive Stock Options ,
Incentives ,
Income Taxes ,
Independent Contractors ,
Internal Revenue Code (IRC) ,
Privately Held Corporations ,
Securities ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Vesting
This article is the second in our series on equity-based compensation intended to assist employers with answering a common question: What type of equity compensation award is best for our company and our employees? ...more
This article is the second in our series on equity-based compensation intended to assist employers with answering a common question: What type of equity compensation award is best for our company and our employees?...more
7/18/2024
/ Documentation ,
Equity Compensation ,
Fair Market Value ,
Future Tax Treatment ,
Incentives ,
Income Taxes ,
Privately Held Corporations ,
SAR ,
Securities Act of 1933 ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Shareholders ,
Stock Options ,
Stockholder Agreements ,
Stocks ,
Tax Code
Although pension plans are increasingly rare, if your business is considering acquiring a company that sponsors a pension plan, then several new diligence and deal considerations come into play for the transaction. This can...more
5/23/2024
/ 401k ,
Acquisitions ,
Compliance ,
Corrective Actions ,
Employee Benefits ,
Governance Standards ,
Mergers ,
Pensions ,
Policies and Procedures ,
Purchase Agreement ,
Retirement Plan ,
Valuation
SECURE 2.0 significantly changed the legal and administrative compliance landscape for retirement plans. Foley recently hosted a webinar where Leigh Riley, Kathleen Bardunias, and Kelsey O’Gorman discussed key provisions of...more
Agility and resiliency remain essential attributes for manufacturers in 2023. Manufacturers are no longer focused on figuring out when things will return to “normal.”
Instead, they are applying lessons learned from the...more
7/11/2023
/ Artificial Intelligence ,
Best Practices ,
Clawbacks ,
Compensation ,
Compliance ,
Customs and Border Protection ,
Cyber Threats ,
Cybersecurity ,
Enforcement ,
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) ,
Final Rules ,
Intellectual Property Protection ,
Machine Learning ,
Manufacturers ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Supply Chain
In this article, we explain in more detail the changes that SECURE 2.0 made to the required minimum distribution (RMD) rules applicable to retirement plans.
The RMD rules address when retirement plans must make...more
On January 30th, President Biden announced his intention to end both the COVID-19 national emergency and the COVID-19 public health emergency (together, the “Emergency Declarations”) effective May 11, 2023. The Emergency...more
SECURE 2.0 Act of 2022 (the “Act”) was signed into law by President Biden on December 29, 2022 (the date of enactment), as part of the larger government funding bill. The Act makes numerous changes affecting retirement plans....more
1/3/2023
/ 401k ,
403(b) Plans ,
457(b) Plans ,
Amended Rules ,
De Minimis Claims ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) ,
EPCRS ,
Excise Tax ,
Interest Rates ,
Internal Revenue Code (IRC) ,
IRS ,
Overpayment ,
PBGC ,
Retirement Plan ,
Roth IRA ,
SECURE Act ,
Student Loans
On October 26, 2022, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) adopted final rules implementing Section 954 of the Dodd-Frank Act by directing national securities exchanges and associations, such as the New York Stock...more
11/1/2022
/ Clawbacks ,
Dodd-Frank ,
Executive Compensation ,
Final Rules ,
Form 10-K ,
Incentive Compensation ,
Nasdaq ,
NYSE ,
Reporting Requirements ,
Sarbanes-Oxley ,
Securities Act of 1933 ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Securities Exchange Act ,
Stock Appreciation Rights
To help employers properly administer their 401(k) plans, in 2022, Foley & Lardner LLP is authoring a series of monthly “401(k) Compliance Check” newsletters. This article includes some tips for drafting a best-in- class...more
To help employers properly administer their 401(k) plans, in 2022, Foley & Lardner LLP is authoring a series of monthly “401(k) Compliance Check” newsletters. This article discusses some of the policies that are important for...more
7/20/2022
/ 401k ,
Audits ,
Compensation ,
Compliance ,
Cybersecurity ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) ,
Internal Revenue Code (IRC) ,
Investment Policy Statements ,
Loans ,
New Guidance ,
QDRO
In last month’s 401(k) Compliance Check, we discussed what to do if you inadvertently failed to enroll someone in your 401(k) plan. In this month’s Compliance Check, we focus on the variety of typical notices that are...more
4/20/2022
/ 401k ,
Automatic Enrollment ,
Best Practices ,
Compliance ,
Employee Benefits ,
Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) ,
Fee Disclosure ,
IRS ,
QACA ,
Retirement Plan ,
Safe Harbors
For most employers, January kicks off a brand new 401(k) plan year! Now that all of the year-end plan amendments, participant notices, and new deferral elections are behind you, this is a great time to take a step back and...more
The effective date is fast approaching for certain provisions of the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2021 (“CAA”) and related regulations, and the Transparency in Coverage Rule. You can access previous articles written...more
12/1/2021
/ Affordable Care Act ,
Compliance ,
Consolidated Appropriations Act (CAA) ,
Continuity of Care ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Drug Pricing ,
Employer Group Health Plans ,
Explanation of Benefits (EOBs) ,
Mental Health Parity Rule ,
Price Comparisons ,
Price Transparency ,
Surprise Medical Bills ,
TPAs ,
Transparency ,
Vendors
If you sponsor a 401(k) plan and utilize a pre-approved document, such as a prototype plan document, you may have recently received an updated plan adoption agreement from your plan vendor for your review and signature. This...more
Embedded in the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021 (the “CAA”) is a new obligation for group health plan sponsors and insurers that provide health insurance to document that their group health plan or insurance policy...more
Takeaway Message. The Department of Labor (“DOL”) has recently issued model notices and forms that can be used to comply with the new subsidized COBRA requirements created by the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 (“ARPA” or...more
As we recently wrote, the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 (ARPA) provides up to six months of free COBRA coverage, effective April 1, 2021, for certain “assistance eligible individuals.”
But what about employers? What...more
The American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 (the “ARPA”), which President Biden is expected to sign, provides additional funding relief to sponsors of single-employer defined benefit pension plans.
Valuation of Plan Benefit...more
The American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 (the “ARPA”), which President Biden is expected to sign this week, includes a handful of provisions affecting employee benefit plans and publicly-traded companies’ tax deductions for...more