The Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2023 was signed into law on December 29, 2022, and has ushered in one of the most significant pieces of retirement plan legislation in recent memory. SECURE Act 2.0 (SECURE 2.0) contains...more
3/1/2023
/ 401k ,
403(b) Plans ,
Automatic Enrollment ,
Consolidated Appropriations Act (CAA) ,
Employee Benefits ,
Employee Contributions ,
Hardship Distributions ,
Multi-Employer Pensions ,
Required Minimum Distributions ,
Retirement Plan ,
Retirement Plan Providers ,
SECURE Act
The U.S. Department of Labor (the DOL) has proposed an update to its voluntary fiduciary corrections program that, although very limited, will make it easier for fiduciaries to correct some compliance errors in retirement...more
In today's episode, Michael Schmidt offers the takeaways from the Supreme Court's June 2022 Dobbs decision overturning Roe v. Wade, and is joined by his Cozen O'Connor colleagues for a roundtable discussion on the impact of...more
The U.S. Department of Labor (the DOL) has issued a compliance release that provides strong caution against ERISA fiduciaries of 401(k) and 403(b) plans including cryptocurrencies as plan investment options. In an unusual...more
As part of the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021, certain individual who are eligible for and elect continuation of medical coverage under the Consolidated Omnibus Budget and Reconciliation Act of 1985, as amended (COBRA) or...more
President Biden has signed into law the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021. The act contains a number of provisions affecting employee benefit plans. A description of some of these changes follows: Beginning April 1, 2021, and...more
The IRS has issued IRS Notice 2020-50 (the Notice) providing guidance implementing the retirement plan provisions of the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (the CARES Act) that was enacted on March 27, 2020. A...more
6/23/2020
/ 401k ,
403(b) Plans ,
457(b) Plans ,
CARES Act ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Distribution Rules ,
Employee Benefits ,
Internal Revenue Code (IRC) ,
IRS ,
Popular ,
Relief Measures ,
Retirement Plan
The Internal Revenue Service has issued proposed regulations describing the rules regarding the 21 percent excise tax on compensation over $1 million and excess parachute payments paid by tax-exempt organizations to certain...more
This week’s ruling of the U.S. Supreme Court is potentially positive news and has promising favorable future implications for fiduciaries of ERISA-regulated employee pension plans who might be faced with allegations of...more
6/5/2020
/ Article III ,
Breach of Duty ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Defined Benefit Plans ,
Duty of Loyalty ,
Duty of Prudence ,
Employee Benefits ,
Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) ,
Fiduciary Duty ,
Injury-in-Fact ,
Investment Adviser ,
Mismanagement ,
Pensions ,
Plan Participants ,
Retirement Plan ,
SCOTUS ,
Standing ,
Thole v U.S. Bank
As a result of the COVID-19 crisis, the IRS has just issued IRS Notice 2020-29 (the notice), which permits (but does not require) employers to provide flexibility to employees to change their elections under cafeteria plans...more
Two recent sets of guidance affecting employers’ operations of employee benefit plans have been issued by the Internal Revenue Service (the IRS) and the Department of Labor (the DOL). ...more
5/13/2020
/ CARES Act ,
COBRA ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Distribution Rules ,
Eligibility Determination ,
Employee Benefits ,
Health Insurance ,
Individual Retirement Account (IRA) ,
IRS ,
Popular ,
Retirement Plan
Employers across the country are currently considering what actions to put in place in light of the potential spread of COVID-19 (the coronavirus). Many employers offer their employees high-deductible health plans that can...more
3/16/2020
/ China ,
Clinical Laboratory Testing ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Crisis Management ,
Deductibles ,
Emergency Management Plans ,
Emergency Response ,
Employee Benefits ,
Employer Group Health Plans ,
HDHP ,
Health Insurance ,
Health Savings Accounts ,
Infectious Diseases ,
IRS ,
Medical Benefits ,
Medical Examinations ,
New Guidance ,
Public Health ,
TPAs
When it comes to complying with the law, the expiration of a statute of limitations can be a welcome relief for employers trying their best to be legally compliant, but discovering that they were not 100 percent correct with...more
President Trump has signed into law the Further Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2020. The act contains two significant developments for employee benefit plans, (1) the passage of the Setting Every Community Up for...more
As we get ready for 2020 (and beyond) here are five hot employee benefits ideas to implement in order to make your employee benefit plan administration easier...more
11/26/2019
/ 401k ,
403(b) Plans ,
Affordable Care Act ,
Cafeteria Plans ,
Compensation & Benefits ,
Eligibility Determination ,
Employee Benefits ,
Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) ,
Enrollment ,
Form 1094 ,
Form 1095 ,
Health and Welfare Plans ,
Plan Administrators ,
Plan Participants ,
Retirement Plan
The United States Internal Revenue Service (the “IRS”) has released Revenue Procedure 2019-39, which sets forth a March 31, 2020 deadline by which tax-qualified 403(b) plans must have plan documents that fully comply with the...more
10/4/2019
/ 403(b) Plans ,
Defined Benefit Plans ,
Defined Contribution Plans ,
Employee Benefits ,
EPCRS ,
Filing Deadlines ,
IRS ,
Retirement Plan ,
School Districts ,
Tax Exempt Entities ,
Tax Planning