PODCAST: Williams Mullen's Benefits Companion - ERISA Forfeiture Litigation
ERISA Blog | Changes to the HIPAA Privacy Rules A Primer for Self-Insured Group Health Plans
PODCAST: Williams Mullen's Benefits Companion - What the J&J Case Means for Plan Administrators
The No Surprises Act: A Cost Saving Opportunity for Employer Plan Sponsors
PODCAST: Williams Mullen's Benefits Companion - New Federal Rule Aims to Hold Investment Advisors to a Higher Standard
Employee Benefits and Executive Compensation: Getting Ready for 2024 – Top-Hat Plans — Special Edition Podcast
Employee Benefits and Executive Compensation: Getting Ready for 2024 - Health and Welfare Plan Developments — Special Edition Podcast
PODCAST: Williams Mullen's Benefits Companion - Partial Plan Terminations
Podcast Episode 189: Adding Context to Compliance and Color To Your Legal Practice
#WorkforceWednesday: SECURE Act 2.0 - What 401(k) Plan Sponsors Need to Know - Employment Law This Week®
PODCAST: Williams Mullen's Benefits Companion - Plan Administrators’ 2022 Year-End Checklist
An Inside Look as a Juror - FCRA Focus Podcast
PODCAST: Williams Mullen's Benefits Companion - Multiemployer Plans
PODCAST: Williams Mullen's Benefits Companion - Court Decisions Impacting Plan Sponsors and Fiduciaries
(A)ESOP's Fables - The Income and Estate Tax-Free ESOP
PODCAST: Williams Mullen's Benefits Companion - What Constitutes Plan Assets Under ERISA?
PODCAST: Williams Mullen's Benefits Companion - Group Health Plan Service Provider Compensation Disclosure Requirements
Update and Discussion on Legal and Practical Issues
Welcome to 'Just Compensation'
#WorkforceWednesday: SCOTUS in Review, Biden Acts to Limit Non-Competes, NY HERO Act Model Safety Plans - Employment Law This Week®
Many who work with defined contribution plan administrators and consult plan sponsors on their ERISA fiduciary duties have been carefully monitoring Disberry v. Employee Relations Committee of the Colgate-Palmolive Company...more
Two federal district courts in Texas have issued orders staying the implementation of the United States Department of Labor’s (DOL) 2024 Fiduciary Rule (the Final Rule) and related prohibited transaction exemption amendments....more
U.S. District Judge Jeremy Kernodle, of the Eastern District of Texas, has frozen the new fiduciary rules, by issuing a preliminary injunction to freeze the Department of Labor’s (DOL’s) Retirement Security Rule, which is...more
The backbone of a fiduciary’s duties is the written plan document: understanding the key terms and adhering to them provides a bulwark against fiduciary breach. ERISA Sections 402(a)(1) and 404(a)(1)(d) require that every...more
Paychex is fighting a lawsuit by a participant claiming their distribution check was stolen in New York state court....more
Participating in DC plans such as 401(k), 457, and 403(b) plans is the primary way most people save for retirement, and there is considerable sponsor and participant interest in making DC plans more effective at their primary...more
I grew up in New York City and the City of today isn’t like it was when I grew up. They called it Fun City and not because it was fun unless you thought crime was fun. I remember going to take a Washington D.C. bus (because...more
In a win for employee retirement plan sponsors and investment managers alike, the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of California recently ruled in favor of the defendants following a bench trial in a class action...more
The Employee Retirement Income Security Act ("ERISA") plaintiffs' bar has found a new way to allege that 401(k) plan sponsors have breached their fiduciary duty....more
A judge in the Eastern District of Wisconsin recently issued a trio of decisions on the same day, which tossed suits alleging 401(k) plan mismanagement because all three complaints contained insufficient pleadings that did...more
We all know from your health, that if you neglect certain things, it will hurt you later down the line. Whether it’s your heart or your teeth, neglecting important health issues is only going to make the situation worse. The...more
On January 11, 2024, the Department of Labor (“DOL”) released a final rule that provides new figures reflecting the adjusted civil penalty amounts for 2024, pursuant to the Federal Civil Penalties Inflation Adjustment Act...more
For the fourth year in a row, excessive fee lawsuits are the hottest trend in ERISA fiduciary litigation. The number of excessive fee suits filed against 401(k) plan fiduciaries skyrocketed in 2020 and has remained unusually...more
It looks like we may see a new fiduciary proposal this August, said the Department of Labor (DOL) in its Spring Regulatory Agenda. As Yogi Berra would say: “It’s de ja vu all over again.”...more
A district court in New York recently dismissed a putative class action challenging retirement plan recordkeeping and investment management fees. The case is Singh v. Deloitte LLP, No. 21-cv-8458, 2023 WL 186679 (S.D.N.Y....more
For those with an eye on ERISA and its fiduciary rules, the past few years have caused whiplash when it comes to environmental, social, and corporate governance (“ESG”) investments in retirement plans....more
Organization Ideas For 401(k) Plan Sponsors To Limit Liability Organization tools always pop up for sale after New Year’s because a lot of people want to try to keep their resolutions. My local Costco always trots out the...more
People are scratching their heads, the Department of Labor (DOL) had grave concerns over offering crypto in 401(k) plans, and less than a week later, Fidelity announced their plan to offer Bitcoin as an option for plan...more
The DOL published on July 27, 2022 a proposed change to the QPAM Exemption (“Proposed QPAM Amendment”) that may require retirement plan sponsors to update their collective trust agreements in order to satisfy the new DOL...more
The Problems With Free and Small Retirement Plans - There is no such thing as a free lunch. There is no such thing as free advice. The more years I spend in the retirement plan business; I know that there is no such thing...more
A lot of talk in political circles surround politicians using fighting words. I’m not a politician and I don’t like to use my space for that....more
Seyfarth Synopsis: On October 30, 2020, the Department of Labor (“DOL”) released a final regulation amending the fiduciary regulations governing investment duties under the Employee Retirement Investment Security Act of 1974...more
On October 30, 2020, the U.S. Department of Labor (the “DOL”) released a Final Rule to “provide clear regulatory guideposts for fiduciaries of private-sector retirement and other employee benefit plans in light of recent...more
If you have a role in picking the investment options for your company’s 401(k) or 403(b) plan, newly proposed Department of Labor (DOL) guidelines puts guardrails around the use of Environmental, Social, and Governance...more
Eleven cases have been filed against defined benefit pension plan sponsors and certain fiduciaries alleging that the plan’s assumptions—called “actuarial equivalence factors” or “actuarial equivalence assumptions”— for...more