As described in further detail below, absent Congressional action, plan sponsors should take note that PBGC premium filings will generally be due one month earlier than usual for plan years beginning in 2025. This...more
Plan administrators should review the following actions to be taken before the end of 2024 and focus on what to expect for 2025. The following checklist addresses plan amendments, notices, and other considerations for...more
Employee benefits law is mostly drawn from two federal sources—the Internal Revenue Code and ERISA. Just what is “ERISA,” though? Its official reference is the “Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974.” That means the...more
Acknowledging uncommon market conditions, the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC) announced Technical Update Number 23-1 (the Update), which provides a one-time waiver of certain reporting requirements for some...more
ERISA Section 4010 requires a contributing sponsor of certain single-employer pension plans, as well as the sponsor’s controlled group members, to provide controlled group, financial, and actuarial information to the PBGC...more
...Cash Balance Plan Compliance with Back-Loading Requirements - The rate at which a participant accrues benefits under a defined benefit pension plan must satisfy certain rules designed to ensure that the participant has...more
The SECURE 2.0 Act of 2022 (SECURE 2.0) provides welcome relief to private sector single employer sponsors of defined benefit pension plans (Pension Plan(s)). Effective for plan years beginning on and after January 1, 2024,...more
We are just past the “official” start of summer, which means it is time for sponsors of retirement plans and many health and welfare plans to think about preparing and submitting Form 5500. In this post on the All Things HR...more
As 2021 winds down, retirement plan sponsors should confirm that their plan documents are amended by December 31, 2021, to comply with certain plan changes: • Hardship Distributions. 401(k) plans and 403(b) plans must be...more
The Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation has issued an interim final rule implementing the special financial assistance provisions of the American Rescue Plan Act to assist financially troubled multiemployer pension plans....more
On March 11, 2021 President Biden signed the American Rescue Plan Act (Public Law 117-2) ("ARPA"). Among its many provisions, the statute contains "funding relief" for single employer defined benefit pension plans. This...more
Even before COVID-19 changed everything, unions and participating employers held out hope for federal assistance for severely underfunded multiemployer pension plans, which threatened the payment of retirement benefits across...more
On March 11, 2021, President Biden signed into law the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 (“ARPA”), a $1.9 trillion COVID-19 economic stimulus bill. ARPA contains provisions affecting employee benefits and executive...more
The Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (“PBGC”) issued a final rule on January 7, 2021 that impacts the calculation of withdrawal liability by multiemployer pension plans in endangered or critical status. The final rule...more
In response to ongoing pleas for guidance, the Department of Labor (DOL) has published an informal outline expressing its views on how retirement plan administrators should be addressing missing or unresponsive participants....more
In late September, the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (the “PBGC”) published Press Release 20-04 and issued Technical Update 20-2 providing flexibility in the calculation of variable-rate premiums for plan sponsors who...more
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
On July 31, the IRS issued Notice 2020-61 (the “Notice”) to provide guidance related to the special funding rules applicable to single-employer defined benefit pension plans under the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic...more
Seyfarth Synopsis: With the background of the COVID-19 pandemic, the PBGC published unofficial guidance for plan sponsors of single-employer plans on certain reportable events, PBGC premium payments and plan termination...more
In the second quarter of 2020, we have seen employers faced with continued challenges as they manage the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on their businesses and begin the process of returning to normal operations. The flurry...more
On February 4, 2020, the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (“PBGC”) issued final regulations (the “Final Rule”) covering reportable events, annual reporting under ERISA section 4010, plan termination filings, and PBGC...more
On Thursday, December 19, the Senate passed two spending bills to fund the government through September 30, 2020, one of which (H.R. 1865, the “Further Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2020” or the “Act”) contains the...more
This chart sets forth some of the annually adjusted dollar limits that impact employee benefits, as published by the Internal Revenue Service, the Social Security Administration and the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation. ...more
Multiple Employer Plans: Proposed IRS Regulations Eliminate the “One Bad Apple” Rule - A multiple employer plan (MEP) is a tax qualified retirement plan that is maintained by two or more employers who are not part of the...more
One de-risking tool for employers with defined benefit pension liabilities is to allow participants to receive lump-sum distributions. Although lump sums result in a short-term cash drain, they reduce the plan’s long-term...more