...In a 1986 press conference, President Ronald Reagan infamously quipped: “the nine most terrifying words in the English language are: ‘I’m from the government, and I’m here to help.’” While legislation affecting retirement...more
By now, you’ve probably read about the Department of Labor's new guidance on locating missing retirement plan participants. And, as you’re probably already aware, missing participants (and beneficiaries) can be a real...more
Every year about this time, when the holiday season is just beginning and the new year is around the corner, all good qualified retirement plan sponsors (and plan administrators) ask: “Have we adopted all the IRS-required...more
Administrators of plans subject to ERISA (including plans sponsored by for-profit and nonprofit businesses and organizations) must provide participants and beneficiaries with summary plan descriptions (“SPDs”) describing “the...more
In a February 2018 article, my colleague Kathleen Dreyfus Bardunias encouraged retirement plan sponsors to implement annual “operational checkups” in order to ensure their plans were administered in compliance with the plan’s...more
Unless you’ve been living on a remote mountaintop or inside a cave for the past 10 years, chances are good you’ve either been affected by a cybersecurity breach or know someone who has. Among many other businesses, recent...more
12/22/2017
/ Benefit Plan Sponsors ,
Cyber Attacks ,
Cybersecurity ,
Data Breach ,
Data Protection ,
Data Security ,
Duty to Monitor ,
Employee Benefits ,
Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) ,
Equifax ,
Hackers ,
Retirement Plan
When Hurricanes Harvey and Irma made landfall in Texas and Florida, they gave rise not only to widespread property damage, but to a humanitarian disaster as well. The massive storms have left scores dead and thousands...more
9/27/2017
/ 401k ,
403(b) Plans ,
457(b) Plans ,
Benefit Plan Sponsors ,
Charitable Donations ,
Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) ,
FEMA ,
Hardship Distributions ,
Hurricane Harvey ,
Hurricane Irma ,
Hurricane Maria ,
IRS ,
Leave of Absence ,
Legislative Agendas ,
Loans ,
Popular ,
Qualified Disaster Relief Payments
Employer-sponsored retirement plans come in many varieties. For example, under 401(k) and other defined contribution plans, employees and, often, employers may make specific contributions to an employee’s plan account...more
In recent guidance, the IRS surprised plan sponsors with its plan to prevent them from using one means of “de-risking” their defined benefit pension plans to reduce their pension plan liabilities. In Notice 2015-49, the IRS...more
In Obergefell v. Hodges, the U.S. Supreme Court held that the 14th Amendment to the Constitution requires all 50 states to license marriages between same-sex couples and to recognize same-sex marriages performed out-of-state....more
7/8/2015
/ Anti-Discrimination Policies ,
Benefit Plan Sponsors ,
Corporate Counsel ,
DOMA ,
Domestic Partner Benefits ,
Due Process ,
Employee Benefits ,
Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) ,
Employee Rights ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Family Status Discrimination ,
Fourteenth Amendment ,
Health Insurance ,
Marriage Equality ,
Marriage Licenses ,
Obergefell v. Hodges ,
Plan Documents ,
Same-Sex Marriage ,
Same-Sex Marriage Bans ,
SCOTUS ,
Sexual Orientation Discrimination ,
Spouses ,
US v Windsor
Every year around this time (and hopefully even earlier), many plan sponsors begin the arduous task of preparing determination letter applications for their qualified retirement plans (i.e., their profit-sharing, 401(k),...more
In a recently-issued decision, the U.S. Supreme Court unanimously held that employee benefit plans may include a contractual limitations period for filing suit under ERISA §502(a)(1)(B) so long as that period is not...more