If we’ve said it once, we’ve said it a hundred times (ok, maybe just that one time) – recruiting and retaining top talent can be a headache for nonprofit organizations forced to compete against for-profit organizations...more
Recruiting and retaining top executives can be challenging for non-governmental tax-exempt organizations such as Code §501(c)(3) organizations, private universities, and certain healthcare organizations (Nonprofits). Not only...more
3/29/2024
/ 401k ,
403(b) Plans ,
501(c)(3) ,
Compensation ,
Corporate Executives ,
Deferred Compensation ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Distribution Rules ,
Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) ,
EPCRS ,
FICA Taxes ,
Healthcare ,
Highly Compensated Employees ,
IRS ,
Required Minimum Distributions ,
Tax Exempt Entities
The SECURE 2.0 Act of 2022 (SECURE 2.0) significantly changes the legal and administrative compliance landscape for U.S. retirement plans. Foley & Lardner LLP is authoring a series of articles that take a “deep dive” into key...more
...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
In last month’s 401(k) Compliance Check, we discussed the importance of developing (and maintaining) best practices for handling beneficiary designations. This month, we discuss one of the most common problems faced by 401(k)...more
In last month’s 401(k) Compliance Check, we discussed the importance of ensuring your 401(k) plan’s designated decision-makers are actually authorized to make plan decisions. In this month’s Compliance Check, we look at...more
Recently, we examined the wisdom and legality of mandating retirement for older workers. The gist of that analysis was “don’t do it” except in limited circumstances — and certainly don’t do it without talking to your legal...more
These days, nearly everything – and everyone – is online, including retirement plan participants. Participants can use their plan’s websites or online portal to do just about anything – enroll (or disenroll), make or change...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
While there has been some improvement in the spread of COVID-19 in the US, the daily count of new cases remains high. As a result, many large employers have extended their remote working policies through the fall, with others...more
9/17/2020
/ Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
De Minimis Claims ,
Fringe Benefits ,
HDHPs ,
Internal Revenue Code (IRC) ,
IRS ,
Mental Health ,
Non-Taxable Income ,
Remote Working ,
Subscription Services ,
Taxable Income
Just two months into 2020, the incidence of ERISA fiduciary breach lawsuits shows little sign of slowing down. Over the past three months alone, more than half a dozen new class action lawsuits have been filed, targeting the...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
While not exactly a Thanksgiving “miracle,” many retirement plan sponsors were no doubt thankful for the IRS’ recent issuance of proposed regulations (the “Proposed Regs”) addressing changes to the Code §401(k) and 403(b)...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
he Tax Cuts and Jobs Act was signed into law on December 22, 2017. This tax reform law includes the following changes directly affecting nonprofit and tax-exempt organizations, and those who donate to them.
A number of...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
As the rules governing retirement and health plans grow more complex, employers often need professional help in order to keep up with the day-to-day management of the employee benefit plans they sponsor. From third-party...more
Multistate employers with headquarters located outside California may wake up to a rude surprise on January 1, 2017, as a result of a new California Labor Code law affecting their employment agreements with California...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
You know it’s Fall when the leaves turn color, jack-o-lanterns wink in the twilight, the World Series plays on … and the IRS announces new indexed annual limits for employee benefit plans. Sticking to tradition, the IRS...more
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