The Internal Revenue Service recently announced 2025 dollar limits for qualified retirement plans (including 401(k) plans), deferred compensation plans, and health and welfare plans. Adjustments to certain limits are based on...more
Employees increasingly request (and expect) choice in their benefits. The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) recently released Private Letter Ruling 202434006 (PLR), which approved an employer's program allowing employees to...more
Do you have any San Francisco-based employees? If so, you may be subject to the San Francisco Health Care Security Ordinance ("SFHCSO"), a complex set of rules requiring certain minimum employer contributions toward San...more
IRS reminds employers that implementing certain optional retirement plan provisions of SECURE 2.0 affect Form W‑2 and Form 1099‑R reporting starting in 2023 -
The IRS recently issued Fact Sheet 2024‑18 to highlight how...more
5/14/2024
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SECURE Act ,
Tax Planning ,
W-2
For the second time in a decade, the Department of Labor (DOL) attempted to expand the reach (and requirements) of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA). On April 23, 2024, DOL succeeded and announced...more
5/7/2024
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Exemptions ,
Fiduciary Rule ,
Individual Retirement Account (IRA) ,
Investment ,
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New Rules ,
Prohibited Transactions ,
Retirement Plan
New proposed regulations clarify how employers should implement retirement plan eligibility rules for long-term, part-time ("LTPT") employees. While some questions remain, the proposed regulations provide a number of welcome...more
12/15/2023
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403(b) Plans ,
Benefit Plan Sponsors ,
Employee Contributions ,
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Internal Revenue Code (IRC) ,
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New Guidance ,
Non-Discrimination Rules ,
Proposed Regulation ,
Retirement Plan ,
Safe Harbors ,
SECURE Act
The Internal Revenue Service recently announced 2024 dollar limits for qualified retirement plans (including 401(k) plans), deferred compensation plans, and health and welfare plans. Adjustments to certain limits are based on...more
Guidance on the Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act (the "MHPAEA") recently released by the Departments of Health and Human Services, Labor, and Treasury (the "Departments") proposes significant requirements for...more
10/16/2023
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Fraud ,
Health Plan Sponsors ,
Mental Health ,
Mental Health Parity Rule ,
MHPAEA ,
NQTLs ,
Out of Network Provider ,
Proposed Regulation ,
Substance Abuse
The San Francisco Health Care Security Ordinance ("SFHCSO") requires Covered Employers to make certain minimum Health Care Expenditures on a quarterly basis for their Covered Employees. Those employers should take note of the...more
On Friday, Aug. 25, 2023, the IRS announced a two-year reprieve for employers on the implementation of SECURE 2.0's requirement that catch-up contributions made by higher-income participants be designated as after-tax Roth...more
Although retirement plan excessive fee cases remain an ongoing concern for plan sponsors, the recent jury trial victory for Yale in Vellali, et. al. v. Yale University, et. al. provides hope for plans with strong, prudent...more
8/16/2023
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Retirement Plan
Employers covered by the San Francisco Health Care Security Ordinance ("SFHCSO") must submit their Annual Reporting Form to the San Francisco Office of Labor Standards Enforcement ("OLSE") on or before May 1, 2023. Covered...more
Internal Revenue Code ("Code") Section 457(b) plans are only available to a select group of employers – state and local governments and entities that are exempt from tax pursuant to Code Section 501. Earlier this month, the...more
The Internal Revenue Service recently announced 2023 dollar limits for qualified retirement plans (including 401(k) plans), deferred compensation plans, and health, and welfare plans. Adjustments to certain limits are based...more
On June 24, 2022, the U.S. Supreme Court issued its decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization, which overturned Roe v. Wade, thereby holding that the U.S. Constitution does not expressly or implicitly protect...more
The Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA) of the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) recently announced its first cybersecurity guidance for retirement plans subject to the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of...more
4/28/2021
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Cybersecurity ,
Data Breach ,
Data Privacy ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
EBSA ,
Employee Benefits ,
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Popular ,
Retirement Plan ,
Retirement Plan Providers ,
Risk Management
The COVID-19 pandemic and the proliferation of employees working remotely has prompted employers of every size to contend with new questions about laws applicable to their workers in distant locations. Depending on whether...more
2/2/2021
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E-3 ,
Employee Benefits ,
Employees ,
Flexible Work Arrangements ,
H-1B ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Intellectual Property Protection ,
Reimbursements ,
Remote Working ,
Telecommuting ,
Wage and Hour
On January 7, 2021, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) proposed new rules regarding how employers can provide incentives to employees to participate in wellness programs without violating the law. The key is...more
What can employers expect from the incoming Biden Administration, and how can they plan to stay ahead of expected Executive and Legislative action? In this webinar, our panel of employment, labor, immigration, and employee...more
1/8/2021
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Biden Administration ,
Continuing Legal Education ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Diversity and Inclusion Standards (D&I) ,
Employee Benefits ,
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) ,
Foreign Nationals ,
Foreign Workers ,
Health Plan Sponsors ,
Immigration Procedures ,
Labor Regulations ,
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NLRB ,
OSHA ,
Wage and Hour ,
Webinars ,
Workplace Safety
On December 27, 2020, President Trump signed into law an additional COVID-19 relief bill, attached to the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2021, and intended to provide economic assistance to Americans impacted by COVID-19,...more
The Internal Revenue Service has announced 2021 dollar limits that apply to qualified retirement plans, including 401(k) plans, deferred compensation plans, and health and welfare plans. Adjustments to certain limits are...more
The short answer to this question is yes, but (and there almost always seems to be a "but") doing so could result in taxes and penalties if the investment is deemed a "prohibited transaction."...more
Update October 14: This blog has been updated to reflect current guidance about fully vested terminated participants. Many employers continue to find themselves in the position of furloughing or terminating significant...more
Many employers continue to find themselves in the position of furloughing or terminating significant portions of their workforce due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. As employers make personnel reductions in response to the...more
Employers subject to the federal Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1985 (COBRA) should take action to update their COBRA notices, election forms, and procedures as a result of recent regulatory and litigation...more