PODCAST: Williams Mullen's Benefits Companion - Navigating Fiduciary Responsibilities in a Tide-Turning ESG Era
PODCAST: Williams Mullen's Benefits Companion - Big Changes to Catch-Up Contributions in 2025
How ERISA Litigators Strengthen Plan Compliance and Risk Management: One-on-One with Jeb Gerth
PODCAST: Williams Mullen's Benefits Companion - Good News for the ACA in 2025
#WorkforceWednesday®: New DOL Guidance - ERISA Plan Cybersecurity Update - Employment Law This Week®
PODCAST: Williams Mullen's Benefits Companion - New IRS Guidance on SECURE 2.0 Act Student Loan Employer Contributions
PODCAST: Williams Mullen's Benefits Companion - Understanding Lifetime Income Products
PODCAST: Williams Mullen's Benefits Companion - Trends in Recordkeeper Consolidation and Due Diligence
Long-Term Part-Time Employee Eligibility Rules Now in Effect — Troutman Pepper Podcast
PODCAST: Williams Mullen's Benefits Companion - What the J&J Case Means for Plan Administrators
What Can A Tax Attorney Do For You? A Podcast With Janathan Allen
PODCAST: Williams Mullen's Benefits Companion - Understanding Fees in Retirement Planning
The No Surprises Act: A Cost Saving Opportunity for Employer Plan Sponsors
PODCAST: Williams Mullen's Benefits Companion - ESG Investing by Retirement Plans
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 - Auto-Portability: A New Way to Keep Retirement Savings Growing
PODCAST: Williams Mullen's Benefits Companion - IRS 2024 Health Plan Affordability Threshold May Put Some at Risk
PODCAST: Williams Mullen's Benefits Companion - SECURE 2.0 Act Relief for Plan Corrections
PODCAST: Williams Mullen's Benefits Companion - Partial Plan Terminations
When an employee forgets—or chooses not—to notify you of a divorce, it can cause a ripple effect on your benefit plan administration, particularly with your health plan. Here's what you need to know and do to keep your health...more
On April 17, 2025, the Supreme Court decided Cunningham v. Cornell University, unanimously holding that a plaintiff can state a valid claim under ERISA by merely alleging that a plan used “plan assets” to pay a service...more
The SECURE Act 2.0, enacted in December 2022, made several updates to what must be included in annual funding notices (“AFN”) issued by defined benefit pension plans. For large plans (as defined below) with a plan year ending...more
On April 17, 2025, the U.S. Supreme Court issued a unanimous opinion on the requirements for plaintiffs to survive a motion to dismiss regarding an allegation that plan fiduciaries engaged in a prohibited transaction under...more
Our Employee Benefits & Executive Compensation Group discusses what plan sponsors and fiduciaries need to know about the Internal Revenue Service’s proposed changes for employees 50 or older who make additional elective...more
On April 17, 2025, the U.S. Supreme Court issued a unanimous opinion in Cunningham v Cornell University, addressing the pleading standard applicable to prohibited transaction claims under the Employee Retirement Income...more
On April 17, 2025, the Supreme Court resolved a circuit split on the appropriate pleading standard for a specific type of prohibited transaction claim under ERISA. While that decision may sound dry and technical, the...more
On April 17, 2025, the U.S. Supreme Court issued a unanimous opinion that has the potential to make it more difficult for defendants to have excess fee cases for 401(k) or 403(b) plans dismissed at an early stage of...more
Key takeaway: The Supreme Court held that to state an ERISA prohibited-transaction claim under 29 U.S.C. § 1106(a), a plaintiff needs only to plausibly allege the elements contained in § 1106(a) itself and does not need to...more
Happy Spring from the Kaufman & Canoles ESOPs, Benefits & Compensation team! We hope you’re shaking off the winter blues and ready for another round of benefits updates. ...more
On April 17, 2025, the Supreme Court decided Cunningham v. Cornell University, No. 23-1007, holding that a plaintiff may state a prohibited-transaction claim in violation of ERISA § 406(a) without referencing the exemptions...more
In a unanimous decision reversing dismissal of prohibited transaction claims based on fees paid to defined contribution plan recordkeepers, the Supreme Court held that ERISA’s prohibited transaction exemptions are affirmative...more
Under SECURE 2.0, plan sponsors were granted discretion to determine whether or not the plan would recoup "inadvertent benefit overpayments." However, SECURE 2.0, did not define the term, leaving implementation of the new...more
In an April 15 Executive Order, entitled “Lowering Drug Prices by Once Again Putting Americans First,” the Trump Administration has called attention to an ERISA disclosure required by the Consolidated Appropriations Act of...more
On April 3, 2025, the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) issued important new guidance for employers that sponsor defined benefit (pension) plans. This guidance provides new model notices and addresses several outstanding...more
On Labor Day, September 2, 1974, Gerald Ford signed the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (“ERISA”) into law. ERISA governs the employee benefit plans (i.e., retirement and welfare plans) of most private employers in...more
I was very lucky that when I started as an ERISA attorney in 1998, I worked as a staff attorney for a third-party administrator (TPA). It gave me insight and experience that I could never have gotten as an attorney working...more
The landscape of retirement plan eligibility is shifting, and plan sponsors need to prepare for key compliance changes affecting long-term part-time (“LTPT”) employees. These new rules, mandated by the SECURE Act of 2019 and...more
A recent wave of cases has attempted to apply the theory of liability for retirement plan excessive fee cases to health plans – specifically, arrangements with pharmacy benefit managers. Though the cases thus far have...more
Late last year, the Department of Labor (DOL) launched the public Retirement Savings Lost and Found Database. Created as part of SECURE 2.0, the DOL hopes that the database will serve as a centralized location to help missing...more
ERISA requires disclosure of certain plan documents to participants including a summary plan description, statements, and notices. The problem is what do you do with people who aren’t participants such as potential employees?...more
If your health insurance premiums have gone up again, you are not alone. For that reason, we frequently get questions from clients on whether there is anything they can do to get high claimants off of their plans....more
On April 3rd, the Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA) released FAB 2025-02 and related model notices to provide some guidance for the 2024 plan year annual funding notices (AFNs). The EBSA is requiring that plan...more
One of the greatest advancements in my lifetime has been the proliferation of the Internet. While the web has been the greatest distracting tool in my life, it’s full of information. Anything I’ve ever wanted to know about...more
Sponsors of 401(k) plans are increasingly recognizing the need to provide personalized investment options for their participants; however, access to managed accounts still remains limited....more