PODCAST: Williams Mullen's Benefits Companion - Can Employers Impose a Health Insurance Surcharge on Plan Participants Not Vaccinated for COVID-19?
Multi-employer plan participants involved in an Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA) class action lawsuit against Horizon Actuarial Services LLC (Horizon), a national retirement services firm, have entered...more
The Department of Labor (DOL) recently issued new guidance on best practices for maintaining cybersecurity in connection with ERISA plans (the Guidance). The Guidance, which is intended for sponsors, fiduciaries, record...more
Benefit plan sponsors and plan fiduciaries should take note and act quickly—the Department of Labor (DOL) has issued a new cybersecurity guidance package with far-reaching effects and has already begun including this in its...more
For the first time, the U.S. Department of Labor's (DOL) Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA) has released cybersecurity guidance aimed at protecting workers' retirement benefits. The guidance, which was released...more
Retirement plans are increasingly subject to cybersecurity issues, and the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) is taking notice. On April 14, 2021, the DOL published cybersecurity guidance “for plan sponsors, plan fiduciaries,...more
The clouds have been forming on the horizon for years now: from the courts we have seen emerging lines of ERISA litigation asserting fiduciary obligations to protect the privacy rights of participants, and from the regulatory...more
Seyfarth Synopsis: On Tuesday, shortly after the IRS extended deadline relief to employee benefit plans, the U.S. Department of Labor granted its own relief for a number of deadlines related to the administration of employee...more
Brief Takeaway: Plan sponsors that offer employer stock in their benefit plans can breathe a sigh of relief, as the Supreme Court vacated one of the only plaintiff-friendly rulings in ERISA “stock drop” litigation. ...more
In Retirement Plans Committee of IBM v. Jander, the Supreme Court, in a unanimous opinion, clarified the its opinion in Fifth Third Bancorp v. Dudenhoeffer, 573 U.S. 409 (2014), which set forth the duties that administrators...more
The United States Supreme Court issued a per curiam opinion on Tuesday in Retirement Plans Committee of IBM v Jander, punting back to the court of appeals the determination of whether plan fiduciaries can be liable under...more
On January 14, 2020, the Supreme Court of the United States decided Retirement Plans Committee of IBM v. Jander, No. 18-1165, remanding the case to the Second Circuit Court of Appeals to decide whether to address the views of...more
The U.S. Supreme Court today in Retirement Plans Committee of IBM v. Jander, No. 18-1165 (2020) (per curiam), declined to resolve questions about the pleading standard for a breach of fiduciary duty claim against fiduciaries...more
I’m not a fan of reporting legislation, but this piqued my interest. Sen. Pat Toomey (R-PA), a member of the Senate Finance Committee, is working on a bill that would allow plan participants to withdraw funds from their...more
The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) issued a private letter ruling which allowed an unnamed employer (some say it’s pharmaceutical giant Abbott) to make 401(k) contributions to participants who are repaying their student...more
Charles Schwab announced their 2016 401(k) participant survey and it states the obvious: 401(k) participants need help. Less than half (43%) of participants know how much they should save for retirement. Fewer that...more
With the proliferation of litigation against 401(k) plans, it should be noted that it focuses on only one thing: cost. Litigation surrounding share classes, proprietary funds, and overall plan expenses is all about plan...more
I always say that I come up with many ideas, but most of them are bad. Seriously, there are so many bad ideas out there in the 401(k) space and one of the really bad ideas out there are bundled plan providers using their own,...more
A Department of Labor (“DOL”) official recently disclosed a new DOL investigation initiative focusing on the adequacy of defined benefit plan procedures to locate and pay out benefits to terminated vested participants. The...more
The fixation and discussion about plan expenses usually flares up when the stock market isn’t doing well. Two major corrections within a 10-year period (2000-2010) made fee disclosure regulations inevitable. With the way the...more