At least four lawsuits have recently been filed against employee stock ownership plan (ESOP) fiduciaries alleging a failure to prudently invest cash held in the ESOP trust. While scrutiny of investments in company stock has...more
3/27/2025
/ Corporate Governance ,
Employee Benefits ,
Employee Stock Purchase Plans ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Litigation ,
ESOP ,
Fiduciary Duty ,
Investment Adviser ,
Investment Management ,
Litigation Strategies ,
Retirement Plan ,
Risk Management
Administering a retirement plan is a complicated task fraught with potential missteps. Fortunately, employers are now able to self-correct most errors and thereby avoid the considerable time and expense of filing an...more
Following up on our prior blog posts (here and here) regarding employee stock ownership plans (ESOPs) generally for constructions companies, as well specific issues for consideration, this blog post evaluates the pros and...more
The budding cannabis industry, despite its rapid growth and gradual acceptance in recent years, still faces a major sustainability challenge: Cannabis businesses cannot deduct most ordinary business expenses. Under Internal...more
1/9/2024
/ Business Expenses ,
Business Operations ,
Business Ownership ,
Cannabis Products ,
Cannabis-Related Businesses (CRBs) ,
Employee Benefits ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
ESOP ,
Internal Revenue Code (IRC) ,
Marijuana ,
Marijuana Related Businesses ,
Tax Credits ,
Tax Deductions ,
Tax Liability ,
Taxation
The SECURE 2.0 Act of 2022 sets forth a number of changes affecting retirement plans that go into effect over several years. This article focuses on key changes for 2024 that may be implemented....more
The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) has announced a two-year administrative transition period that delays until 2026 the new rule that catch-up contributions made by certain higher‑income participants in 401(k), 403(b), and...more
8/29/2023
/ Comment Period ,
Consolidated Appropriations Act (CAA) ,
Defined Contribution Plans ,
Employee Benefits ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Executive Compensation ,
IRS ,
New Rules ,
Recordkeeping Requirements ,
Roth IRA ,
SECURE Act ,
U.S. Treasury
The Departments of Labor, Health and Human Services and the Treasury recently issued FAQs About Affordable Care Act Implementation Part 53 (FAQ), which provides additional guidance for non-grandfathered group health plans and...more
4/21/2022
/ Affordable Care Act ,
Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Employees ,
Employer Group Health Plans ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Final Rules ,
Health Insurance ,
Safe Harbors ,
Transparency ,
U.S. Treasury
In Notice 2021-31, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) provides broad guidance in a question-and-answer format on the application of the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 (ARP) regarding premium assistance under the...more
6/2/2021
/ American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 ,
Benefit Plan Sponsors ,
COBRA ,
Employee Benefits ,
Employees ,
Employer Group Health Plans ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
IRS ,
Notice Requirements ,
Premium Subsidies ,
Termination Clauses
The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) has published Notice 2021-26 to provide answers regarding the taxability of benefits received in 2021 and 2022 under a dependent care assistance program (DCAP) that permits carryovers or...more
5/13/2021
/ Cafeteria Plans ,
Carryover Basis ,
Consolidated Appropriations Act (CAA) ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Dependent Care Assistance Program (DCAP) ,
Employee Benefits ,
Employees ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Flexible Spending Accounts ,
Grace Period ,
Internal Revenue Code (IRC) ,
IRS ,
Tax Code
In EBSA Disaster Relief Notice 2021-01, the Department of Labor (DOL) has issued a critical interpretation of prior guidance that extended certain deadlines for employee benefit plans, participants, and beneficiaries due to...more
In Notice 2021-15, the IRS provides many answers to questions regarding the temporary special rules introduced as part of the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021 (CAA) for health flexible spending accounts (health FSAs) and...more
3/2/2021
/ Cafeteria Plans ,
Carry-Over Basis ,
COBRA ,
Consolidated Appropriations Act (CAA) ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Dependent Care Assistance Program (DCAP) ,
Employee Benefits ,
Employer Group Health Plans ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Flexible Spending Accounts ,
Grace Period ,
IRS
In EBSA Disaster Relief Notice 2021-01, the Department of Labor (DOL) has issued a critical interpretation of prior guidance that extended certain deadlines for employee benefit plans, participants, and beneficiaries due to...more
The recently enacted COVID-19 Related Tax Relief Act of 2020 and the Taxpayer Certainty and Disaster Tax Relief Act of 2020, both of which are part of the “Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021,” includes the following...more
1/4/2021
/ Benefit Plan Sponsors ,
CARES Act ,
Consolidated Appropriations Act (CAA) ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Employee Benefits ,
Employer Group Health Plans ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
IRS ,
New Legislation ,
Relief Measures ,
Retirement Plan ,
Trump Administration
The president has signed into law the Taxpayer Certainty and Disaster Tax Relief Act of 2020, which includes several temporary special rules aimed at minimizing forfeitures and increasing the utility of health and dependent...more
12/30/2020
/ Carryover Basis ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Employee Benefits ,
Employees ,
Employer Group Health Plans ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Flexible Spending Accounts ,
IRS ,
Relief Measures ,
Temporary Regulations ,
Trump Administration
The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) recently posted on its website a sample employee notice to help employers with wellness programs comply with the agency's recently issued final rule under the Americans with...more
The Department of Labor (DOL) recently settled a case involving an employee stock ownership plan (ESOP) that provides guidance but also a warning for trustees and employers contemplating ESOP transactions that later go awry....more