“Missing participants” have long been a thorn in the side of plan sponsors and administrators, as they are owed a retirement benefit, but are unable to be found or unresponsive to plan communications. As a partial solution,...more
The time may have come to add a welfare plan committee to your company’s governance of employee benefit plans. New legal obligations and other developments impose fiduciary risks for welfare plans similar to what already...more
9/29/2023
/ 401k ,
Affordable Care Act ,
Benefit Plan Sponsors ,
Consolidated Appropriations Act (CAA) ,
Corporate Governance ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) ,
Fiduciary Duty ,
Gag Clauses ,
Health and Welfare Plans ,
Health Plan Sponsors ,
MHPAEA ,
NQTLs ,
Prescription Drugs ,
Retirement Plan ,
Risk Mitigation
One question that often comes up is whether an expense related to an ERISA plan can be paid with plan assets. The decision of whether to use ERISA plan assets to pay an expense is an ERISA fiduciary decision. With the recent...more
3/13/2023
/ 401k ,
Allowable Expenses ,
Audits ,
Benefit Plan Sponsors ,
Corporate Governance ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Employee Benefits ,
Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) ,
Fiduciary Duty ,
IRS ,
New Guidance ,
Retirement Plan
Fiduciaries of 401(k) plans and other retirement plans know that they must prudently monitor the investment options available to participants in the plan, but are they monitoring participants’ investments made through a...more
The COBRA subsidy from the most recent COVID-19 stimulus bill – The American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 (ARPA) – is now in effect. An assistance-eligible individual can have 100% of COBRA premiums subsidized for the periods...more
Last October, Brenda Berg posted a blog titled “I’m Just Waiting on an… End to the Extended ERISA Deadline Periods.” In that blog, Brenda explained that the IRS and DOL extended certain deadlines applicable to retirement...more
Early in the pandemic, the IRS and DOL issued a temporary rule (published May 4, 2020) extending certain deadlines applicable to retirement plans and health and welfare plans. (See Deadlines and Commitments: DOL and IRS...more
10/19/2020
/ COBRA ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) ,
Health and Welfare Plans ,
Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) ,
IRS ,
Popular ,
Public Health Emergency ,
Retirement Plan
After being on the verge of enactment last spring but failing to pass, the SECURE Act is now law. The Setting Every Community Up for Retirement Enhancement Act of 2019 – the SECURE Act – was enacted on December 20, 2019 as...more
3/11/2020
/ 401k ,
457(b) Plans ,
Benefit Plan Sponsors ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Employee Benefits ,
Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) ,
New Rules ,
Required Minimum Distributions ,
Retirement Plan ,
SECURE Act ,
Summary Plan Description ,
TPAs