On April 3, 2024, the U.S. Department of Labor (the “DOL”) published in the federal register a final amendment to Prohibited Transaction Class Exemption 84-14 (the “QPAM Exemption”) that makes considerable changes to the...more
4/17/2024
/ Benefit Plan Sponsors ,
Criminal Convictions ,
Deferred Prosecution Agreements ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) ,
Exemptions ,
Individual Retirement Account (IRA) ,
Inflation Adjustments ,
Investment Management ,
Non-Prosecution Agreements ,
QPAM ,
Recordkeeping Requirements ,
Willful Misconduct
Approximately one year after Congress enacted the SECURE 2.0 Act of 2022 (“SECURE 2.0”), the IRS issued Notice 2024-02, which addresses SECURE 2.0 implementation issues and extends the plan amendment deadline. Although...more
1/17/2024
/ 401k ,
Automatic Enrollment ,
Benefit Plan Sponsors ,
Employer Contributions ,
Incentives ,
Individual Retirement Account (IRA) ,
IRS ,
Mergers ,
New Guidance ,
SECURE Act ,
Student Loans
The day after Thanksgiving, while many of us were fortunate enough to be reaching for leftover pie, the IRS released proposed regulations implementing the requirement that 401(k) plan sponsors permit “long-term part-time...more
On Tuesday, the Departments of Labor, Treasury, and Health and Human Services issued proposed amendments to regulations implementing the Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act of 2008 (MHPAEA) and new regulations...more
In the most recent sign that special COVID-19 benefit plan rules are drawing to a close, last Friday, the IRS issued Notice 2023-37, which clarifies the scope of COVID-19 testing and treatment that can be provided on a...more
Important Update: Based on informal comments from the U.S. Department of Labor, it appears that the tolling of benefit plan deadlines will end on July 10, 2023, as described in our earlier blog on this subject,...more
The wait is over for SECURE 2.0, a long-awaited (and debated) package of retirement plan reforms. Today, Congress passed the “SECURE 2.0 Act of 2022” as part of the 2023 Consolidated Appropriations Act; President Biden is...more
12/26/2022
/ 401k ,
403(b) Plans ,
Benefit Plan Sponsors ,
Contribution Limits ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Employee Benefits ,
Individual Retirement Account (IRA) ,
New Legislation ,
Required Minimum Distributions ,
Retirement ,
Retirement Plan ,
Retirement Plan Providers ,
SECURE Act
Immediate Action Required -
As discussed in our prior posts, the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 (“ARP”) requires that plan administrators distribute new COBRA notices advising individuals of their possible rights to a...more
The American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 (“ARPA”) provides a 100% COBRA premium subsidy for “assistance eligible individuals” for periods of coverage occurring between April 1, 2021 and September 30, 2021. An “assistance...more
As part of our ongoing series on the SECURE Act, this post discusses two key changes affecting defined benefit plans: (1) the ability to start in-service distributions at age 59½ (reduced from 62), and (2) new tools for...more
Editor's Overview -
Happy New Year. We wrap-up 2019 with an article that reflects on significant developments in ERISA litigation during 2019, and takes a look at what's on the horizon for 2020. The courts (at all levels)...more
1/17/2020
/ 401k ,
Affordable Care Act ,
American Arbitration Association ,
Arbitration ,
Article III ,
Benefit Plan Sponsors ,
Best Practices ,
Breach of Duty ,
Cadillac Tax ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Employee Benefits ,
Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Individual Mandate ,
Intel Corp. Investment Policy Committee v. Sulyma ,
IRS ,
Loss Causation ,
Multiemployer Plan ,
Pleading Standards ,
Retirement Plan ,
SCOTUS ,
Standing ,
Thole v U.S. Bank ,
Venue
The SECURE Act, included as part of the Further Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2020, was signed into law on December 20, 2019. This new law contains many significant changes that may impact employer-sponsored benefit plans....more
1/7/2020
/ 401k ,
403(b) Plans ,
Benefit Plan Sponsors ,
Defined Benefit Plans ,
Defined Contribution Plans ,
Employee Benefits ,
Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) ,
Multiple Employer Plan (MEP) ,
New Legislation ,
Required Minimum Distributions ,
Retirement ,
Retirement Plan ,
Safe Harbors ,
SECURE Act
On October 23, 2019, the Department of Labor published a new proposed regulation that paves the way for “notice and access” electronic delivery of certain disclosures for retirement plans. The proposal is welcome news for...more
In this edition of our Newsletter, we take a look at a pair of cases that, while unrelated, together remind us of the importance of having clear plan rules in place that reflect the plan sponsor’s intention. The first article...more
10/11/2019
/ 401k ,
403(b) Plans ,
Affordable Care Act ,
Benefit Plan Sponsors ,
Breach of Duty ,
Class Action ,
Employee Benefits ,
Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) ,
Employer Group Health Plans ,
Fiduciary Duty ,
Foreign Nationals ,
Hardship Distributions ,
Health Insurance ,
IRS ,
Mental Health Parity Rule ,
Multiemployer Pension Plan Amendments Act (MPPAA) ,
Pensions ,
Retirement Plan ,
Safe Harbors ,
Standing ,
Statute of Limitations ,
Withdrawal Liability
The IRS recently released final regulations making a number of changes to the rules applicable to hardship distributions from 401(k) and 403(b) plans. Concluding our three-part series on the final regulations, this blog entry...more
10/4/2019
/ 401k ,
403(b) Plans ,
Benefit Plan Sponsors ,
Employee Benefits ,
Employer Contributions ,
FEMA ,
Final Rules ,
Hardship Distributions ,
Natural Disasters ,
Safe Harbors ,
Tax Cuts and Jobs Act
As discussed in our prior blog entry, the IRS recently released final regulations making a number of significant changes to the rules applicable to hardship distributions from 401(k) and 403(b) plans. As part of our...more
Last week, the Department of Treasury and the IRS issued final regulations regarding hardship distributions from 401(k) and 403(b) plans. The final regulations respond to comments based on earlier proposed regulations and...more
New regulations issued by the Departments of Labor, Treasury, and Health and Human Services have expanded the use of health reimbursement accounts (“HRAs”) by allowing reimbursements for individual market insurance premiums....more
7/16/2019
/ Affordable Care Act ,
Benefit Plan Sponsors ,
COBRA ,
Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Employee Benefits ,
Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) ,
Employer Group Health Plans ,
Final Rules ,
HRA ,
Safe Harbors ,
U.S. Treasury
Editor's Overview -
As the summer heats up, so too has the U.S. Supreme Court's docket for next term where it has already agreed to hear three ERISA cases and more may be in the works. On the docket already are ERISA...more
7/16/2019
/ 401k ,
Affordable Care Act ,
Anti-Assignment Clauses ,
Benefit Plan Sponsors ,
Certiorari ,
Collective Bargaining Agreements (CBA) ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) ,
Federal Rules of Civil Procedure ,
Final Rules ,
HRA ,
IBM ,
Retirement Plan ,
Roth IRA ,
SCOTUS ,
Statute of Limitations ,
Stock Drop Litigation
Last week, the U.S. House of Representatives passed the Setting Every Community Up for Retirement Enhancements (SECURE) Act of 2019. To become law, the bill still needs to be passed by the Senate and signed by the President....more
5/30/2019
/ 401k ,
Benefit Plan Sponsors ,
Defined Benefit Plans ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Employee Benefits ,
Employer Contributions ,
Part-Time Employees ,
Pending Legislation ,
Safe Harbors ,
Wage and Hour