To all those who work in the employee benefits arena, whether in legal, finance, benefits administration, payroll, tax, human resources, or many other disciplines, this is our annual reminder to celebrate the valuable and...more
With another National Employee Benefits Day upon us, it is a good reminder for all involved in the world of Employee Benefits to pause (take three deep breaths) and use it as an opportunity to look back at where we’ve been...more
President Biden announced that the COVID-19 Public Health Emergency (PHE) and the National Emergency declared by President Trump in 2020 will end on May 11, 2023. The PHE relief issued in response to the pandemic affected...more
Additional Tools for Employers to Encourage Retirement Savings-
Matching Contributions on Student Debt Payments-
One of the most eagerly anticipated provisions of the “SECURE 2.0” legislation is the ability for...more
1/30/2023
/ 401k ,
Education Expenses ,
Employee Benefits ,
Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) ,
Employer Contributions ,
Individual Retirement Account (IRA) ,
Internal Revenue Code (IRC) ,
IRS ,
Private Letter Rulings ,
Retirement Plan ,
SECURE Act
On May 2, 2022, a draft opinion from the U.S. Supreme Court case Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health was leaked to the press, and as a result the Court is expected to overturn Roe v. Wade and Planned Parenthood v. Casey,...more
6/15/2022
/ Abortion ,
Affordable Care Act ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization ,
Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) ,
Employer Group Health Plans ,
Health Savings Accounts ,
Mental Health Parity Rule ,
Planned Parenthood ,
Roe v Wade ,
SCOTUS
Last year about this time, we wrote of how far we had come collectively in the world of employee benefits roughly one year after the onset of the COVID-19 Pandemic. We reveled at how we kept on keeping on, what we were able...more
4/5/2022
/ 401k ,
CARES Act ,
COBRA ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Employee Benefits ,
Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) ,
FSA ,
Labor Shortage ,
Popular ,
Remote Working ,
SECURE Act
Today, the U.S. Department of Labor’s Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA) issued much anticipated cybersecurity guidance for employee retirement plans. This comes more than four and a half years after the ERISA...more
4/15/2021
/ Best Practices ,
Cybersecurity ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
EBSA ,
Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) ,
Employee Training ,
Encryption ,
Popular ,
Retirement Plan ,
Third-Party Service Provider ,
Wage and Hour
You didn’t know it was a thing? Or maybe, like most, you just lost track of what day it is? Or maybe it ranks somewhere behind New Beer’s Eve (the day before the end of prohibition) and National Tartan Day, both of which...more
We recently provided an update on the looming end date for COBRA and other deadline extensions and the uncertainty that continues to add to the administrative burdens without more clarity from the DOL and IRS. Message...more
3/1/2021
/ COBRA ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Deadlines ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Disaster Aid ,
Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) ,
Flexible Spending Accounts ,
Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) ,
IRS ,
New Guidance ,
Third-Party ,
Time Extensions
In May of 2020, the Department of Labor (DOL) and Internal Revenue Service (IRS) released joint-agency guidance that extended several important deadlines for employees, including COBRA election and payment deadlines, HIPAA...more
In this issue:
Has DOL Put Final Nail In Coffin of ‘Substantial Compliance’ Doctrine for Disability Claims? Analysis of the most recent revisions to the ERISA Claims Procedure regulations, asking whether the amendments...more
On August 31, 2018, President Trump issued an Executive Order (the “Order”) calling on the Department of Labor (“DOL”) and the Internal Revenue Service (“IRS”) to consider issuing regulations and guidance directed at...more
The future of the Illinois Secure Choice Savings Program Act (Secure Choice) is uncertain following Governor Bruce Rauner’s amendatory veto that could make employer participation in the Secure Choice program optional.
The...more
On February 3, 2017, President Trump took actions aimed at alleviating some of the regulatory burdens on the financial services industry. Through a Presidential Memorandum, President Trump ordered the DOL to “examine the...more