Each year, National Employee Benefits Day is a chance to reflect on the ever-changing landscape of employer-sponsored benefits. Indeed, this year may be the most pivotal since 2020’s COVID-19 relief guidance. Affecting the...more
The Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA) regulates most private employee benefit retirement and welfare plans. This statute’s purview is vast; it governs employer-sponsored defined benefit and defined...more
A recent rash of class action lawsuits in California claim that using forfeitures to reduce future employer contributions to tax-qualified retirement plans runs afoul of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA)....more
6/14/2024
/ Breach of Duty ,
Class Action ,
Employee Contributions ,
Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) ,
Fiduciary Duty ,
Forfeiture ,
Internal Revenue Code (IRC) ,
IRS ,
Pensions ,
Retirement Plan ,
Tax Qualified Plans
Employees, especially those far from retirement, are sometimes hesitant to put money into their employer’s 401(k) plan, knowing that their money won’t be available to them if unexpected expenses arise. Congress and the Biden...more
We recently summarized the regulatory back and forth of the past few years relating to environmental, social, and corporate governance (“ESG”) factors and their impact on ERISA retirement plans and the fiduciaries that...more
For those with an eye on ERISA and its fiduciary rules, the past few years have caused whiplash when it comes to environmental, social, and corporate governance (“ESG”) investments in retirement plans....more
Just over a month ago, we wrote about the Department of Labor’s guidance on cryptocurrency as a 401(k) investment option, and the landscape has already shifted multiple times....more
It started sometime last year and, in hindsight, was inevitable. Clients with 401(k) plans and a crypto-savvy employee population began asking whether they could offer cryptocurrency as a plan investment option. In the...more
The U.S. House of Representatives has passed the Build Back Better Act (BBBA) (H.R. 5376) by a vote of 220–213. Supported by the Biden Administration and congressional Democrats, the controversial bill heads to the Senate for...more
11/30/2021
/ Affordable Care Act ,
Child Care ,
Clean Energy ,
Employee Contributions ,
Energy Storage ,
Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) ,
Individual Retirement Account (IRA) ,
Joe Biden ,
NLRA ,
OSHA ,
Popular ,
Proposed Legislation ,
Retirement Plan ,
Roth IRA ,
Solar Energy ,
Tax Credits
Every few years, the IRS enhances its popular correction program for qualified retirement plans (the Employee Plans Compliance Resolution System, or EPCRS) to continue to encourage plan sponsors to correct any plan failures...more
As COVID-19 continues its upheaval of nearly all aspects of life, retirement plan administration included (see some of our prior discussions here, here, here and here), the Internal Revenue Service recently issued guidance...more
We previously wrote about the Department of Labor’s proposed expansion of its safe harbor for electronic delivery of certain retirement plan disclosures required under ERISA. The wait is finally over, with publication of the...more
Long on the wish list of practitioners and plan sponsors alike, self-correction of certain common plan document issues and loan failures is finally an option under the Internal Revenue Service’s Employee Plans Compliance...more
Benefit plan practitioners returned to their desks after the holidays to the surprising news that the Internal Revenue Service issued guidance that made sweeping changes to the user fees for the Internal Revenue Service’s...more
We’ve previously written about the Department of Labor’s new fiduciary rule, which expands the definition of who is considered a fiduciary under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act, as amended (“ERISA”) and the...more