On December 27, 2020, former President Trump signed the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021 (the “CAA”) into law. The CAA includes numerous provisions that impact employer-sponsored group health plans, including the...more
On December 23, 2020, the IRS issued Notice 2021-03, which extends relief from the “physical presence” requirement applicable to signatures that must be witnessed by a plan representative or notary public. By way of...more
As 2020 comes to an end, we are pleased to present our traditional End of Year Plan Sponsor “To Do” Lists. This year, we present our “To Do” Lists in four separate SW Benefits Updates. Part 1 covered health and welfare plan...more
11/30/2020
/ Benefit Plan Sponsors ,
CARES Act ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Employee Benefits ,
Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) ,
Fiduciary Rule ,
Qualified Retirement Plans ,
Required Amendments (RAs) ,
Required Minimum Distributions ,
Retirement Plan ,
Safe Harbors ,
SECURE Act
As 2020 comes to an end, we are happy to present our traditional End of Year Plan Sponsor “To Do” Lists. We are publishing our “To Do” Lists in four separate Employee Benefits Updates. Part 1 covered year-end health and...more
11/23/2020
/ Compensation & Benefits ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Deferred Compensation ,
Employee Benefits ,
Employee Stock Purchase Plans ,
Equity Compensation ,
Executive Compensation ,
Incentive Stock Options ,
IRS ,
Proposed Regulation ,
Publicly-Traded Companies ,
Section 409A ,
Tax Cuts and Jobs Act
As 2020 comes to an end, we are happy to present our traditional End of Year Plan Sponsor “To Do” Lists. We are publishing our “To Do” Lists in four separate Employee Benefits Updates. Part 1 covered year-end health and...more
On August 3, 2020, the IRS posted a short set of frequently asked questions for leave-sharing programs which confirm that major disaster leave-sharing programs under IRS Notice 2006-59 can be used for employees who have been...more
We are pleased to present our annual End of Year Plan Sponsor “To Do” Lists. This year, we present our “To Do” Lists in four separate Employee Benefits Updates. This Part 1 covers year-end health and welfare plan issues....more
9/28/2020
/ Affordable Care Act ,
Anti-Discrimination Policies ,
Benefit Plan Sponsors ,
COBRA ,
Compensation & Benefits ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Cost-of-Living Adjustment (COLA) ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Employee Benefits ,
Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) ,
Employer Group Health Plans ,
Executive Compensation ,
Families First Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRA) ,
HDHP ,
Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) ,
IRS ,
MHPAEA ,
Retirement Plan ,
Trump Administration ,
Year-End Tax Planning
We previously posted about two leave-sharing programs available to employers during the COVID-19 pandemic: major disaster leave-sharing programs and medical emergency leave-sharing programs. These leave-sharing programs may...more
7/20/2020
/ Charitable Deductions ,
Charitable Organizations ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Donations ,
Employee Benefits ,
Internal Revenue Code (IRC) ,
IRS ,
Leave-Sharing Plans ,
Paid Leave ,
Popular
On May 21, 2020, the Department of Labor (the “DOL”) announced a final rule establishing a new electronic disclosure safe harbor. The new safe harbor permits retirement plan administrators to deliver certain plan documents by...more
The Coronavirus Aid Relief and Economic Security Act (the “CARES Act”), signed into law on March 27, 2020, provides employers with a new mechanism to assist their employees with repayment of student loans. Section 2206 of the...more
As employers cope with the COVID-19 pandemic, they may consider leave-sharing programs as a method to permit employees to donate paid leave to their coworkers. Leave-sharing programs that are properly structured under...more
We previously reported on the Bipartisan Budget Act (the “Budget Act”) hardship distribution rule changes for qualified retirement plans. On September 23, 2019, the IRS issued final regulations implementing certain statutory...more
12/4/2019
/ 401k ,
403(b) Plans ,
Benefit Plan Sponsors ,
Bipartisan Budget Act ,
Employee Benefits ,
FEMA ,
Final Rules ,
Hardship Distributions ,
IRS ,
New Rules ,
QMAC ,
QNEC ,
Qualified Disaster Relief Payments ,
Required Amendments (RAs) ,
Retirement Plan ,
Summary Plan Description ,
Wage and Hour
As 2019 comes to an end, we are happy to present our traditional End of Year Plan Sponsor “To Do” Lists. This year, we are publishing our “To Do” Lists in four separate Employee Benefits Updates. Part 1 covered year-end...more
11/11/2019
/ 401k ,
Cost-of-Living Adjustment (COLA) ,
Defined Benefit Plans ,
Defined Contribution Plans ,
Employee Benefits ,
Flexible Spending Accounts ,
HDHP ,
Health and Welfare Plans ,
Retirement Plan ,
Year-End Planning ,
Year-End Tax Planning
As 2019 comes to an end, we are pleased to present our traditional End of Year Plan Sponsor “To Do” Lists. This year, we present our “To Do” Lists in four separate Employee Benefits Updates. This Part 1 covers year-end health...more
10/18/2019
/ Affordable Care Act ,
Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) ,
Benefit Plan Sponsors ,
Civil Rights Act ,
COBRA ,
Cost-of-Living Adjustment (COLA) ,
Employee Benefits ,
Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) ,
Federal Contractors ,
HDHP ,
Health and Welfare Plans ,
Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) ,
Individual Mandate ,
IRS ,
Minimum Essential Coverage ,
OFCCP ,
Retirement Plan ,
Shared Responsibility Rule ,
Title VII ,
TPAs ,
Wage and Hour
Employers often allow employees to donate leave to co-workers who are experiencing medical emergencies. If properly structured, these leave transfers can be excluded from the gross income of the donor employee and included in...more
In 2016, the Department of Health and Human Services (“HHS”) Office of Civil Rights issued final regulations implementing the nondiscrimination provisions of the Affordable Care Act (“Section 1557”), which prohibit the...more
6/11/2019
/ Affordable Care Act ,
Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) ,
Employee Benefits ,
Employer Group Health Plans ,
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) ,
Mental Health ,
OCR ,
Proposed Regulation ,
Section 1557 ,
Title VII ,
Transgender ,
Trump Administration
Three best practices for plan administration that often fall by the wayside include: (1) regularly reminding participants to review and update their beneficiary designations; (2) checking recordkeeping practices to avoid loss...more