Hospice Insights Podcast - Hospice Audit Updates: Hospices Fare Well in Federal Court
Compliance Tip of the Day: Assessing Internal Controls
Compliance Tip of the Day: COSO Objective 5 – Monitoring Activities
Hospice Insights Podcast - Election Inspection: Be Proactive to Avoid Costly Election Statement Denials
Compliance Tip of the Day: COSO Objective 3 – Control Activities
FCPA Compliance Report: Fraud Risk Management - Insights and Experiences with Peter Schablik
Hot Topics in International Trade - Let's Be Serious-Supply Chain Audits
Workplace ICE Raids Are Surging—Here’s How Employers Can Prepare - #WorkforceWednesday® - Employment Law This Week®
REFRESH Five Tax Traps for Business Lawyers Advising Nonprofit Organizations
Hospice Insights Podcast - Hospice Audit Updates: David Beats Goliath
Compliance Tip of the Day: Middle Managers as the Eyes and Ears of Compliance
Episode 365 -- Four Sanctions Cases Everyone Should Know
UPIC Audits
Compliance Tip of the Day: The role of Compliance in Auditing AI
California Employment News: Taking Advantage of the PAGA Reform – How Employers Can Lower Their Risk of PAGA Liability
Auditing Your Hotline and Case Management System
Hospice Insights Podcast - Controlling the Narrative: A New Tactic for Auditors and ALJs
Improving Your Code of Conduct
Now Is the Time to Conduct I-9 Audits: What's the Tea in L&E?
Preparing for — and Surviving — an OFCCP Audit
The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) began terminations of employees on February 20, 2025, with initial news reports of layoffs set to 6,000 terminations and a stated intent to downsize its workforce by upwards of 50 percent as...more
It is the first week of summer, even though in Ohio the smoldering heat has made it feel like summer for weeks now. Summer reminds many of us of pool days, eating watermelon and corn on the cob, Fourth of July fireworks, and...more
Janathan Allen discusses what a tax attorney brings to the table that many other don’t. Ms. Allen notes that many attorneys don’t like numbers and yet there is so much in the business world that focuses upon the numbers...more
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
In last month’s Compliance Check, we discussed how to handle a situation where the 401(k) plan administrator is unable to reach a plan participant, i.e., a “missing participant.” In this month’s Compliance Check, we focus on...more
Attorneys from our Employee Benefits and Executive Compensation practice provide insights on current issues facing various types of employee benefits programs. Topics include: - Cybersecurity - DOL Audit Initiatives -...more
The IRS updated its Nonqualified Deferred Compensation Audit Techniques Guide (the “2021 Guide”) in June 2021. The 2021 Guide replaces a similar guide that was published in June 2015. The 2021 Guide does not shed new...more
To increase protections for the estimated $9.3 trillion in American retirement assets, the Department of Labor (DOL) has begun a new cybersecurity audit initiative for retirement plans. After providing its first set of...more
The worst thing you can do is to handle things that you can’t. The one thing that plan sponsors can’t handle and shouldn’t is when they are contacted by the Internal Revenue Service and Department of Labor for an audit of...more
In light of a new DOL audit initiative and increasing cybersecurity threats to ERISA benefit plans, ERISA plan sponsors and fiduciaries should be prepared to answer some important questions: Do the cybersecurity programs of...more
401(k) Plan Mergers and Updated IRS Determination Letters - As part of an M&A transaction, your company may assume a new 401(k) plan that is sponsored by the acquired business. This article includes some common questions...more
The Employee Benefits Security Administration of the United States Department of Labor (“EBSA”) recently published guidance regarding cybersecurity best practices for recordkeepers and service providers responsible for plan...more
Things That 401(k) Plan Sponsors Are Supposed To Do, But Aren't Doing Anyway. So many things they should be doing, but aren't. There are so many things in life that we're supposed to do, but we don't. Flossing teeth and...more
Use of Forfeitures for Safe Harbor Contributions, QNECS and QMACS - The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) recently issued final regulations allowing forfeitures in 401(k) plans to be used to fund safe harbor contributions,...more
When you’re filing that Form 5500, just notice that certain answers may likely lead you to an Internal Revenue Service or Department of Labor audit....more
Using Your Payroll Provider As Your 401(k) TPA Is A Big Mistake. It's an absolute mistake. Like beating a dead horse, I will again say that it is a bad idea for plan sponsors to hire their payroll provider as their...more
A lot has been written over the last few months about what to do now that the IRS has closed its determination letter program for ongoing individually designed tax-qualified retirement plans....more
The New Fiduciary Rule: What It Means To Plan Sponsors - Bottom line: what does it mean? More than a dozen years ago, there was a medical report that dental plaque could cause heart disease. I thought it was some...more
The Complete And Total Worthlessness Of The 401(k) Fiduciary Warranty - I am a firm believer in the idea that what you see is what you should get. If you’re promised the moon, anything short of it is wrong. Some of the...more
The DOL’s Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA) released a report assessing the quality of audit work performed by certified public accountants with respect to financial statement audits of retirement and welfare...more
The Internal Revenue Service (“IRS”) recently updated its informal guidance about 401(k) plan errors. The updated materials contain simple guidance that is helpful for both identifying and correcting mistakes and avoiding...more
Although the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) is engaged in a variety of ongoing qualified plan compliance, education and audit projects, it is targeting certain types of retirement plans and activities in 2013....more
401(k) plans are a world of contradictions. It’s one of the few employer provided benefits that an employee usually pays for through their account balance. It’s a retirement plan that an employer offers that the employee has...more