PODCAST: Williams Mullen's Benefits Companion - Forfeitures Under Fire
PODCAST: Williams Mullen's Benefits Companion - Navigating Fiduciary Responsibilities in a Tide-Turning ESG Era
PODCAST: Williams Mullen's Benefits Companion - Big Changes to Catch-Up Contributions in 2025
How ERISA Litigators Strengthen Plan Compliance and Risk Management: One-on-One with Jeb Gerth
PODCAST: Williams Mullen's Benefits Companion - Good News for the ACA in 2025
#WorkforceWednesday®: New DOL Guidance - ERISA Plan Cybersecurity Update - Employment Law This Week®
PODCAST: Williams Mullen's Benefits Companion - New IRS Guidance on SECURE 2.0 Act Student Loan Employer Contributions
PODCAST: Williams Mullen's Benefits Companion - Understanding Lifetime Income Products
PODCAST: Williams Mullen's Benefits Companion - Trends in Recordkeeper Consolidation and Due Diligence
Long-Term Part-Time Employee Eligibility Rules Now in Effect — Troutman Pepper Podcast
PODCAST: Williams Mullen's Benefits Companion - What the J&J Case Means for Plan Administrators
What Can A Tax Attorney Do For You? A Podcast With Janathan Allen
PODCAST: Williams Mullen's Benefits Companion - Understanding Fees in Retirement Planning
The No Surprises Act: A Cost Saving Opportunity for Employer Plan Sponsors
PODCAST: Williams Mullen's Benefits Companion - ESG Investing by Retirement Plans
Employee Benefits and Executive Compensation: Getting Ready for 2024 – Top-Hat Plans — Special Edition Podcast
Employee Benefits and Executive Compensation: Getting Ready for 2024 - Health and Welfare Plan Developments — Special Edition Podcast
PODCAST: Williams Mullen's Benefits Companion - Auto-Portability: A New Way to Keep Retirement Savings Growing
PODCAST: Williams Mullen's Benefits Companion - IRS 2024 Health Plan Affordability Threshold May Put Some at Risk
PODCAST: Williams Mullen's Benefits Companion - SECURE 2.0 Act Relief for Plan Corrections
By July 31, employers that sponsor self-funded medical plans must report and pay their PCORI fee. By July 31, employers that sponsor calendar-year employee benefit plans that are subject to ERISA must file a Form 5500 (unless...more
As a plan fiduciary, I still can’t believe it. A Third Party Administrator (TPA) we terminated was trying to hold us up for valuations and a Form 5500 we paid for, as part of, annual administration. It was $80,000....more
As described in further detail below, absent Congressional action, plan sponsors should take note that PBGC premium filings will generally be due one month earlier than usual for plan years beginning in 2025. This...more
Unless an exception applies, all ERISA-covered benefit plans have to file an annual Form 5500 each year with the DOL and IRS (filed through the DOL’s website). Plan sponsors have the ability to combine their welfare plan...more
The Department of Labor (DOL) recently removed one regulatory hurdle for public companies that maintain employee benefit plans subject to the Form 5500 requirement. Specifically, the DOL has relaxed the criteria for who...more
We are just past the “official” start of summer, which means it is time for sponsors of retirement plans and many health and welfare plans to think about preparing and submitting Form 5500. In this post on the All Things HR...more
The auditing business for retirement plans has been cleaned up over the years, and quite a few auditors who have no business conducting audits were moved aside by the Department of Labor (DOL), and further changes for the...more
Since 2015, federal agencies have been required to annually review the laws and regulations they enforce to adjust applicable penalties for inflation. The idea has been to provide increasingly greater incentives for plan...more
The Department of Labor’s Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA) released their final revisions to the Form 5500 and the Form 5500-SF Short Form Annual Return/Report of Small Employee Benefit Plan for the 2021 plan...more
Correcting your plan’s late deposit of salary deferrals by depositing them and making a contribution to make up for lost earnings in your 401(k) plan isn’t enough....more
One of the most annoying parts of being an ERISA attorney was the requirement that new retirement plans be adopted by the last day of the Plan Year, making December 31st a very busy time of year....more
With July 31st passing (the deadline for Form 5500 without an extension), it’s a great way to ponder if you have any outstanding Form 5500 issues such as a late return or an incomplete return (such as one missing a plan...more
The Delinquent Filer Voluntary Compliance Program (DFVCP) is a Department of Labor (DOL) program designed to encourage voluntary compliance with ERISA’s 5500 program. It’s great as a plan sponsor if you forget to file a Form...more
When a plan terminates and distributes all its assets or merges all its assets into another plan, you need to understand that a Final Form 5500 needs to be completed. Otherwise, you will get notified by the Internal Revenue...more
Part of my job is fixing errors made by plan sponsors and their plan providers. Despite what the top payroll providers who also serve as third-party administrators (TPA) may say, a good part of that job is fixing the errors...more
The purpose of an audit of Form 5500 is to make sure that plan sponsors voluntarily comply with the Internal Revenue Code and ERISA. Sometimes, an Internal Revenue Service (IRS) or Department of Labor (DOL) audit is done...more
Days are getting longer, temperatures are getting warmer, plants are looking greener, schools are letting out, Brood X cicadas are emerging…it can only mean one thing…5500 season is approaching. However, unlike the...more
There is a growing problem that I’ve seen dealing with plan providers (usually third party administrators (TPAs) who get paid for an entire plan year’s work, get terminated and refuse to complete the end of the year work...more
Retirement plans with more than 100 participants require a CPA audit for their Form 5500. However, small plans with less than 100 participants may sometimes require an audit. This often happens when more than 5% of the Plan’s...more
The Setting Every Community Up for Retirement Enhancement Act of 2019 (the “SECURE Act”), the largest package of retirement system reforms in over a decade, was enacted on December 20, 2019. Many of the provisions in the...more
When you get pulled over by the police while driving, the best way to handle is to be pleasant and not be argumentative. You listen to the officer as to why he pulled over. Being belligerent and non-cooperative will only lead...more
There are so many articles for plan sponsors (I’ve written quite a few) where they go on and on about what plan sponsors need for a successful 401(k) plan. Rather than go into a whole diatribe, here is a Reader’s Digest of...more
All ERISA plans need an ERISA bond that protects the plan from thefts of plan assets by plan fiduciaries. ERISA requires that every fiduciary of an employee benefit plan and every person who handles plan assets be bonded. ...more
As an ERISA attorney, 3(16) plan administrator, and sponsor of several 401(k) plans that needed an audit completed by October 15th to file the Form 5500 on-time, I will have to say I’ve noticed a discrepancy among audit...more