News & Analysis as of

Retirement Plan Compensation & Benefits Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA)

Seyfarth Shaw LLP

So, How Can Participants Invest Their Retirement Money?

Seyfarth Shaw LLP on

Under the current administration, the Department of Labor has once again changed course on its view of permissible investing strategies for retirement plans, warming to crypto and private equity, and confirming their distrust...more

Carlton Fields

Unsafe Harbor? Deregulation and the Limit of the Secure Act Safe Harbor for Selection of Lifetime Income Provider

Carlton Fields on

On January 31, 2025, President Trump signed Executive Order 14192, titled“ Unleashing Prosperity Through Deregulation.” Its stated purpose was to encourage the reduction of private expenditure required to comply with federal...more

Foley & Lardner LLP

Benefits Basics – When an Employee Becomes Disabled: A Resource Guide for HR & Benefits Professionals

Foley & Lardner LLP on

When an employee becomes disabled, a variety of questions arise regarding that employee’s entitlement to compensation and benefits. As a member of your company’s human resources or employee benefits department, employees and...more

Troutman Pepper Locke

ESG Investing in 401(k) Plans – More Rule Changes on the Way

Troutman Pepper Locke on

In our recent client alert, “Texas Federal Court Allows an ERISA Fiduciary Challenge Against Alleged “ESG Investing” Without Any ESG Funds,” we reported that a Texas district court recently upheld Biden-administration...more

Troutman Pepper Locke

Texas Federal Court Allows an ERISA Fiduciary Challenge Against Alleged "ESG Investing" Without Any ESG Funds

Troutman Pepper Locke on

On January 10, 2025, in Spence v. American Airlines, a federal district court in Texas ruled that American Airlines (the company) and the committee overseeing its 401(k) plans (the committee) breached their duty of loyalty...more

Carlton Fields

DOL ESG Rule Withstands Demolition of Chevron Deference

Carlton Fields on

In Loper Bright Enterprises v. Raimondo, the U.S. Supreme Court knocked down Chevron U.S.A. Inc. v. Natural Resources Defense Council Inc., leaving the doctrine of Chevron deference in rubble. The doctrine stated that, when a...more

Foley & Lardner LLP

Taming the Tariffs: Employee Benefit Issues for Employers During Times of Economic Uncertainty – Group Employee Terminations

Foley & Lardner LLP on

Many companies are scrambling to quickly assess how to reduce the business impact of the upheaval to U.S. manufacturing and trading with the recent onslaught of tariffs threatened or imposed by the United States and the...more

Seyfarth Shaw LLP

Supreme Court Lowers Bar to Pleading Prohibited Transactions, Despite “Serious Concerns” of Meritless Litigation

Seyfarth Shaw LLP on

In a unanimous decision reversing dismissal of prohibited transaction claims based on fees paid to defined contribution plan recordkeepers, the Supreme Court held that ERISA’s prohibited transaction exemptions are affirmative...more

Foley & Lardner LLP

Benefits Basics - When an Employee Dies: A Resource Guide for HR & Benefits Professionals

Foley & Lardner LLP on

As a member of your company’s human resources or employee benefits department, one of the most difficult calls you may receive is from a colleague or an employee’s family member notifying you of the death of an employee. This...more

Saul Ewing LLP

Correcting Liquidity, Valuation, or Transfer Problems With OTC-Traded Stocks in Retirement Plans to Minimize Enforcement and...

Saul Ewing LLP on

Over 8,000 stocks trade on American stock exchanges, but billions of dollars in daily trades in these listed stocks and 12,000 more unlisted (non-exchange-traded) stocks occur outside of an exchange in Over-The-Counter...more

Saul Ewing LLP

The Friday Five: Five ERISA Litigation Highlights - February 2025

Saul Ewing LLP on

This month’s Friday Five covers an appellate ruling on a complicated case raising both state and federal claims, an instance of procedural improprieties in the administrative review process informing the court’s substantive...more

Carlton Fields

Insurer Allowed to Benefit From Foreign Tax Credits Distributed by Underlying Funds

Carlton Fields on

The Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals recently held that a life insurance company did not breach its fiduciary duties by retaining the benefits that it derived from foreign tax credits. The plaintiffs argued that, under...more

Pullman & Comley - Labor, Employment and...

Retirement Plan Update – Forfeitures are New Focus of Fiduciary Breach Litigation

Many employer-sponsored defined contributions plans, including 401(k) profit sharing plans and money purchase pension plans include a vesting schedule – a period over which a plan participant earns a nonforfeitable right to...more

DLA Piper

Supreme Court Debates ERISA Exemptions in Cunningham v. Cornell University

DLA Piper on

The US Supreme Court heard argument on Wednesday, January 22, 2025 from Cornell University and its employees over dismissal of a class action alleging that Cornell University’s retirement plan paid unreasonable recordkeeping...more

Seyfarth Shaw LLP

The DOL May Not Actually Want to Hear From You: New Guidance Streamlining the Voluntary Fiduciary Correction Program

Seyfarth Shaw LLP on

The DOL updated its voluntary fiduciary correction program (“VFCP”) which was introduced over 20 years ago to allow plan sponsors to corrected enumerated fiduciary breaches. The amended VFCP now allows for self-correction of...more

Saul Ewing LLP

Organizing Your Company’s Health and Welfare Plans Part 2: Creating a Committee Checklist

Saul Ewing LLP on

In the prior article we discussed the reasoning behind creation of a health and welfare committee to oversee administration of the health and welfare plans. In creating a charter, a plan sponsor will need to decide whether to...more

Carlton Fields

The Case of Excessive Fees: Supreme Court to Investigate Pleading Standard in ERISA Excessive Fee Litigation

Carlton Fields on

ERISA class action litigation against retirement plan fiduciaries remains a prominent feature of the legal landscape this year. These lawsuits typically involve allegations that plan fiduciaries acted imprudently in...more

Baker Donelson

Preparing Employers for SECURE 2.0 Compliance in 2025

Baker Donelson on

As 2024 draws to a close, plan sponsors should be aware of those provisions of the SECURE Act 2.0 that become effective in 2025. Recall that the SECURE 2.0 Act (SECURE 2.0) was enacted on December 29, 2022, and while some...more

Ogletree, Deakins, Nash, Smoak & Stewart,...

2025 Will See COLAs for Qualified Retirement Plans Comparable to 2024

On November 1, 2024, the 2025 calendar year cost-of-living adjustments (COLAs) to the contribution and compensation limits for tax-qualified retirement plans were released by the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) in Notice...more

Alston & Bird

Do You Need to Send an Annual Notice to Plan Participants?

Alston & Bird on

If so, you may need to do so by December 1, 2024. Our Employee Benefits & Executive Compensation Group reviews the multiple year-end notices that defined contribution plans must issue to participants....more

Carlton Fields

Sometimes, Pension De-Risking Makes Cents

Carlton Fields on

In a defined benefit plan, participants usually accrue a monthly benefit based on a formula that typically considers their last three years’ salary before retirement and years of service with their employer. For example, the...more

Bricker Graydon LLP

New IRS Guidance for Long-Term Part-Time Employees in ERISA covered 403(b) Plans at Private, Non-Profit Institutions of Higher...

Bricker Graydon LLP on

In potentially welcome news for public institutions of higher education, in Notice 2024-73, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) confirmed that the new long-term part-time (LTPT) rules introduced by the SECURE Act and SECURE...more

Miller Canfield

IRS Weighs in on Inadvertent Benefit Overpayments

Miller Canfield on

Earlier this week, the IRS released Notice 2024-77, which provides much-anticipated guidance related to the handling of so-called “inadvertent benefit overpayments” from qualified retirement plans under the SECURE 2.0 Act. ...more

Miller Canfield

IRS Issues FAQs Regarding Long-Term Part-Time Employees in 403(b) Plans

Miller Canfield on

The IRS recently issued Notice 2024-73, which provides much-needed guidance on long-term, part-time (“LTPT”) employees in ERISA-governed 403(b) retirement plans. Following passage of the SECURE 2.0 Act, an employee is...more

Williams Mullen

PODCAST: Williams Mullen's Benefits Companion - ERISA Forfeiture Litigation

Williams Mullen on

On this episode of Williams Mullen's Benefits Companion, host Brydon DeWitt discusses pending court cases regarding the proper use of forfeitures that arise under defined contribution plans. He outlines how these new...more

84 Results
 / 
View per page
Page: of 4

"My best business intelligence, in one easy email…"

Your first step to building a free, personalized, morning email brief covering pertinent authors and topics on JD Supra:
*By using the service, you signify your acceptance of JD Supra's Privacy Policy.
- hide
- hide