Blog Posts: Benefits Law Update
Visit the Full BlogNamed a Top 10 Blog in Compensation and Benefits, Verrill's attorneys use the Benefits Law Update blog to provide timely updates and commentary on developments in law affecting employee benefit plans and executive compensation arrangements.
Retirement Plan Overpayment Corrections Continue to Evolve
For over twenty years, the IRS has provided guidance on correcting overpayments from retirement plans through its correction program, the Employee Plans Compliance Resolution System, currently set forth in Revenue Procedure 2021-30 (“EPCRS”). [1] In 2022, new statutory provisions were passed addressing overpayments, and on October 15, 2024, in...
Novel 401(k) Plan Lawsuits Over the Use of Forfeitures—Swinging for the Fences or Plausible Claims?
In our December 7, 2023 post , we noted five class action lawsuits, all filed by the same law firm within two months, in which 401(k) plan participants allege plan fiduciaries violated ERISA by using plan forfeitures to offset employer contributions instead of paying plan expenses. Recently, judges in...
Safe Harbor Exception for De Minimis Dollar Amount Reporting Errors
As part of the routine administration of employee benefit plans, shortly after the end of a calendar year, many transactions must be reported to the federal government (“information returns”) and participants (“payee statements”) using forms such as Forms W-2, 1099, 1094, and 1095. As benefits professionals know, errors can—and...
DOL Continues Enforcement of Non-Quantitative Treatment Limitation Requirements
Introduction : Fifteen months ago, we wrote that the U.S. Department of Labor (“DOL”) had informed Congress that it intended to devote substantial resources to enforcing the new comparative analysis requirement for non-quantitative treatment limitations (“NQTLs”) required under the Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act. (Read our blog...
Proposed Regulations on How to Use Forfeiture Accounts: Helpful Guidance and a Great Reminder to Plan Sponsors
On February 27, 2023, the IRS published proposed regulations on the use of forfeitures in qualified retirement plans. [1] For defined contribution plans, the regulations provide welcome clarity on what forfeitures can be used for and the date by which forfeitures must be used. In addition, they provide a...
ERISA Section 404(c) Protection: A Refresher for Fiduciaries
The Employee Retirement Income Security Act (“ERISA”) imposes both (i) significant responsibilities on fiduciaries of participant-directed individual account plans, including 401(k) plans, and (ii) personal liability for losses suffered by a plan if those responsibilities are breached. Fortunately, ERISA provides important relief from liability for investment losses for these...
DOL Signals Heightened Enforcement of Non-Quantitative Treatment Limitation Requirements
Introduction . When the U.S. Department of Labor issued its biennial 2022 Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act (“MHPAEA”) Report to Congress earlier this year, it outlined significant noncompliance by health plans. (Full Report here .) Specifically, it found that plans were not complying with the new comparative...
Nonqualified Deferred Compensation and the Special Timing Rule HR Professionals Should Be Aware of for FICA Tax Purposes
Twenty years ago this month the Enron Corporation imploded in spectacular fashion and declared bankruptcy. In the weeks leading up to its bankruptcy filing, over 100 highly compensated employees raced to receive early distributions of nonqualified deferred compensation, and were ultimately successful in removing over $50 million from the...
Retirement Plan Administrators: Are You Ready to Comply with the New Lifetime Income Disclosure Requirement for Benefit Statements?
Lifetime Income Disclosure Requirement . The Setting Every Community Up for Retirement Enhancement Act of 2019 (the “SECURE Act”), enacted December 20, 2019, added a new annual disclosure requirement for benefit statements to participants and beneficiaries. The new disclosure requirement applies to all ERISA-covered defined contribution plans ( e.g...
Employee Benefits & Executive Compensation 2021 Summer Client Advisory
Click here to view as a PDF. This Client Advisory summarizes developments in the law governing employee benefit plans prompted by the COVID-19 pandemic. We explain what these developments mean for plan sponsors and highlight the need to adopt plan amendments within limited time periods in order to fully...
ESG Ping-Pong®
The recent regulatory back-and-forth over the investment of ERISA-governed retirement plan assets based on environmental, social, and corporate governance (“ESG”) factors has demonstrated that ESG investing will remain under an intense spotlight for some time to come, and the rules can change quickly. As a result, investment fiduciaries should...
Employee Benefits & Executive Compensation 2020 Year-End Client Advisory
Click here to view as a PDF . This Client Advisory highlights important developments in the law governing employee benefit plans over the past year. It offers insight into what these developments mean for employers and plan sponsors and previews developments we expect to see in 2021. The following...
Target Date Funds: Are You Asking the Right Questions?
Eight years ago, the U.S. Department of Labor (“DOL”) issued “tips” for retirement plan fiduciaries to consider when selecting and monitoring target date retirement funds (“TDFs”). At the time, the DOL noted that TDFs were becoming “increasingly popular.” Who could have predicted how popular? Earlier this year, Barron’s magazine...
DOL Proposed Regulation Highlights the Risks of ESG Investing for ERISA Fiduciaries
On June 23, 2020, the U.S. Department of Labor (“DOL”) issued a proposed regulation outlining the duties of an ERISA fiduciary when considering an investment that incorporates environmental, social, and corporate governance (“ESG”) factors. [1] Some believe that the DOL will likely move quickly to finalize the regulation before...
CARES Act Imposes Limits on Executive Pay over $425,000 for Businesses Seeking Financial Assistance
On Friday, March 27, 2020, the $2 trillion assistance package known as the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (the “CARES Act”) was signed into law. The CARES Act provides a variety of relief programs to companies and, similar to the Troubled Asset Relief Program (“TARP”) implemented during...
December 2019 Client Advisory
This Client Advisory, originally distributed in December 2019, highlights important developments in the law governing employee benefit plans and executive compensation over the past year. It offers insight into what these developments mean for employers and plan sponsors and previews developments we expect to see in 2020. The following...
FMLA, Disability, & Sick Leave Management: A Panel Discussion
Join the Maine Employee Benefits Council (MEBC) on Wednesday, October 17 for a panel discussion on the Family Medical Leave Act (FMLA), disability, and sick leave management. Panelists will discuss federal and state specific paid leave laws, examine the requirements for Maine employers who have employees in the particular...
New Tax Credit for Paid Leave – Part 2: IRS Issues Helpful Guidance
As expected, the IRS recently issued additional guidance concerning the new paid leave tax credit codified as Code Section 45S. (You can read Part 1 of this series here .) The guidance, set forth in IRS Notice 2018-17 , is presented in the form of 34 questions and answers...
New Tax Credit for Paid Leave: What Benefits Professionals Should Know
The 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act contains a two-year pilot project, developed by Senators Angus King (I-ME) and Deb Fischer (R-NE), that provides a tax credit to employers that offer at least two weeks of paid leave to low and moderate income employees. If your company already offers...
Practical Guidance for Required Minimum Distributions and Missing Participants
Retirement plan administrators often run into this problem: a participant has reached his or her required beginning date – the date on which distributions must commence under the required minimum distribution (RMD) rules of Code Section 401(a)(9) – and the participant cannot be located. A recent IRS Field Memorandum...
TIGTA Finds IRS Examinations Are Adversely Affected By Information Dropped from Electronic Form 5500 Filings
Prior to January 2010, the DOL manually processed Form 5500 paper returns and schedules. Beginning in January 2010, the DOL began using a new system called EFAST 2 to process Form 5500 filings electronically. Because the Code does not require certain filers to provide information electronically, a variety of...
Two Things EPCRS Does Not Tell You About Retroactive Amendments, But You May Want to Know
The Employee Plans Compliance Resolution System (EPCRS) is the IRS' comprehensive correction system for tax-qualified retirement plans, currently set forth in Rev. Proc. 2008-50 (we expect a new EPCRS Rev. Proc. to be released in the near future). One correction method under EPCRS allows operational failures to be voluntarily...
Church Plan Administrators Are Subject to State Law Claims
A "church plan" – whether maintained by an actual church or by a church affiliated organization (such as a college or hospital that is church controlled) – is exempt from ERISA unless it makes an irrevocable electionto subject itself to ERISA. Most church plans do not make that election...
IRS Getting Better and Better at Selecting and Auditing Noncompliant Plans
According to a report recently published by the Treasury Department's Inspector General for Tax Administration, the IRS has significantly improved its ability to select noncompliant retirement plans for examination and is achieving greater success results in those examinations. The report describes the methods used by the IRS to identify...
IRS Swamped by EPCRS Applications: The Price of Popularity
The IRS Employee Plans Compliance Resolution System (EPCRS) has been a true success story for the Service and for plan sponsors. Under EPCRS, a plan sponsor may voluntarily correct a wide variety of errors made in the administration or drafting of a tax-qualified retirement plan, with a more limited...
Reporting Health Care Costs on Form W-2
The Affordable Care Act requires employers to report on Form W-2, for informational purposes only, the cost of the group health benefits provided to each employee. IRS Notice 2011-28 (issued March 29, 2011) provides interim guidance on how this new information reporting obligation is to be implemented. Employers are...
Ignoring the IRS Is Not a Good Idea (another example)
On February 23, 2011, the IRS indicated that its 401(k) Compliance Check Questionnaire Project is entering its next phase. As discussed in a prior post , in May 2010 the IRS, through its Employee Plans Compliance Unit, sent letters to a statistically valid sample of 1,200 401(k) plan sponsors...
Plan Disqualification Happens If You Don't Follow Basic Rules!
A recent Tax Court case, Hollen v. Commissioner (2011, T.C. Memo 2011-2), offers a stark reminder that the IRS can and will seek to disqualify a tax-qualified retirement plan if the plan sponsor fails to comply with key legal requirements and fails to correct the failure. In Hollen a...
