Blog Posts: Benefits Law Update

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Named 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.

Catch-Up Contributions: IRS Provides Relief from Roth Requirements of SECURE 2.0

On August 25, 2023, the IRS issued IRS Notice 2023-62 , providing much needed relief for employers who have been struggling to implement Section 603 of the SECURE 2.0 Act of 2022 (“SECURE 2.0”), which requires high income employees to make all catch-up contributions to 401(k), 403(b), or governmental...
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Alternatives for Sponsors of Defined Benefit Pension Plans

For decades, it was common for employers to maintain employer-funded defined benefit pension plans (“DB Plans” or “Plans”) to provide retirement benefits to their employees. In recent years, DB Plans have become increasingly expensive and difficult to administer due to funding, insurance premiums, and government filing requirements. As a...
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New IRS Determination Letter Program for 403(b) and 401(a) Plans

On November 7, 2022, the IRS issued Revenue Procedure 2022-40 , which allows certain tax-exempt employers (such as schools, charities, and churches) to apply for IRS determination letters on their individually designed section 403(b) retirement plans (“403(b) plans”) in substantially the same manner as plan sponsors of individually designed...
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IRS Announces New Pilot Program for Retirement Plan Audits

On June 3, 2022, the Internal Revenue Service (“IRS”) announced a new pre-examination compliance pilot program beginning in June 2022. Under the pilot program, the IRS will notify a plan sponsor by letter that its retirement plan has been selected for examination and will provide the plan sponsor with...
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Required Minimum Distributions and Missing Plan Participants

In January of 2021, we published two blog posts regarding Department of Labor (“DOL”) guidance on missing retirement plan participants. The first post describes DOL guidance on best practices for locating missing retirement plan participants. The second post describes the DOL’s Terminated Vested Participants Project (“TVPP”), which was initiated...
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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...
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Primer on Severance Plans Under ERISA and the Tax Code

Many employers maintain formal or informal severance policies or practices that they use sporadically. Other employers may implement a severance program for a limited period of time to reduce the number of employees overall or within a work classification or location. All employers should be mindful that these policies...
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DOL Guidance on Missing Pension Plan Participants - Part II

On January 18, we published a blog post regarding new Department of Labor (“DOL”) guidance on missing plan participants. That post is available here , and describes the DOL’s guidance on Missing Participants - Best Practices for Pension Plans (“Best Practices”). This blog post addresses two other pieces of...
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DOL Guidance on Missing Pension Plan Participants

The Department of Labor (“DOL”) has undertaken a nationwide compliance initiative to ensure that retirement plan participants receive the benefits that they were promised when they reach their retirement age. To that end, the DOL recently issued three pieces of guidance – (i) Missing Participants - Best Practices for...
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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...
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ERISA and COBRA Implications for EAPs and Wellness Programs

There is a growing trend for employers to provide employee assistance programs (“EAPs”) and wellness programs for the benefit of their employees. Typically, the employer pays for benefits under these programs out of its general assets. These programs are designed to reduce health care costs, reduce absences from work...
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IRS Issues New Guidance on CARES Act Retirement Plan Distributions and Loans

The IRS recently issued Notice 2020-50 , which expands relief provided for retirement plan distributions and loans under the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (CARES Act). Distributions Under the CARES Act, a retirement plan may allow participants affected by COVID-19 to elect cash distributions in an amount...
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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...
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Same-Sex Marriage and Your Employee Benefit Plans

Maine has now officially joined nine other states in allowing same-sex marriage. The new Maine law ("An Act to Allow Marriage Licenses for Same-sex Couples and Protect Religious Freedom") was approved by a referendum election on November 6, 2012, and it became effective December 29, 2012. Some municipal offices...
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Working with the New Annual Limit on FSA Contributions

The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act modified the rules relating to cafeteria plans to impose a new $2,500 annual limit on the amount that an employee may elect to contribute to a health flexible spending account ("health FSA"), effective January 1, 2013. The modification came in the form...
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Firm Highlights

Blog

Catch-Up Contributions: IRS Provides Relief from Roth Requirements of SECURE 2.0

On August 25, 2023, the IRS issued IRS Notice 2023-62 , providing much needed relief for employers who have been struggling to implement Section 603 of the SECURE 2.0 Act of 2022 (“SECURE 2.0&rdquo...

Blog

Retiree Medical Coverage: Just Get the COBRA Waiver

The interaction between employer-provided retiree medical coverage and COBRA [1] is complex. Many employers incorrectly assume they do not have to offer COBRA at retirement if they offer a retiree medical plan or a...

Blog

How to Comply with the Health FSA Debit Card Claims Substantiation Rules

The IRS’s recent Chief Counsel Advice Memorandum 202317020 (the “Memo”) brings into focus the importance of compliance with the debit card claims substantiation requirements for medical care expenses reimbursed or paid for through a...

Blog

Update on the Debate over Environmental, Social, and Corporate Governance Investing

The debate over investment of retirement plan funds based on environmental, social, and corporate governance (“ESG”) factors continues to make waves. This post provides a high-level overview of the current state of play for...

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82 Verrill Attorneys Recognized by Best Lawyers® 2024, Including 10 Named Lawyers of the Year

Publication/Podcast

Establishing Practices and Procedures to Support Retirement Plan Self-Correction

The opportunity to self-correct mistakes in maintaining a retirement plan has been dramatically expanded by the SECURE 2.0 Act of 2022 (“SECURE 2.0”); see our February 10 blog post for details. However, IRS interim...

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Gag Clauses – New Guidance and Litigation Will Inform Compliance

Certain provisions of the Transparency in Coverage Final Regulations and the Consolidated Appropriation Act, 2021 (“CAA”) require group health plans and/or their vendors to report information to federal agencies. On December 31, 2023, group...

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Establishing Practices and Procedures to Support Self-Correction of Operational Failures

The self-correction of retirement plan operational failures under IRS correction principles has been conditioned upon a plan sponsor’s establishment of compliance practices and procedures since the creation of the Employee Plans Compliance Resolution System...

Blog

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...

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Reasonable Compensation Under ERISA: Thoughts on Two Recent Cases

Two recent court decisions bring into focus two seldom-asked questions about the reasonable compensation requirement under ERISA. When must an ERISA plan’s service provider compensation be reasonable? And why shouldn’t a plan fiduciary be...

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