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.
2013 Year End Benefit Plan Compliance Update and Reminders for Employers
As 2013 draws to a close and we look ahead to 2014, there is no shortage of benefit plan administrative challenges with which employers must contend. While the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2010 ("ACA") remains very much at the forefront of these challenges, retirement plan and...
Mid-Year Health Plan Compliance Update
Developments in the employee health plan arena have come fast and furious in the first half of 2013, and there is no lack of compliance activities to occupy the time of human resources and employee benefits professionals. We offer this collection of key developments for employers to consider as...
Enforcement of Employer Mandate Delayed Until 2015
This evening the White House and U.S. Department of Treasury announced that the effective date of the employer shared responsibility component (also known as the employer pay or play mandate) of the Affordable Care Act will be delayed until 2015. Accordingly, businesses will not be penalized in 2014 for...
The Verdict on DOMA and Proposition 8: Impact on Employee Benefit Plans
Today the United States Supreme Court overturned Section 3 of the Defense of Marriage Act ("DOMA") and reinstated a California judge's order that Proposition 8 (the California ballot initiative defining marriage as between a man and a woman) is unconstitutional. Although it will take time to sort through the...
Are You Ready for a HIPAA and ACA Audit?
It's no secret that the Office of Civil Rights of the Department of Health and Human Services has been expanding its enforcement activity under the privacy and security standards of HIPAA. And it's not surprising that enforcement activity is in the offing under the Affordable Care Act as well...
2012 Year End Benefit Plan Compliance Checklist and Reminders for Employers
By comparison to past years, the end of 2012 and beginning of 2013 seem not to bring all that much in the way of new legal compliance burdens regarding retirement plans, health plans, and deferred compensation plans. For the most part employers face the continued implementation of changes in...
IRS Blesses Leave-Based Donation Programs for Hurricane Sandy Relief
Echoing the guidance provided back in 2005 in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, the IRS has published Notice 2012-69 to support leave-based donation programs for the relief of the victims of Hurricane Sandy. Leave-based donation programs allow employees to elect to forego vacation, sick, or personal leave in exchange...
Summary of Benefits and Coverage Must be Provided Soon
As employers prepare for their fall 2012 open enrollment efforts, we wanted to offer a reminder that a Summary of Benefits and Coverage (or "SBC") will now have to be provided to group health plan participants and beneficiaries. For group health plans having open enrollment periods, this new requirement...
The Verdict on Health Care Reform: Impact on Employer Health Plans
The United States Supreme Court ruled yesterday that the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2010 ("ACA") is constitutional in almost all respects, striking down only those provisions that would withhold all Medicaid funds from States that do not implement the expanded Medicaid coverage prescribed by the ACA.The...
July 1 Deadline Approaching for Service Provider Disclosures
As all sponsors and fiduciaries of tax-qualified retirement plans should know by now, written fee and expense disclosures are due to be provided to plan fiduciaries by "covered service providers" by July 1. As we explained in a prior post , this important disclosure is mandated by final regulations...
An Over-the-Counter Remedy for the Health Risk Assessment Headache
A number of clients have recently asked a relatively simple question: Can they require an employee to take a health risk assessment ("HRA") as a condition of participation in a wellness program or group health plan? This question seems simple enough. Nevertheless, the answer involves unraveling a complex web...
Benefits Law Update Named a Top 10 Blog by HR Daily Advisor
We are pleased to announce that HR Daily Advisor has named us to their 2011 list of top 10 blogs for compensation and benefits. Many thanks to the editors at HR Daily Advisor for selecting us. We'll do our best to justify the honor.
Five Things to Consider in Completing Form 990: Tips from an Expert
We are pleased to offer a guest post by Warren Kerper , Managing Principal in the Boston office of Sullivan, Cotter and Associates, Inc. Warren advises tax-exempt employers, especially health care organizations and colleges and universities, in the design and establishment of a wide variety of executive compensation arrangements...
Electronic Disclosure Comment Period Ends
As we discussed in an earlier post , in April the Department of Labor's Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA) issued a Request for Information (RFI) soliciting views, suggestions, and comments to determine whether to expand or modify the rules regarding electronic distribution of employee benefit plan information under ERISA...
Hybrid (Cash Balance/Pension Equity) Plan Regulations: Market Rate Amendments
In October the IRS released regulations, in final and proposed form, intended to provide clarity in the utterly complicated area of hybrid pension plans, the two most common of which are cash balance plans and pension equity plans. These new regulations address: "market rate" of return limits for interest...
409A and Linked Elections Following 401(k) Hardship Suspension
Many tax-qualified Section 401(k) plans provide that a participant who takes a hardship distribution pursuant to Treasury Regulation Section 1.401(k)-1(d)(3) is suspended from participating in any qualified or nonqualified deferred compensation plans of the Company for a period of six months. After the suspension period elective deferrals under some...
409A Corrections Guidance: Which Year Is Correction Completed?
Relief for nonqualified deferred compensation plan operational failures made pursuant to Internal Revenue Service guidance under Section 409A requires certain information reporting by affected employers and participants. It is important to promptly correct any discovered errors, as fewer requirements apply with respect to corrections of failures completed during the...
Implementing Required Health Plan Coverage of Adult Children
Under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act , group health plans must extend coverage to employees' dependents up to age 26. Grandfathered plans enjoy a limited exception to this requirement in cases where the dependent is eligible to enroll in another employer-sponsored group health plan. This post focuses...
Using Retirement Plan Assets to Pay Plan Administrative Expenses
We are sometimes asked: when is it okay to use retirement plan assets to pay for plan administrative expenses? The question often comes up in the context of a restatement of the plan document, the preparation of a new SPD or some other project where the costs may be...
Page 2 of 2
