ERISA Complex LitigationBlog Posts
Employers Take Note! IRS Improves Certain Retirement Plan Correction ProceduresThe Internal Revenue Service encourages employers and other retirement plan sponsors to voluntarily and timely correct plan failures to help ensure the plans’ ongoing tax-qualified status (and tax-favored treatment). However, in some cases, the IRS’ Employee Plans Compliance Resolution System (“EPCRS” – most recently restated in Revenue Procedure 2013-12) correction method for minor errors results … Continue reading Employers Take Note! IRS Improves Certain Retirement Plan Correction ProceduresApril 22, 2015 |
Section 529A Qualified ABLE Programs: Tax-Favored Savings Vehicle for Disabled IndividualsFirst effective in 2015, the federal Achieving a Better Life Experience (ABLE) Act created Internal Revenue Code section 529A qualified ABLE programs, which provide a means of tax-favored savings for disabled individuals. Section 529A qualified ABLE programs are modeled on Section 529 qualified tuition programs and must be implemented by individual states. States that have … Continue reading Section 529A Qualified ABLE Programs: Tax-Favored Savings Vehicle for Disabled IndividualsApril 22, 2015 |
EEOC Publishes Proposed Wellness Program RegulationsToday the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) published long-awaited proposed regulations on wellness programs (Proposed Regs) that are intended to harmonize certain provisions of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) with long-standing rules concerning wellness programs applicable to group health plans under the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA), and more recently, the Affordable … Continue reading EEOC Publishes Proposed Wellness Program RegulationsApril 20, 2015 |
Outsourcing Payroll? IRS Guidance Helps Employers Understand Their Rights and ResponsibilitiesMany employers decide to outsource their payroll administration to third-party vendors. Many employers who decide to hire a third-party vendor anticipate that the vendor understands how to fill out the forms necessary to the reporting of income and employment taxes; comply with the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act reporting obligations; and to properly calculate … Continue reading Outsourcing Payroll? IRS Guidance Helps Employers Understand Their Rights and ResponsibilitiesApril 15, 2015 |
Failure to Provide Individualized Post-Termination Notice of Life Insurance Conversion Rights Does Not Give Rise to an ERISA Breach of Fiduciary Duty Claim: Prouty v. The Hartford Life & Acc. Ins. Co.In Prouty v. The Hartford Life & Acc. Ins. Co. & C&S Wholesale Grocers Inc., 997 F. Supp. 2d 85, 88 (D. Mass. 2014), the plaintiff asserted an ERISA claim against her former employer and the issuer of her employer’s group life insurance plan, claiming that both breached their fiduciary duties by failing to provide … Continue reading Failure to Provide Individualized Post-Termination Notice of Life Insurance Conversion Rights Does Not Give Rise to an ERISA Breach of Fiduciary Duty Claim: Prouty v. The Hartford Life & Acc. Ins. Co.March 27, 2015 |
ACA Cadillac Tax Proposed Regs: What Treasury and IRS Are ConsideringThe Affordable Care Act (“ACA”) added section 4980I to the Internal Revenue Code (“Code”). Code section 4980I applies to tax years after December 31, 2017, and provides a tax on high cost employer-sponsored health coverage – if the aggregate cost of employer-sponsored coverage (referred to as “applicable coverage”) provided to an employee exceeds a statutory … Continue reading ACA Cadillac Tax Proposed Regs: What Treasury and IRS Are ConsideringMarch 10, 2015 |
As Employers Await Wellness Program Regulations From The EEOC, Congress Has ActedWe reported in December 2014, that the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) said it was planning to issue proposed regulations (scheduled for February 2015) that would “promot[e] consistency between the ADA and HIPAA, as amended by the ACA,” and “clarify[] that employers who offer wellness programs are free to adopt a certain type of inducement … Continue reading As Employers Await Wellness Program Regulations From The EEOC, Congress Has ActedMarch 4, 2015 |
Employee Relief Charities – The Unbenefit That Keeps On GivingEspecially during the holidays, but also throughout the year, both employers and employees often seek a means of financially assisting distressed coworkers and their families. The various methods of targeting relief to employees are summarized in IRS Publication 3833, DISASTER RELIEF, PROVIDING ASSISTANCE THROUGH CHARITABLE ORGANIZATIONS at http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/p3833.pdf. Some employers establish a “donor-advised fund” or … Continue reading Employee Relief Charities – The Unbenefit That Keeps On GivingDecember 23, 2014 |
EEOC Announces Intent to Propose Regulations That May Harmonize ADA and GINA with ACA Wellness Program RulesSince filing multiple litigations against employers concerning their wellness programs, including seeking a temporary restraining order against Honeywell International, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) has faced a significant amount of push back from many U.S. companies, their CEOs and other organizations. The reason … programs designed to be compliant with the wellness program rules … Continue reading EEOC Announces Intent to Propose Regulations That May Harmonize ADA and GINA with ACA Wellness Program RulesDecember 1, 2014 |
2014 Transitional Reinsurance Fee Reporting Deadline Extended to December 5, 2014The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has announced that the 2014 deadline for reporting the number of participants covered under a health plan for purposes of paying the 2014 Transitional Reinsurance Fee has been extended from November 15, 2014 to December 5, 2014. Insurers and sponsors of self-insured plans who have not already … Continue reading 2014 Transitional Reinsurance Fee Reporting Deadline Extended to December 5, 2014November 21, 2014 |