In Field Assistance Bulletin 2021-03 (12/31/21) (FAB), the Department of Labor (DOL) issued guidance and temporary enforcement policy to address the new 408(b)(2) disclosure requirements that apply to certain service providers to group health plans. The Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2021 amended ERISA Section 408(b)(2) to extend the disclosure requirements that have long applied to […]
The DOL recently issued a final rule (“Rule”) providing guidance on the long-standing issue of whether ERISA fiduciaries are permitted to consider non-pecuniary factors while making investments (or selecting investment funds) that promote one or more environmental, social or corporate governance goals (so called “ESG Investments”). The preamble to the Rule acknowledges that ERISA fiduciaries […]
As the saying goes, “drastic times call for drastic measures” and, from an economic standpoint, these are drastic times. To fight the battle to stay in business many employers are considering a wide range of alternatives, including employee furloughs, layoffs and terminations. While some employers may also consider sweeping salary reductions, other employers may consider […]
Companies in the medical and recreational marijuana industry continue to face an uphill battle for access to financial services. Although a number of states have legalized the medicinal and/or recreational use of marijuana, marijuana remains classified as a Schedule I drug subject to the federal Controlled Substances Act. As such, financial services companies that wish […]
A three-judge panel of the Ninth Circuit recently decided that Charles Schwab Corp. can require a proposed class action to arbitrate its claim that Schwab breached its fiduciary duties by including Schwab-affiliated investment funds in the Plan, despite the funds’ poor performance, to generate fees for Schwab and its affiliates. In doing so, the Ninth […]
The IRS recently issued its latest version of the Employee Plans Compliance Resolution System (“EPCRS”) in Rev. Proc. 2019-19. The EPCRS is the IRS program that assists employers in correcting both operational and document failures with respect to qualified retirement plans. There are several welcome changes to the new EPCRS, including: Certain plan loan failures […]
In Notice 2019-09 (“Notice”), the IRS provides relief from the new excise tax to certain colleges and universities that pay their “covered employees” more than $1 million per year or pay excess parachute payments. Specifically, the Notice provides that the new excise tax under Code Section 4960 does not apply to a governmental entity (including […]
On August 21, 2018, the IRS released Notice 2018-68 providing its initial guidance on the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (Act) transition rule for changes under 162(m). Before the Act, 162(m) limited a public company’s tax deduction to $1,000,000 for annual compensation paid to its “covered employees” (i.e., the CEO and the other three most […]
Hardly a week goes by without another announcement of a high-profile data security breach. The list of data breaches impacting high-profile employers and their employees just in 2017 is long. Protecting our sensitive data is becoming a top priority for us all. Recognizing this need, employer-provided identity theft protection is one of the fastest growing […]
If you are one of the lucky few employees who participate in an employer’s defined benefit retirement plan, you previously had to choose between receiving your benefits in a lump sum or in annuity payments. However, in the final rule adopted by the Treasury Department, defined benefit plans are allowed to offer participants the choice […]
