Employee Benefits Archives | Page 84 of 151

State-Run Retirement Plans – What Labor Allowed

by Andrew Liazos | May 2, 2017 | Employee Benefits, Retirement Plans

With approximately 68 million US employees without access to a retirement savings plan through an employer, there has been increased movement by states to sponsor retirement type arrangements for private sector employees. Partner Andrew Liazos presented “State-Run Retirement Plans – What Labor Allowed” discussing insights and strategies for retirement, health and executive compensation plans. He addresses the various state retirement plan approaches, such as auto enrollment IRAs, state marketplaces, prototype plans and Medical Expenditure Panel Surveys.

View full presentation.

Employee Benefits Programs in May

by Lisa Schmitz Mazur, Ruth Wimer, McDermott Will & Emery, Jacob Mattinson, Joseph K. Urwitz and Lisa Loesel | Apr 27, 2017 | Employee Benefits, Employment, Labor, Retirement Plans

Join members of the McDermott Employee Benefits team in May at one of these programs covering a variety of employee benefits topics.

The John Marshall Law School The Center for Tax Law & Employee Benefits 14th Annual Employee Benefits Symposium | May 1, 2017 | Chicago, Illinois | Speaker, Joseph S. Adams

Proposed 457(f) Regulations: Opportunities and Challenges | May 3, 2017 | Webinar presented by Mary K. Samsa, Joseph K. Urwitz, Ruth Wimer

M&A Workshop: New Developments and Key Legal and Tax Issues Throughout the Life Cycle of a Deal | May 4, 2017 | Chicago, Illinois | Speaker, Joseph S. Adams

Benefits Emerging Leaders Working Group | May 10, 2017 | Chicago, Illinois | Speakers, Lisa K. Loesel, Lisa Schmitz Mazur, Jacob M. Mattinson, Jeffrey Arnold, Sarah Raaii

Puerto Rico Legislation May Require Changes to Retirement Plans

by Jeffrey Holdvogt and Maggie McTigue | Apr 20, 2017 | Employee Benefits, Retirement Plans

Puerto Rico enacted new legislation in February that will require changes to tax-qualified retirement plans covering Puerto Rico employees, including both Puerto Rico-only and dual-qualified (US and Puerto Rico) retirement plans. Act No. 9-2017 revises a number of Puerto Rico qualified retirement plan rules including contribution limits, rules related to nondiscrimination testing and employer deductions for retirement plan contributions. Questions remain about how and when to implement these changes, but the 2017 Act became effective immediate upon enactment, so plan sponsors should be prepared for the possibility of mid-year 2017 changes to their retirement plans.

Read the full article.

How to Prep for a Separation from a Parent Company

by McDermott Will & Emery | Apr 18, 2017 | Employee Benefits

As more and more advisers continue to transition from the role of the product salesman to benefit facilitator, knowing what to do in the event of the client entering into a corporate spinoff can be critical.

John Hendrickson, partner at McDermott Will & Emery, says he is beginning to see a trend in corporate spinoffs and ensuring advisers have the tools necessary to assist in this transition could be imperative.

To breakdown the key points advisers should focus on during this transition, Hendrickson has highlighted 10 items to consider in a corporate spinoff.

Read the full article.

IRS Issues Revised Requirements for Employers to Claim FICA Tax Refunds

by Kevin Spencer and Ruth Wimer | Apr 13, 2017 | Benefit Controversies, Employee Benefits, Employment

On March 20, 2017, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) issued Revenue Procedure 2017-28, which provides guidance to employers on obtaining employee consents used to support a claim for credit or refund of overpaid taxes under the Federal Insurance Contributions Act (FICA) and the Railroad Retirement Tax Act (RRTA). This OTS describes the new procedures and provides valuable information regarding the rules for amending past employment tax returns due to the over- or under-payment of Social Security, Medicare and Federal income tax on employee wages.

Read the full article.

IRS Will Now Permit DC Plan Hardship Withdrawal Self-Certification Summaries

by Maggie McTigue | Apr 6, 2017 | Employee Benefits, Retirement Plans

Two recently published memoranda by the Internal Revenue Service (the IRS) indicate that it is permissible for 401(k) and 403(b) plan sponsors and their third party administrators (TPAs) to rely on participants’ written summaries describing their financial hardships when processing hardship withdrawals from plans that apply the safe harbor event rules. Plan sponsors and TPAs may find relief from the former time-consuming, manual reviews of participants’ hardship withdrawal documentation.

Read the full article.

View From McDermott: Employee Benefit Plan Considerations for Health Systems in 2017

by Jeffrey Holdvogt and Mary K. Samsa | Apr 4, 2017 | Employee Benefits, Health and Welfare Plans

Amy Gordon, Jeffrey Holdvogt, Susan Nash and Mary Samsa wrote this bylined article on health system employee benefit opportunities and challenges in 2017. The authors urged health systems to review internal controls for 403(b) plan compliance and new design opportunities for 457(f) plans, to review their short- and long-term health plan operation in light of any Affordable Care Act replacement.

Read the full article.

Private Equity Compliance with ERISA: Navigating Manager Fiduciary Duties for Funds Holding ERISA Plan Assets

by McDermott Will & Emery and Todd Solomon | Mar 30, 2017 | Employee Benefits, Fiduciary and Investment Issues

On February 28, Todd Solomon and Maureen O’Brien presented a Strafford live webinar, “Private Equity Compliance With ERISA: Navigating Manager Fiduciary Duties for Funds Holding ERISA Plan Assets”. ERISA imposes fiduciary obligations on funds that hold employee benefit plan assets, including private equity managers responsible for investing fund assets. Managing those fiduciary obligations requires knowledge of the ERISA plan asset requirements. In addition, last year’s Sun Capital decision has broad implications for private equity funds and their investors. The ruling subjects funds to joint and several liabilities for the ERISA pension obligations of their portfolio companies. These slides discuss the ERISA fiduciary issues relevant to private equity funds and the implications of the most recent Sun Capital case.

View the full presentation.

Manager Amendments to the American Health Care Act

by McDermott Will & Emery | Mar 23, 2017 | Employee Benefits, Health and Welfare Plans

On Monday March 20, 2017, technical and policy amendments to the American Health Care Act of 2017 (AHCA) were introduced to address concerns by more conservative Republicans. The House just announced they are delaying the vote on the AHCA likely due to the uncertainty that it would pass.

Read the full article.

Telehealth Benefits on the Rise Despite Low Employee Utilization

by Lisa Schmitz Mazur | Mar 21, 2017 | Employee Benefits, Health and Welfare Plans, Privacy and Data Security

Lisa Schmitz Mazur wrote this bylined article on the challenges employers face in getting employees to use telehealth benefits. Suggesting that employees either are unaware of or are hesitant to use these benefits, Ms. Mazur wrote that “employers and telehealth providers must develop and implement (often in tandem) strategies for addressing these barriers to increase employee utilization.”

Read the full article.

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