Employee Benefits Archives | Page 90 of 151

Recent IRS Guidance Prohibits Lump-Sum Windows for Pension Retirees, Updates Pension Mortality Tables for 2016

by Jeffrey Holdvogt and Maggie McTigue | Sep 3, 2015 | Employee Benefits, Employment, Retirement Plans

The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) recently issued two significant notices for employers that sponsor defined benefit pension plans, particularly those considering lump-sum windows as a “de-risking” option for their plans. In Notice 2015-49, the IRS notified plan sponsors that they are no longer permitted to offer retirees in pay status the option to take a lump-sum payment in lieu of ongoing annuity payments. Plan sponsors may, however, continue to offer a lump-sum payment option to deferred vested participants not in pay status. In Notice 2015-53, the IRS released updated mortality tables for 2016 and delayed the issuance of new regulations, which could incorporate new mortality assumptions recommended by the Society of Actuaries that many believe would increase pension funding liabilities and minimum lump-sum payments.

Read the full article.

DOL Clarifies Fiduciary Duties for Defined Contribution Plan Sponsors Offering Annuity Contracts

by Brian Tiemann and Joseph K. Urwitz | Sep 1, 2015 | Benefit Controversies, Employee Benefits, Fiduciary and Investment Issues, Retirement Plans

The availability of annuity options under defined contribution plans has increased in recent years due to the shift from defined benefit to defined contribution plans. The U.S. Department of Labor recently issued new guidance that clarifies the legal responsibilities for fiduciaries who select an annuity provider for a defined contribution plan.

Read the full article.

California Amends Its Healthy Workplaces, Healthy Families Law

by Chris C. Scheithauer and Michael T. Graham | Aug 14, 2015 | Employee Benefits, Employment, Executive Compensation, Health and Welfare Plans, Labor

As previously reported, California’s Healthy Workplaces, Healthy Families Act of 2014 (California’s Sick Leave Law) took full effect on July 1, 2015, although some provisions were effective as of January 1, 2015. The new law generally requires most employers to allow employees to accrue paid sick leave. This On the Subject discussed requirements employers must meet, including Assembly Bill 304, which amends California’s Sick Leave Law to make immediate changes.

Read the full article.

China Issues New Guiding Opinions for Public Hospital Reform

by McDermott Will & Emery | Jul 28, 2015 | Employee Benefits

In order to direct the ongoing reform of Chinese public hospitals, the Chinese central government recently issued the Guiding Opinions on Pilot Comprehensive Reform of Urban Public Hospitals, which highlight various strategies to replace the current profit-driven model, reduce patients’ medical expenditures, improve the current management system, establish appropriate remuneration mechanisms to motivate medical personnel, and optimize the distribution of medical resources.

Read the full article here.

WEBCAST: The Future of Benefits for Same-Sex Spouses and Partners

by McDermott Will & Emery | Jul 23, 2015 | Employee Benefits, Employment

Thursday, July 30, 2015
12:00 – 1:00 pm EDT

On June 26, 2015, the Supreme Court of the United States ruled in Obergefell v. Hodges that it is unconstitutional for a state to ban same-sex couples from exercising the fundamental right to marry. All states are now required to permit same-sex couples to marry and to recognize same-sex marriages validly entered into in other jurisdictions.

McDermott Will & Emery invites you to a live webcast to discuss the impact of this landmark decision on employee benefit plan sponsors and to address key considerations for employer-provided plans, including:

An up-to-date description of federal and state taxation of health and welfare benefits
A summary of steps employers must take in light of the Supreme Court’s decision
The future of employee benefits for unmarried same-sex and opposite-sex partners

Click here to view the event listing.

King v. Burwell Decision Upholds Subsidies in Federal Exchanges

by Ankur J. Goel, Eric Zimmerman, H. Guy Collier and Jeremy Earl | Jul 2, 2015 | Benefit Controversies, Employee Benefits, Fiduciary and Investment Issues, Health and Welfare Plans, Labor

On June 25, 2015, the Supreme Court of the United States ruled in King v. Burwell that the Affordable Care Act (ACA) requires premium tax credits to be made available in states that use a federal exchange. The case challenged an Internal Revenue Service (IRS) regulation allowing tax credits in federal exchanges. The Supreme Court upheld the regulation as consistent with the statute. Our On the Subject provides a discussion on the issue.

Click here to read the full article.

Supreme Court Rejects Latest Challenge to Affordable Care Act: What Are Employers’ Obligations Going Forward?

by Jacob Mattinson | Jun 30, 2015 | Benefit Controversies, Employee Benefits, Employment, Fiduciary and Investment Issues, Health and Welfare Plans

On June 25, 2015, the Supreme Court of the United States upheld one of the main pillars of the Affordable Care Act (ACA): the tax credits that allow millions of Americans to afford health care insurance on the public exchanges. In King v. Burwell, Chief Justice Roberts, writing for a 6–3 majority, held that middle- and low-income individuals who purchase health care insurance through a federally facilitated health care exchange are entitled to the same tax credits that are available to purchasers through state-run health care exchanges. The ruling puts to rest one of the remaining challenges to the general framework of the ACA. Accordingly, our On the Subject discusses how employers should continue to plan for compliance with the current and upcoming obligations required under the ACA.

Read the full article.

McDermott’s Todd Solomon Discusses Same-Sex Employee Benefits with the Wall Street Journal

by Diane Morgenthaler and McDermott Will & Emery | May 14, 2015 | Benefit Controversies, Employee Benefits, Employment, Executive Compensation, Fiduciary and Investment Issues, Health and Welfare Plans, Retirement Plans

As the U.S. Supreme Court weighs whether gay couples are constitutionally entitled to marry, more companies in states with marriage equality have begun to mandate that gay employees marry in order to maintain benefits, including health care coverage. In a recent interview with the Wall Street Journal, McDermott partner Todd Solomon discusses the shifting terrain of coverage and benefits that companies offer unmarried gay partners. McDermott lawyers have been monitoring domestic partnership benefits for almost two decades, and, as Mr. Solomon notes, the landscape is definitely changing.

Read the full article, “Firms Tell Gay Couples: Wed or Lose Your Benefits,” in the Wall Street Journal.

DOL Provides Greater Flexibility for Distribution of Annual Participant Fee Disclosure Effective Immediately

by Diane Morgenthaler, Jeffrey Holdvogt and Maggie McTigue | Apr 23, 2015 | Employee Benefits, Employment

New guidance by the U.S. Department of Labor provides defined contribution plan administrators with additional flexibility to extend the 12-month period to a 14-month period for distribution of the required annual fee disclosure to plan participants and beneficiaries.

Read the full article.

UK Employment Alert: Flexibility Clauses: Worth the Paper They’re Written On?

by Katie Clark | Mar 17, 2015 | Employee Benefits, Employment

A recent decision by the Employment Appeal Tribunal (Norman & Others v National Audit Office [2014] UKEAT 0276/14/1512) has emphasised the need for employers to ensure that “flexibility clauses” are drafted unambiguously and have contractual effect if they are to be effective.

Read the full article.

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