Employment
Subscribe to Employment's Posts

District Court Dismisses Shareholder Claim that Equity Award Share Withholding Triggers Section 16(b) Liability

A US District Court recently dismissed a claim that an insider’s election to satisfy an income tax obligation by having shares withheld from the delivery of an award constituted a non-exempt sale of shares back to the issuer for purposes of Section 16(b) of the Exchange Act, unless the share withholding was required, rather than merely permitted.

While an encouraging development, this decision is now on appeal to the US Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit and there are similar unresolved complaints in other jurisdictions. Until this matter is resolved, public companies should continue to consider what steps are appropriate to avoid Section 16 exposure and to review this situation with their executive officers.

Read the full article.




read more

Upcoming Employee Benefits Innovators Roundtable Series!

McDermott will be holding its annual Employee Benefits Innovators Roundtable Series this month. The roundtables offer experienced benefits professionals an opportunity to discuss cutting-edge, topical employer-driven benefit programs with their peers and members of McDermott’s employee benefits team. We are meeting in four locations this year. Join us in one of the following cities:

May 9 | Silicon Valley, California

May 11 | Los Angeles, California

May 22 | Chicago, Illinois

May 24 | New York, New York

The topics for our roundtable series sessions will include:

  • The Future of Employee Benefits Under the Trump Administration
  • Should Your Plan Cover All Drugs? (FDA-Approved/Unapproved, Off-Label, Marijuana, etc.)
  • ERISA Retirement Plan Fee Litigation – Learning From Recent Class Actions
  • Paying Off Student Loans as an Employee Benefit
  • Equal Privacy and Cybersecurity – Now Part of Your Plan’s Independent Audit
  • Human Rights Campaign (HRC) Equality Index – Opposite-Sex Domestic Partner Benefit

 

For more information about how to register for one of our roundtables, please contact Erin Nelson.




read more

Employee Benefits Programs in May

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




read more

Advising the ‘Cultural Revolution’ in the Boardroom

Michael Peregrine wrote this bylined article analyzing what he called the “significant emerging governance trend” in which corporate boards proactively exercise “more vigorous and direct oversight of the organization’s corporate culture,” reflecting “an increasing awareness of how matters of culture and reputation correlate to the success of an organization, and to the board’s efforts to sustain long-term corporate objectives.”

Read the full article.




read more

IRS Issues Revised Requirements for Employers to Claim FICA Tax Refunds

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.

 




read more

UK Employment Alert: Gender Pay Gap Reporting: What You Need to Know

McDermott’s “Key Employment Law Events in 2017 and Beyond” update highlighted the upcoming regulations requiring certain employers to report on the gender pay gap in their workforce (Equality Act 2010 (Gender Pay Gap Information) Regulations 2017) (the Regulations). Under these Regulations, from April 2017, large private and voluntary sector UK employers will be required annually to calculate and publish a range of gender pay information regarding their workforce.

Read full article.




read more

Structuring Private Equity Deals in 2017: Considerations for Buyers While They Wait for the Sun Capital Appeals to Play Out

Sun Capital Partners III, LP v. New England Teamsters and Trucking Industry Pension Fund has been analyzed extensively over the past four years, as it has made its way from the US District Court for the District of Massachusetts to the First Circuit Court of Appeals and back again. With the case once again on appeal, we must wait to see how the latest court decision will further influence the structure of private equity deals. In the meantime, private equity funds should use the most recent District Court and First Circuit Sun Capital decisions as a road map for structuring deals where the target portfolio company has defined benefit pension plan or multiemployer pension plan liabilities.

Read full article.




read more

Understanding Equal Pay Laws and Avoiding and Defending Pay Equity Claims

The federal government’s focus on pay equity and pay data, and the passage of groundbreaking equal pay laws in a number of states, has been one of the biggest employment law developments of 2016. Litigation involving pay equity claims has also risen in the past year. Given the increased focus on pay equity from these multiple sources, employers are well-advised to examine their compensation policies and practices.  Understanding and applying the varying tests for pay equity under federal and state statutes can pose a challenge, however.

On January 24, McDermott hosted an in-depth webinar to discuss the federal Equal Pay Act; state equal pay laws; the EEOC’s pay data rule; how to conduct a pay equity study; and employer defenses to pay equity claims.

To view the archived presentation slides, please click here.

To view the archived webinar, please click here.




read more

BLOG EDITORS

STAY CONNECTED

TOPICS

ARCHIVES

Top ranked chambers 2022
US leading firm 2022