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Compliance

Court grants preliminary approval to settlement of  Wal‐Mart 401(k) fee lawsuit

On December 5, 2011, the United States District Court for the Western District of Missouri granted preliminary approval to a proposed settlement of the Wal‐Mart 401(k) fee lawsuit (Braden v. Wal‐Mart Stores, Inc.). Under the proposed settlement, the defendants will pay a total of $13,500,000. The settlement also describes several potential changes to the plan's investment options, investment education programs and participant disclosures. …

By Joshua Coleman

Pros and cons of severance agreements

Employers who pay out severance to their employees run certain risks that need to be considered beforehand. Some employers have learned the hard way that severance agreements aren't always the best course of action. Last year, the University of Oregon received bad press when it was discovered that former head coach Mike Bellotti received a substantial payout upon his departure. …

Richard R. Meneghello
By Richard R. Meneghello
Partner
Fisher & Phillips

Walmart, Merrill Lynch pay $13.5M in 401(k) lawsuit

Walmart, the world’s largest private employer, and Merrill Lynch, without admitting to wrongdoing, have agreed to pay $13.5 million in a class-action lawsuit accusing them of breaching their fiduciary duty to two million past and present Walmart workers. The suit was settled in Kansas City federal court.

Lee Barney
By Lee Barney
Editor-In-Chief
Money Management Executive

Maintaining status takes planning

Prior to 2006, employers were required to submit determination letter requests to the IRS during certain periods. These periods – during which plans were required to be amended for various tax acts, such as the Economic Growth and Tax Relief Reconciliation Act of 2001 – are referred to as the remedial amendment periods. In Revenue Procedure 2005-66, as modified by Revenue Procedure 2007-44, the IRS created a staggered determination letter program. This process was established to spread the IRS' work over a period of years, thus freeing up resources to perform retirement plan audits. The periods to submit qualified retirement plans for determination letters are based upon a plan sponsor's employer identification number.

Frank Palmieri
By Frank Palmieri
Partner
Palmieri & Eisenberg

Senate bill would nullify specialty health care decision

Last Thursday, Sen. Johnny Isakson (R-GA) introduced the Representation Fairness Restoration Act (S. 1843), a bill that would effectively revoke the National Labor Relations Board’s recent decision in Specialty Healthcare, and establish criteria for determining an appropriate bargaining unit. In Specialty Healthcare, the Board determined a petitioned-for unit will be deemed appropriate so long as that unit consists of a clearly identifiable group of employees. If an employer contends that the unit should include additional…

By Ilyse Wolens Schuman
Co-chair of the Workplace Policy Institute
Littler Mendelson

Want an easy and cost-effective defense to employment discrimination claims? Provide harassment training for your employees

Harassment training? If you read the title of this blog out loud and heard groans from other people in your office, I understand. In fact, when I have done harassment training for clients, I have heard every complaint and bad joke about harassment training there is. Harassment training is one of those dreaded exercises by employees and management alike. Indeed, harassment training has become comedy fodder for many a tv sitcom. My personal favorite is still…

By Christina Stoneburner

Appellate court defines duty to indemnify for California employers

A California appellate court has carved out an exception to the general rule that employers in California have a duty to reimburse legal expenses of employees whenever they are sued over conduct engaged in during the course and scope of their employment. No such duty exists, the court held, when the employer sues the employee—even if the employee is ultimately successful in defending the case. …

By John R. Carrigan, Jr.

Pension court ruling comes down, provides new guidance

In Tomlinson v. El Paso Corporation, the United States Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit recently held that El Paso Corporation’s transition to a cash balance pension plan did not violate federal anti-age discrimination and pension laws. In doing so, the court offered important guidance to employers that provide pension benefits to their employees. …

By Darren E. Nadel

National Labor Relations Board delays deadline for posting employee rights notice

Amidst resistance and apparent confusion surrounding its new employee rights notice-posting rule, the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) has pushed back the rule’s effective date by more than two months. Employers affected by the rule must now post the notice by January 31, 2012. The rule, which requires employers to post a notice of workplace employee rights under the National Labor Relations Act, was previously slated to go into effect November 14, 2011. The NLRB…

By Geoffrey D. Bruen

IRS cell phone guidance clears the air

The IRS recently issued Notice 2011‐72 and a Memorandum for All Field Examination Operations, which provide a road‐map for employers to avoid taxing employees on cell phone expenses. Following the de‐listing of cell phones as "listed property" from Code section 274(d) last year, there has continued to be some uncertainty on the proper tax treatment of employer‐provided cell phones (and reimbursements of cell phone costs). This guidance, summarized below, clarifies the proper tax treatment and…

By Elizabeth T. Dold

Restrictive covenants in Illinois: The law may be a-changin’

Until recently, most legal practitioners considered Illinois law well established in the area of employee restrictive covenants, including non-compete and non-solicitation agreements. Now, however, things could easily be described as a bit murky because recent decisions have called into question some basic principles of restrictive covenants. One Illinois appellate court, for example, has completely gone its own way, cavalierly jettisoning long-accepted jurisprudence. Another court has been at least willing to consider modifying well-known principles. So,…

By Anthony C. Valiulis

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