ERISA

The DOL and IRS announced a proposal to implement significant changes to forms and regulations that govern annual employee benefit plan reporting.

Generally speaking, many employers do not think about ERISA when it comes to severance, whether at the front end, when employment agreements or policies are negotiated and planned, or at the back end, when termination occurs and the severance is paid.

The new penalties for the Employee Retirement Income Security Act are set to climb next month.

‘Favoring’ individual employees is permitted in some cases, but seldom recommended, says HUB’s Dennis Fiszer.

‘Favoring’ individual employees is permitted in some cases, but seldom recommended, says HUB’s Dennis Fiszer.

The new rules were developed in consultation with the SEC, the Labor secretary adds.

Now that the sharply contested rule is the law of the land, a senior Labor Department official says the department looks to help with compliance, not find targets to sue.

Now that the sharply contested rule is the law of the land, a senior DoL official says the department looks to help with compliance, not find targets to sue.

A Massachusetts district court recently ruled that two affiliated private equity funds were liable for the unfunded vested benefits owed to a multiemployer pension fund by its bankrupt portfolio company.

With reporting requirements soaring, brokers are turning to their own regulatory division to help clients, says Richard Asensio, director of compliance at Burnham Benefits.

Pension plans and welfare plan all store personal data on each participant and beneficiary, ranging from social security numbers and addresses to date of birth and health information. The more immediate and available personal data becomes, the greater the risk for a potential breach or unauthorized disclosure or access, as is evident from the cyber attacks on major retail operations, health care providers and the government.

The DOL’s rule is good news for plan sponsors, but many are still confused, says registered investment adviser Robert Lawton.

Retirement plan industry experts are greeting the Department of Labor’s plans, which will force employers to be more cautious when hiring advisers, with a mix of caution and optimism.

Advisers can help employers pay close attention to these items to avoid catching the eye of the DOL.

Following a suit filed in federal court, employers are advised to be careful about how they communicate changes to employees’ hours.

Plan sponsors should stand their ground to discourage plaintiffs from pursuing more lawsuits, says one expert.

Following a suit filed in New York federal court, employers are advised to be extremely careful about how they communicate changes to employees’ hours.

Lawsuits can’t be avoided, so advisers should focus on helping clients improve their processes, one expert says.

In the first case of its kind, a federal court in New York City has recently given employers some potential instruction on how it views the inevitable interplay between the ERISA and the ACA.

Why legal experts say the recent SCOTUS decision on state healthcare database laws relieves plan sponsors from burdensome reporting requirements.