A spate of recent legislation and IRS guidance promises to make 2021 an active year for any employer seeking to provide its employees with a competitive array of employee benefits. My “top 5” list of employee benefits that an employer should introduce or enhance in 2021, to improve retention and/or
Articles about the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) and other issues relating to employee benefit topics
Congress Considers New Multiemployer Pension Reform
Without congressional intervention, about 100 multiemployer pension plans are expected to become insolvent in the next 20 years, and some much sooner. In other words, for these pension plans, their liabilities to retired employees and current employees with vested benefits far outweigh their assets and incoming contributions.
9th Circuit Decision Requires Employers to Reevaluate Expense Reimbursement Procedures
By: 9th Circuit Decision Requires Employers to Reevaluate Expense Reimbursement Procedures
This week, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals held that an employer’s per diem expense reimbursement payments functioned as compensation for work rather than business expense reimbursements. As a result, the employer was required to factor those per diem payments
U.S. Supreme Court: Courts Can Review Railroad Retirement Board’s Refusal to Reopen Claims
In a 5-4 decision, the U.S. Supreme Court has ruled that federal courts can review decisions by the U.S. Railroad Retirement Board denying claimants’ requests to reopen prior benefits denials. Salinas v. U.S. R.R. Ret. Bd., No. 19-199 (Feb. 3, 2021).
Justice Sonia Sotomayor, writing for the majority, explained the
The Emergency Pension Plan Relief Act Proposes Aid to Struggling Multiemployer Pension Plans
House Education and Labor Chairman Bobby Scott (D-VA) recently introduced legislation that seeks to provide aid to multiemployer pension plans (MEPs) facing insolvency. Entitled the Emergency Pension Plan Relief Act (EPPRA), the bill would fund this directly from the U.S. Treasury.
Consolidated Appropriations Act Underscores Mental Health Parity Compliance
The Consolidated Appropriations Act (CAA), 2021, enacted late in 2020, imposes a new requirement on group health plans to ensure compliance with the Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act (MHPAEA). Unlike many of the other provisions of the CAA that affect group health plans, the MHPAEA requirement under CAA
The Emergency Pension Plan Relief Act Proposes a Bailout of Struggling Multiemployer Pension Plans
House Education and Labor Chairman Bobby Scott (D-VA) recently introduced legislation that seeks to rescue multiemployer pension plans (MEPs) facing insolvency. Entitled the Emergency Pension Plan Relief Act (EPPRA), the bill would fund this rescue directly from the U.S. Treasury.
What Took So Long? Democrats Quickly Introduce Pension Relief Bill
House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Richard Neal (D-Mass.) introduced the Emergency Pension Plan Relief Act of 2021 (EPPRA) on January 21, 2021. EPPRA represents the latest legislative attempt to address the well-documented multiemployer pension crisis.
EPPRA is significant in that it is the first legislation introduced by Chairman Neal under the
Dealing With Missing Participants in Terminating Puerto Rico 401(k) Plans
For a host of legal and practical reasons, the only feasible alternative for disposing of the accounts of missing participants in a terminating 401(k) or other defined contribution retirement plan qualified only in Puerto Rico (commonly known as a “P.R.-only plan”) is, after making reasonable efforts to locate the missing
PBGC Finalizes its Rule Simplifying the Calculation of Withdrawal Liability for Multiemployer Pension Plans
On January 8, 2021, the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC) issued its final rule modifying the calculation of withdrawal liability by multiemployer pension plans. This final rule amends the agency’s regulations on allocating unfunded vested benefits to withdrawing employers (29 C.F.R. § 4211) and notice, collection, and redetermination of
BlackRock 401(k) Plan Class Action Headed for Trial
A class action alleging that BlackRock entities favored their own proprietary funds when selecting investment options for BlackRock’s 401(k) Plan is headed for trial after Judge Haywood S. Gilliam, Jr. denied both parties’ motions for summary judgment on January 12, 2021. Baird v. BlackRock Inst’l. Trust Co., No. 17-1892 (N.D.
Department of Labor Issues Final Proxy Voting Rules for ERISA Plan Fiduciaries
On December 11, 2020, the Department of Labor (DOL, or Department) issued final regulations providing rules under applicable provisions of ERISA concerning how plan fiduciaries should exercise shareholder rights, including proxy voting.
Use It, but Don’t Lose It: New Stimulus Law Extends Time to Spend Down 2020 Health FSA and Dependent Care Balances
Employers will now have additional options to address participants’ unspent contributions to dependent care or health flexible spending accounts (FSAs) resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic. The Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021 (H.R. 133, P.L. 116-260), signed into law on December 27, 2020, provides temporary relief for employees that were unable to
OCR Releases Report Summarizing HIPAA Privacy and Security Compliance Failures
In the final days of 2020, the Office for Civil Rights (OCR) at the U.S. Health and Human Service (HHS) released a HIPAA Audits Industry Report (“the Report”), that could be quite helpful to covered entities and business associates for tackling HIPAA compliance as we enter the new year. The
Surprise Medical Billing Protections Coming for Participants in 2022
Beginning in 2022, employer-sponsored health plans will be required to pay providers certain emergency and out-of-network charges that would have otherwise been balance billed to participants.
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