Employee benefits law often involves interaction between Congress, the Executive Branch, and the courts. That calls for an understanding of the politics of law reform and regulation. A recent...
Firm News
IRS Announces Cost-of-Living Adjustments Affecting Retirement Plans
The Internal Revenue Service announced cost-of-living adjustments affecting certain dollar limitations for pension plans and other retirement-related limitations for 2021 in Notice 2020-79. The...
Courts Decides ACA’s Individual Out-Of-Pocket Limits Do Not Apply Retroactively
The U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, in Fisher v. Aetna Life Ins. Co., has upheld its prior determination that a beneficiary was required to meet the ACA’s family...
Courts of Appeal Split on Circumstances Where it is Appropriate to Override the Arbitrary and Capricious Standard of Review
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit has ruled, in McIntyre v. Reliance Standard Life, that a claims decision will be judged under the arbitrary and capricious standard despite the fact...
Court Says Third Party Administrator May Be Held Liable for ERISA Fiduciary Breach and Consumer Fraud in Connection With Abbott Plan Data Breach
Another court has decided which ERISA plan fiduciaries can be held liable in connection with a data breach of a plan participant’s account. On October 2, 2020, the Northern District of Illinois, in...
IRS Again Extends Deadline for ALEs to Furnish ACA Reporting Forms to Employees
The IRS has issued Notice 2020-76, which provides an automatic deadline extension for Applicable Large Employers’ (“ALE”) reporting obligations to employees under the Affordable Care Act’s (“ACA”)...
The Wagner Law Group Asks DOL for Cybersecurity Guidance
By Stephen Wilkes and Livia Quan Aber We previously discussed cybersecurity best practices and provided the latest updates on recent ERISA cybertheft lawsuits here and here. With the proliferation...
Plan Participants Must be Informed of Plan Documents and Standards of Review
The Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals has ruled, in Lyn M. v. Premera Blue Cross, that the “arbitrary and capricious” standard cannot be applied to a plan administrator’s denial of a participant’s...
DOL Lifetime Income Disclosure Regulation
By Barry Salkin and Roberta Casper Watson In 2019, the SECURE Act amended Section 105 of ERISA. That section requires participant benefit statements to be distributed to participants and...
Employer May Be Held Liable for Service Provider’s Error
The Second Circuit Court of Appeals, in Sullivan-Mestecky v. Verizon Communications, Inc., has held that a plaintiff properly pled her breach of fiduciary duty claim for equitable relief against an...
DOL Responds to Decision of Southern District of New York Invalidating Four Provisions of the Family First Coronavirus Response Act
By Dannae Delano, Barry Salkin and Roberta Casper Watson On August 3, 2020, the District Court for the Southern District of New York ruled that four parts of the temporary rules adopted by the DOL...
Additional COVID-19 FAQs from the DOL About School Reopenings
The Department of Labor (“DOL”) has issued additional Frequently Asked Questions (“FAQs”) on the administration of Emergency Paid Sick Leave under the Families First Coronavirus Response Act...
Massachusetts Extends Annual Payroll Tax Exemption for Insured Plans
The Massachusetts Department of Family and Medical Leave has announced that the “annual” payroll tax exemptions received by employers for insured plans under the Paid Family and Medical Leave Law...
Ninth Circuit Rejects Request for Attorney’s Fees in ERISA Administrative Appeal
The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals has held, in Castillo v. Metropolitan Life Ins. Co., that ERISA does not authorize an award of attorney’s fees incurred during the administrative phase of the...
DOL Issues Proposed Regulations Establishing Registration Requirement for Pooled Plan Providers
By Barry Salkin and Susan Rees One objective of the Setting Every Community Up for Retirement Enhancement (“SECURE”) Act, which was enacted on December 20, 2019, was to expand retirement savings....
IRS and PBGC Provide Guidance on CARES Act Relief for Funding of Single Employer Defined Benefit Plans
By Barry Salkin and Livia Quan Aber One objective of the Coronavirus Aid Relief and Economic Security Act (“CARES Act”) was to provide relief to sponsors of tax-qualified defined benefit plans....
DOL Releases New FMLA Forms
The U.S. Department of Labor (“DOL”) has released updated Family and Medical Leave Act (“FMLA”) forms. Background. Certain posters and forms are required under the FMLA to inform employees of their...
August 31, 2020 IRS Deadlines Approaching
By Jon C. Schultze and Kimberly Shaw Elliott An August 31, 2020, deadline to take advantage of temporary relief provided by the Internal Revenue Service (“IRS”) to (i) individuals, and (ii) sponsors...
Federal District Court Invalidates Portions of the Final DOL Rules Implementing the Paid Leave Provisions of the Family First Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRA)
By Dannae Delano, Barry Salkin and Roberta Casper Watson The federal District Court for the Southern District of New York invalidated parts of the DOL’s final rules implementing the paid leave...
Proposed Changes to DOL Fiduciary Investment Regulation: What You Should Know and How The Wagner Law Group Responded
By Barry Salkin and Stephen Wilkes The Department of Labor (“DOL”) is poised to significantly change its rules on how ERISA plan fiduciaries should evaluate investment opportunities. The employee...
Employees May Choose Between Profit Sharing Plan and HRA Contributions
In Private Letter Ruling 202023001, the IRS has ruled that collectively bargained employees can allocate employer contributions between a profit sharing plan and a health reimbursement arrangement...
IRS Releases ACA Affordability Rates for 2021
The Internal Revenue Service has issued Revenue Procedure 2020-36 to implement the 2021 index adjustments for certain Affordable Care Act (“ACA”) contribution percentages used to determine...
Additional COVID-19 FAQs from the DOL
The Department of Labor (“DOL”) has issued additional Frequently Asked Questions (“FAQs”) on the administration of Emergency Paid Sick Leave (“EPSL”) and Emergency Family and Medical Leave (“EFMLA”)...
Agencies To Provide More Flexibility for Grandfathered Group Health Plans
The Department of Labor, Department of Health and Human Services (“HHS”), and the IRS (collectively, the “Agencies”) have issued proposed regulations that would provide greater flexibility for plan...
The Wagner Law Group Receives IRS Approval of its Defined Contribution Plan
The Wagner Law Group is pleased to announce that we have received IRS approval of our non-standardized defined contribution plan document, further bolstering our firm’s position at the forefront of...
The DOL’s Final Regulations on E-Disclosure of Retirement Plan Documents Become Effective Soon – Are You Ready?
By Livia Q. Aber and Barry Salkin In August 2018, President Trump issued Executive Order 13847, Strengthening Retirement Security in America, one portion of which asked government agencies to...
Multiemployer Plan Withdrawal Liability Assumptions Under Attack
Three recent decisions illustrate the threats facing multiemployer plans as they struggle to collect withdrawal liability while trying to forestall insolvency. We covered those issues here. In...
Plan Sponsor and Service Provider Submit Dueling Motions to Dismiss in Response to Data Breach Suit
Further demonstrating the lack of clarity on who is liable when a plan suffers a data breach, on June 30th, Abbott Laboratories and Alight Solutions, pointed fingers at each other in dueling motions...
COVID-19 Leave and Summer Camp Closures
The Department of Labor (“DOL”) has issued Field Assistance Bulletin No. 2020-4 ("FAB 2020-4") to provide guidance on when an employee may take paid leave under the Families First Coronavirus...
DOL Reinstates Five-Part Fiduciary Status Test and Proposes Class Exemption
By Livia Quan Aber, Barry Salkin and Stephen Wilkes On June 29, 2020, the DOL issued a rulemaking package consisting of a final rule (“Final Rule”) implementing the vacatur of the...
Multiple Employer Plans and Participating Employers Given the Opportunity to Contribute to Guidance Development on Pooled Employer Plans under the SECURE Act
On June 18, 2020, the Department of Labor took the next step toward providing guidance for multiple employer plans (MEPs) by issuing a Request for Information (RFI) seeking public comment on whether...
Agencies Issue Further Guidance on COVID-19
The Department of Labor, Department of Health and Human Services, and the IRS (the “Agencies”) have issued Frequently Asked Questions #43 (“FAQs”) regarding implementation of the Families First...
1557 Rule Changes and Bostock
The Department of Health and Human Services (“HHS”) announced on June 12, 2020, as part of a new final regulation (the “Final Rule”), that it had eliminated Obama-era nondiscrimination rules under...
Massachusetts Announces Individual Mandate Figures for 2021
Although the penalties under the Affordable Care Act’s individual mandate were eliminated in 2017, Massachusetts has continued its own individual health insurance mandate as well as associated...
IRS Issues Guidance on COVID-19 Leave Donation Programs
The IRS has issued Notice 2020-46 to explain the tax consequences of employer-based COVID-19 leave donation programs. Background. The IRS recognized that, in response to the need to provide relief...
DOL Offers Guidance to Fiduciaries Considering Private Equity Investments in Defined Contribution Plans
By Barry Salkin, Livia Quan Aber and Stephen Wilkes One of the key tasks for fiduciaries of a participant-directed individual account plan is selecting appropriate investment options. Reminding...
ACA Out-of-Pocket Limit and PCORI Fee Announced
HHS and IRS have announced inflation-adjusted out-of-pocket (“OOP”) limits that will apply to non-grandfathered health plans for plan years beginning in 2021, and the indexed PCORI fee. The OOP...
IRS Temporarily Eases Witness and Notarization Requirements for Certain Retirement Plan Participant Elections
On June 3, the Internal Revenue Service provided temporary relief from the requirement in IRS regulations that certain participant elections must be witnessed in the physical presence of a plan...
Paycheck Protection Program Flexibility Act of 2020 Passes Senate
by Barry Salkin, Roberta Casper Watson and Livia Quan Aber The Paycheck Protection Program (“PPP”), which was enacted as part of the CARES Act, allows businesses to borrow funds that are guaranteed...
Court Decision Highlights the Dangers of Cybersecurity Breaches for Both Plan Sponsors and Plan Service Providers
On May 27, 2020, the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, in Leventhal v. MandMarblestone Group, LLC, handed down a decision that highlights the dangers facing both plan sponsors and plan service...
DOL and IRS Extend Certain Deadlines for Welfare Plans and Participants
The DOL and IRS have issued COVID-19 related guidance that temporarily extends certain deadlines applicable to welfare plans and their participants and beneficiaries. COVID-19 Related Guidance. In...
Supreme Court Concludes Defined Benefit Pension Plan Participants Do Not Have Standing To Bring Breach of Fiduciary Duty Claim
The Supreme Court has long recognized that one of ERISA's principal purposes was to make “sure that if a worker has been promised a defined pension benefit upon retirement - and if he has fulfilled...
IRS Announces 2021 HSA Limits
The IRS has announced the 2021 calendar year dollar limits for health savings account (“HSA”) contributions, and the minimum deductible amounts and maximum out-of-pocket expenses for high deductible...
Employee Retention Tax Credit Under the CARES Act
by Barry Salkin, Roberta Casper Watson and Livia Quan Aber The Families First Coronavirus Response Act (the “FFCRA”) established tax credits under the Emergency Paid Sick Leave Act and the Emergency...
IRS Relaxes Rules for Cafeteria Plan Mid-Year Election Changes
The IRS, in Notice 2020-29, has relaxed the mid-year election change rules for cafeteria plans due to the nature of the public health emergency imposed by COVID-19, extended grace and carryover...
DOL Issues Revised COBRA Notices
The Department of Labor (“DOL”) has issued updated versions of its model general notice and model election notice to ensure that qualified beneficiaries better understand the...
Cybersecurity and Retirement Plans: What Plan Sponsors Should Do
Cybersecurity breaches of retirement plan participant accounts have occurred with increasing frequency in recent years. Just this past April, a plan participant filed a complaint alleging...
Retirement Plan Provisions of CARES Act Updated to Reflect IRS Guidance Issued May 4, 2020
The third COVID-19 Stimulus package has provisions regarding retirement plans, including expanded and penalty-free withdrawal rights, expanded loan rights, extended rights to repay loans and...
Federal Agencies Extend Deadlines for COBRA and Health Plan Claims, Appeals, and Special Enrollments
In coordination, the Department of Labor, the Department of Health and Human Services, and the Internal Revenue Service (collectively, the “Agencies”) have extended deadlines for multiple events...
IRS Extends Deadlines for Certain Filings and Actions for Employee Welfare Benefits Plan
The IRS has issued Notice 2020-23 to provide employers, employees and retirement plan service providers with relief from business disruptions from the COVID-19 pandemic. Notice 2020-23 automatically...