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After Donald Trump's election victory, many are wondering what to expect with respect to the Department of Labor's recently adopted fiduciary rule governing investment advice related to retirement plan assets. While President-Elect Trump has not yet specifically...
Today, the Internal Revenue Service announced cost-of-living adjustments affecting certain dollar limitations for pension plans and other retirement-related limitations for 2017, as detailed in Notice 2016-62. The following chart details the 2017 retirement plan...
The Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals determined, in Gomez v. Ericsson, Inc., that an employer's severance plan was governed by ERISA because it required ongoing administration and allowed the employer to make discretionary decisions on eligibility and benefit amounts....
The IRS has released final 2016 Forms 1094-C and 1095-C along with instructions for each. They confirm that the Affordable Care Act ("ACA") reporting requirements for 2016 are similar to those for 2015, except for several minor changes, some of which are explained...
A U.S. District Court has determined, in Perez v. Scott Brain, that an employee benefit trust fund's trustee and legal counsel engaged in illegal activity when they retaliated against a fund employee who communicated with the Department of Labor ("DOL") during its...
Despite ERISA's preemption clause, a federal district court has upheld, in Thomas vs. Aetna Life insurance Co., a California law prohibiting discretionary clauses in ERISA-covered plans. Background. An employee in California was injured in an automobile accident and...
A U.S. District Court has determined, in Van Loo v. Cajun Operating Company, that an employer that self-administered a life insurance plan breached its fiduciary duty under ERISA when it inadvertently misrepresented an employee's level of life insurance coverage. As a...
The IRS has clarified that an employer's internal classifications and work-time restrictions are not taken into account for purposes of determining the employer's shared responsibility and penalties. Specifically, IRS Information Letter 2016-0030 discusses an employer...
On April 6, 2016, the U.S. Department of Labor ("DOL") released its final rule on fiduciary investment advice and its related exemptions ("Fiduciary Rule") that greatly expands the list of activities that make one a fiduciary and the entities that will be treated as...
The IRS has released draft instructions for the 2016 Forms 1094-C and 1095-C. They confirm that the Affordable Care Act ("ACA") reporting requirements for 2016 are similar to 2015, except for several minor changes, some of which are explained below. Background. The...