Employee Benefits

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Since March 27, 2020 when the CARES Act was signed into law, many questions have mounted related to implementing the retirement plan provisions.  Now, with roughly 3 months under our belts since the issuance of the Act and countless CARES Act distributions and loan suspensions processed, the IRS clarified several eligibility, administrative, and taxation reporting…

The Internal Revenue Service has relaxed spousal notarization and plan representative witness requirements in 2020 for retirement plan elections in IRS Notice 2020-42. The notice addresses the physical presence requirement for notarization or witnessing of certain plan elections and provides temporary relief permitting remote notarization and witnessing subject to certain requirements.

For the period…

We previously wrote about the Department of Labor’s proposed expansion of its safe harbor for electronic delivery of certain retirement plan disclosures required under ERISA.  The wait is finally over, with publication of the final rule (the “New Rule”) helped along by the DOL’s desire to alleviate some of the “disclosure-related problems being reported by…

Over the last few weeks, we have seen significant changes affecting COBRA compliance. Employers should contact their COBRA administrators to discuss the best practices in light of these developments, which include the Department of Labor’s publication of new model COBRA notices and COVID-19 notice and premium payment extensions.  We have a helpful article that discusses…

The Small Business Administration (SBA) has issued guidance on the forgiveness provisions applicable to loans made under the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) created by the CARES Act.

The SBA was required to issue guidance on these provisions within 30 days of the enactment of the CARES Act, or no later than April 26, 2020.…

Many employers facing economic challenges because of COVID-19 have considered several possibilities for reducing their contributions to their 401(k) plans.  Whether freezing safe harbor matching or nonelective contributions or deciding against making discretionary matching and/or profit-sharing contributions, the goal has been the same: reduce their employee benefits costs.

What many employers have not focused on…

Recent statements by Small Business Administration (SBA) and Treasury Department officials have confused many Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) borrowers and led many to return PPP funds or consider doing so. Finally, the SBA has issued FAQ 46, which should assuage many borrowers’ concerns.

Previously, the SBA notified borrowers through a number of pronouncements that they…

The executive and equity compensation plans, agreements, policies and arrangements (collectively, the “Plans”) of publicly traded companies receive close scrutiny from various shareholder advocacy groups during the annual proxy season, which is well underway for 2020.  These groups advise institutional shareholders whether to vote for, to abstain from voting on, or to vote…

On May 4, 2020, the Internal Revenue Service released much-anticipated guidance related to implementing the retirement plan aspects of the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (“CARES Act”) enacted on March 27, 2020, see our article here.  Although the questions and answers fall short of resolving all open questions, they provide helpful insight…

In our post of April 4, we advised there was an ambiguity between the CARES Act and subsequent guidance issued by the Small Business Administration (SBA) on whether employees of foreign affiliates of applicants are considered when determining eligibility for Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loans.

Applicants in the SBA’s Business Loan Programs (which includes…