Employee benefits

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The DOL Updates the QPAM Exemption from Prohibited Transaction Restrictions under ERISA (US)

ERISA and the Internal Revenue Code broadly prohibit transactions between employee benefit plans or Individual Retirement Accounts and certain “parties in interest” or “disqualified persons”. However, certain transactions are exempted from such prohibition. One such exemption applies to transactions involving independent qualified professional asset managers, which includes banks, savings and loan associations, insurance companies and … Continue Reading

DOL Crypto Guidance Heeds Strong Warning to Retirement Plan Sponsors Looking to Add Digital Asset Investments to Retirement Plan Lineups

Directly on the heels of the Biden Administration’s digital asset Executive Order issued on March 9, 2022[1] (Executive Order), the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) published its own guidance on the use of cryptocurrencies as a 401(k) plan investment in Compliance Assistance Release No. 2022-01 (CAR).   The DOL guidance is not limited to crypto, but … Continue Reading

Target Date Fund Performance Litigation – Advice for Plan Fiduciaries

In recent years, there have been more than 150 lawsuits alleging violations of ERISA[1] fiduciary obligations that are based on “excessive fees” being charged to participants in defined contribution retirement plans. A more recent trend also seems to be focusing on the investment performance of target date funds. This Post discusses that litigation trend, and … Continue Reading

Free And Extended COBRA Coverage Under The American Rescue Plan Act Of 2021: Update

Section 9501 of the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 (the “ARPA”)[1] requires certain employers to offer free COBRA coverage to certain individuals between April 1, 2021 and September 30, 2021.  The ARPA provides tax credits to employers to offset the cost of the COBRA coverage.  The right to free COBRA coverage extends to some … Continue Reading

Free And Extended COBRA Coverage Under The American Rescue Plan Act OF 2021

Section 9501 of the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 (the “ARPA”)[1] requires employers to extend offers of free COBRA coverage to certain individuals for the period from April 1, 2021 through September 30, 2021.  The ARPA then provides tax credits as means of offsetting the costs of the free COBRA coverage.  The law also … Continue Reading

New EEOC Proposed Wellness Plans Regulations – Trouble for Participatory Wellness Plans

The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (“EEOC”) recently proposed regulations pertaining to employer wellness programs that, as will be explained below, may concern employers that have “Participatory” wellness plans. [1] Current Wellness Plan Rules under Other Laws To understand the EEOC’s proposal, one must first take note of the other pre-existing wellness plan rules. In general, … Continue Reading

Stimulus Bill Extends the Availability of Student Loan Forgiveness

Section 2206 of the CARES Act allowed an exclusion of up to $5,250 from an employee’s gross income, if an employer paid principal or interest on an employee’s “Qualified Education Loan”. Section 2206 of the CARES Act was only designed to be in effect for calendar year 2020. However, The Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021 (the … Continue Reading

Qualified Disaster Tax Relief – Retirement Plans and Employee Retention Credits

Besides the COVID-19 pandemic, 2020 has also had its share of other disasters, including hurricanes, floods and fires. The Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021 (the “CAA”) has provisions that are designed to provide tax relief for individuals and employers who have been adversely affected by one of the numerous federally declared “Qualified Disasters”. These provisions of … Continue Reading

Stimulus Bill Extends the Availability of Employee Retention Credits

The Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021 (the “CAA”) extends through June 30, 2021, the Employee Retention Credit provisions of Section 2301 of the CARES Act. It also favorably modifies the rules for claiming the Employee Retention Credits. These changes are generally effective as of January 1, 2021. These provisions of the CAA are found in Sections … Continue Reading

COVID-19: Expenses of Working from Home – The Tax Rules

The coronavirus (COVID-19) ‘lock-down’ has necessitated large swathes of the working population to perform their duties from home. As a result, working-from-home has become the ‘new normal’ for many employees in recent months. Employers will be considering how best to assist their employees to work most efficiently and effectively from home while the lock-down endures. … Continue Reading

IRS Guidance Provides Employers with the ability to offer A Second Open Enrollment Period for the 2020 Plan Year and Provides Greater Flexibility for Making Mid-Year Cafeteria Plan Elections

Providing much needed assistance to employees’ who were blindsided by COVID-19 and who were incapable of making health care coverage elections with COVID-19 in mind, the IRS on May 12, 2020, provided temporary relief that allows employers, during 2020, to expand the permissible reasons for employees to make prospective mid-year election changes to their health … Continue Reading

COVID-19: UK Employee Share Schemes

Employee retention is a high priority for businesses grappling with the profound impact of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). Employee share schemes remain a versatile and valuable way to retain important employees. However, many may not have considered the unexpectedly adverse tax consequences that some of the UK government’s business support measures (including, for example, … Continue Reading

Top 10 Employee Benefits Issues in a Slowing Economy

Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), commonly known as the “coronavirus” has raised many challenges for businesses. Among those challenges are the variety of employee related issues being raised. In addition to complying with various employment laws, including the new emergency leave laws and tax credits (see our blog), employers also have to consider the impact on … Continue Reading

The IBM appeal – when is a pensions promise not a promise?

Employers can pursue pension plan change with renewed vigour following the publication of the judgment in the IBM appeal. They can now be less concerned about whether promises they have made in the past may bind them into the future, as the weight of an employee’s “reasonable expectations” argument has been significantly downgraded making it … Continue Reading

Salary Sacrifice and Termination Payments

Amongst a number of announcements relating to employment taxes in today’s UK Autumn Statement, forthcoming changes to the tax treatment of salary sacrifice and employee termination payments were confirmed. The tax and National Insurance advantages of salary sacrifice schemes will be removed from April 2017 (i.e. the sacrificed pay will be subject to tax and … Continue Reading
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