ERISA, Other DOL Penalties Increased for 2018
Maximum penalties for violating many employment and benefits laws were increased as part of an inflation adjustment rule published January 2 (83 Fed. Reg. 7) by the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL).
Tag: ERISA
Update Your Disability Benefits Claims and Appeals Procedures Before 2018 Deadline
HR employees typically begin planning for next year before autumn of the current year because choices about the next year’s benefits are made months before it begins. Whether you’re making many or few changes to the benefits you offer, your preparations for open enrollment provide a good opportunity to confirm that your benefits plans are […]
11th Circuit: Employers Responsible for Extra Payments When Exiting Multiemployer Plan
Plan withdrawal liability has been in place for U.S. multiemployer plans since 1980. It includes a heavy penalty that requires employers leaving a multiemployer plan to pay their share of the plan’s vested benefits not yet covered by contributions and investment earnings. As a result, healthy companies often seek to leave multiemployer plans before their […]
Latest DOL FAQs Clarify Some Major Concerns About Fiduciary Rule
In a related move just ahead of disclosure of the proposed amendments to the fiduciary rule (See, DOL Seeks 18-Month Delay for Complying with Fiduciary Rule Exemptions), the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) on August 3 released another set of frequently asked questions (FAQs) about the final fiduciary rule that became applicable on June 9.
Cafeteria Plan Forfeitures Explained By IRS
Some light was shed on the rules related to cafeteria plan forfeitures when the plan sponsor ceases operations and terminates the plan, in Information Letter 2016-0077, issued earlier this year by the Internal Revenue Service (IRS).
Is Your Cafeteria Plan Document Full of Plot Holes?
Unlike summer blockbuster movies with a large cast of key characters, benefit plan documentation has just three: the plan document under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA), the summary plan description (SPD), and the Internal Revenue Code Section 125 cafeteria plan document.
Court Upholds Plan’s Reimbursement Claim Despite Lack of Full Plan Document
A health plan’s lack of a full plan document, and an erroneous reference to such a document in the summary plan description (SPD), did not defeat the plan’s claim for reimbursement from a beneficiary’s medical malpractice settlement, a federal appeals court ruled.
U.S. Supreme Court: ‘Church Plan’ Need Not Be Established by a Church to Qualify for ERISA Exemption
The Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA) generally requires private employers offering pension plans to adhere to a lengthy list of rules designed to ensure plan solvency and protect plan participants. Church plans, however, are exempt from those requirements.
Court Supports Plans’ Freedom to Craft Own Process for Beneficiary Designations
Beneficiary designations, and disputes over them, can be a disproportionate drain of time and other resources spent by administrators of tax-qualified retirement plans. The Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA) does not prescribe a particular manner by which participants in ERISA-covered plans must designate their beneficiaries.
Increased Cost-Sharing Makes Voluntary Benefits More Attractive
As national leaders debate ways to tackle health care troubles, employers may need to get creative in helping employees afford the health care they need. One way they can do that is by offering supplemental benefits.