We have been monitoring an increase in litigation relating to COBRA election notices in recent months. The plaintiffs in these cases allege that COBRA election notices are deficient, and as a result, the plaintiffs, on a class basis, should be awarded a $110/per day per participant penalty (among other relief). Many of these cases allege deficiencies on notices that are substantially similar to the Department of Labor’s model notice.
While none of these cases have fully worked through the courts, a number have settled for significant sums. The settlement success has predictably spurred more complaints and suits.
On July 14, 2020, Colorado Governor Jared Polis signed into law the Healthy Family and Workplaces Act passed by the Colorado General Assembly during its recently concluded legislative session in June 2020. The new law mandates that nearly all employees working for public and private employers in Colorado must begin accruing at least one hour of paid sick leave for every 30 hours worked, up to 48 hours total, which balance shall carryover year-to-year subject to the limit. This requirement goes into effect for covered employers with 16 or more employees on January 1, 2021, and for all other covered employers (regardless of how many employees they employ) on January 1, 2022.
https://www.employeebenefitslawblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/logo_vertical-v2.png00adminhttps://www.employeebenefitslawblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/logo_vertical-v2.pngadmin2020-07-14 15:54:522020-07-14 15:54:54Governor Polis Signs New Paid Sick Leave Law for All Colorado Employees
The IRS has eased the restrictions on mid-year changes to safe harbor contributions, in response to the hardships caused by the coronavirus pandemic.
Employers are generally not allowed to reduce or suspend safe harbor matching or nonelective contributions mid-year unless either (1) the annual safe harbor notice included a statement that the employer could amend the plan mid-year to reduce or suspend the safe harbor contribution, or (2) the employer can demonstrate that it is operating at an economic loss during the plan year. Even if the employer satisfies one of these requirements, the employer must provide a 30-day advance notice before the effective date of the suspension. The suspension of the safe harbor contribution will also mean that the plan becomes subject to nondiscrimination testing for the current plan year.
Many employers are venturing into uncharted waters as significant numbers of employees are being rehired or returning from extended leaves of absence (e.g., furloughed employees). In this environment, it can be easy to overlook the employee benefit plan implications of this workforce shift. Below are some best practices for employers faced with employees returning to work.
Ensure that retirement plans are crediting service for returning employees correctly. In most cases, employers will not be able to treat a rehired employee as a new employee for retirement plan purposes. This means that the employer will have to consider the employee’s prior service for purposes of determining proper eligibility and vesting credit. This is a good time for employers to check and confirm that any systems that track service (e.g., payroll systems and the retirement plan administrator’s systems) are configured correctly to credit prior service.
Job mobility is a fact. Employees are more mobile than ever – changing jobs multiple times in a career. When an employee transitions between jobs and incurs job search and moving expenses, are those expenses deductible? If the employer pays for them, is it taxable income? Here are a few tips.
Job search expenses like travel for interviews, printing resumes and the like used to be deductible by the employee, at least to some extent. Unfortunately, the 2017 TJCA removed the 2% miscellaneous itemized deduction starting in 2018, so employees can’t deduct these expenses anymore.
https://www.employeebenefitslawblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/logo_vertical-v2.png00adminhttps://www.employeebenefitslawblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/logo_vertical-v2.pngadmin2020-06-11 09:47:542020-06-11 09:47:56Moves Like Jagger … But Is It Deductible? Taxation of Job Search and Moving Expenses
With calendar year-end Form 5500s due on July 31, or October 15 with an extension (and still no COVID-19 filing relief as of the date this blog was published), it’s that time of year where plan sponsors begin thinking about their annual retirement plan independent audits. However, these are not the only audits companies should be thinking about.
Both the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) and the Department of Labor (DOL) routinely select qualified retirement plans for examination. In the event of an audit by either agency, a plan’s records, procedures and processes will be examined. If errors or deficiencies are found, at a minimum, corrections will be required, and in some instances, fines or sanctions will be levied.
https://www.employeebenefitslawblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/logo_vertical-v2.png00adminhttps://www.employeebenefitslawblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/logo_vertical-v2.pngadmin2020-05-19 12:00:592020-05-19 14:56:38Might as Well Face It… Your Annual Retirement Plan Audit is Not a Clean Bill of Health
In the midst of everything going on, we wanted to point out a few “under the radar” implications of IRS Notice 2020-23. The Notice, issued on April 9th, provides that tax-related deadlines that fall between April 1, 2020 and July 14, 2020 (the “delay period”) are automatically extended to July 15, 2020.
Delayed 5500s. Most plan sponsors hoping for Form 5500 relief will have to wait for additional guidance since only a small group of plans have Form 5500 deadlines fall during the delay period. For example, the regular Form 5500 due date for calendar year plans (July 31st) falls just outside of the delay period. We note that the DOL has authority under the CARES Act to provide additional Form 5500 relief.
https://www.employeebenefitslawblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/logo_vertical-v2.png00adminhttps://www.employeebenefitslawblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/logo_vertical-v2.pngadmin2020-04-20 14:27:132026-01-14 16:16:05Relief . . . Just a Little Bit – IRS Notice 2020-23: Limited Extensions of Form 5500
Wait a Minute Mr. Postman . . . COBRA Litigation Update
/in DOL, ERISA, Health & Welfare Plans, Litigationby Kevin Selzer
We have been monitoring an increase in litigation relating to COBRA election notices in recent months. The plaintiffs in these cases allege that COBRA election notices are deficient, and as a result, the plaintiffs, on a class basis, should be awarded a $110/per day per participant penalty (among other relief). Many of these cases allege deficiencies on notices that are substantially similar to the Department of Labor’s model notice.
While none of these cases have fully worked through the courts, a number have settled for significant sums. The settlement success has predictably spurred more complaints and suits.
Read moreGovernor Polis Signs New Paid Sick Leave Law for All Colorado Employees
/in Health & Welfare Plans, State Benefits LawsBy Bradford Williams
On July 14, 2020, Colorado Governor Jared Polis signed into law the Healthy Family and Workplaces Act passed by the Colorado General Assembly during its recently concluded legislative session in June 2020. The new law mandates that nearly all employees working for public and private employers in Colorado must begin accruing at least one hour of paid sick leave for every 30 hours worked, up to 48 hours total, which balance shall carryover year-to-year subject to the limit. This requirement goes into effect for covered employers with 16 or more employees on January 1, 2021, and for all other covered employers (regardless of how many employees they employ) on January 1, 2022.
Read moreTell Me Something Good: IRS Eases Restrictions on Mid-Year Changes to Safe Harbor Contributions
/in 401(k) Plans, 403(b) plans, ERISA, IRS, Retirement Plansby Brenda Berg
The IRS has eased the restrictions on mid-year changes to safe harbor contributions, in response to the hardships caused by the coronavirus pandemic.
Employers are generally not allowed to reduce or suspend safe harbor matching or nonelective contributions mid-year unless either (1) the annual safe harbor notice included a statement that the employer could amend the plan mid-year to reduce or suspend the safe harbor contribution, or (2) the employer can demonstrate that it is operating at an economic loss during the plan year. Even if the employer satisfies one of these requirements, the employer must provide a 30-day advance notice before the effective date of the suspension. The suspension of the safe harbor contribution will also mean that the plan becomes subject to nondiscrimination testing for the current plan year.
Read moreInto the Mystic . . . Employee Benefit Considerations for Returning Workers
/in 401(k) Plans, Cafeteria Plans, Defined Benefit Plans, DOL, ERISA, Health & Welfare Plans, IRS, Legislation, Retirement Plansby Kevin Selzer
Many employers are venturing into uncharted waters as significant numbers of employees are being rehired or returning from extended leaves of absence (e.g., furloughed employees). In this environment, it can be easy to overlook the employee benefit plan implications of this workforce shift. Below are some best practices for employers faced with employees returning to work.
Ensure that retirement plans are crediting service for returning employees correctly. In most cases, employers will not be able to treat a rehired employee as a new employee for retirement plan purposes. This means that the employer will have to consider the employee’s prior service for purposes of determining proper eligibility and vesting credit. This is a good time for employers to check and confirm that any systems that track service (e.g., payroll systems and the retirement plan administrator’s systems) are configured correctly to credit prior service.
Read moreMoves Like Jagger … But Is It Deductible? Taxation of Job Search and Moving Expenses
/in Executive Compensation, Fringe Benefits, IRSby Beth Nedrow
Job mobility is a fact. Employees are more mobile than ever – changing jobs multiple times in a career. When an employee transitions between jobs and incurs job search and moving expenses, are those expenses deductible? If the employer pays for them, is it taxable income? Here are a few tips.
Job search expenses like travel for interviews, printing resumes and the like used to be deductible by the employee, at least to some extent. Unfortunately, the 2017 TJCA removed the 2% miscellaneous itemized deduction starting in 2018, so employees can’t deduct these expenses anymore.
Read moreMight as Well Face It… Your Annual Retirement Plan Audit is Not a Clean Bill of Health
/in 401(k) Plans, Defined Benefit Plans, DOL, ERISA, Fiduciary Duties, IRS, Retirement Plansby Ben Gibbons
With calendar year-end Form 5500s due on July 31, or October 15 with an extension (and still no COVID-19 filing relief as of the date this blog was published), it’s that time of year where plan sponsors begin thinking about their annual retirement plan independent audits. However, these are not the only audits companies should be thinking about.
Both the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) and the Department of Labor (DOL) routinely select qualified retirement plans for examination. In the event of an audit by either agency, a plan’s records, procedures and processes will be examined. If errors or deficiencies are found, at a minimum, corrections will be required, and in some instances, fines or sanctions will be levied.
Read moreRelief . . . Just a Little Bit – IRS Notice 2020-23: Limited Extensions of Form 5500
/in 401(k) Plans, 403(b) plans, Defined Benefit Plans, DOL, Equity Compensation, Executive Compensation, Health & Welfare Plans, IRS, Retirement PlansBy Kevin Selzer and Lyn Domenick
In the midst of everything going on, we wanted to point out a few “under the radar” implications of IRS Notice 2020-23. The Notice, issued on April 9th, provides that tax-related deadlines that fall between April 1, 2020 and July 14, 2020 (the “delay period”) are automatically extended to July 15, 2020.
Delayed 5500s. Most plan sponsors hoping for Form 5500 relief will have to wait for additional guidance since only a small group of plans have Form 5500 deadlines fall during the delay period. For example, the regular Form 5500 due date for calendar year plans (July 31st) falls just outside of the delay period. We note that the DOL has authority under the CARES Act to provide additional Form 5500 relief.
Read more