In 2011, a group of current and former employees filed a class action lawsuit in the District Court of Minnesota claiming that Ameriprise Financial, Inc. and members of its 401(k) Plan fiduciary committee had breached their fiduciary duty to the
Benefit Notes
Understanding Employee Benefits
Benefit Notes, published by Stinson LLP, focuses on legal developments and compliance issues related to employee benefit plans and retirement plans. The blog covers topics such as annual limits and cost-of-living adjustments for qualified retirement plans, risk management in retirement plan litigation, legislative changes affecting health savings accounts and flexible spending arrangements, and regulatory updates impacting health plan compliance including HIPAA and mental health parity laws. It provides guidance on plan administration, fiduciary responsibilities, and the implications of recent court rulings and federal agency actions for employers and plan sponsors.
Latest from Benefit Notes - Page 9
DOL Gives Retirement Plan Sponsors of Participant Directed Retirement Plans Additional Time to Provide Employee Fee Disclosures
U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) regulations require 401(k) plan fiduciaries to provide plan participants with a detailed disclosure statement about the plan’s designated investment alternatives, prior to initial enrollment and at least annually thereafter. The DOL’s Employee Benefits Security Administration…
Be Careful What You Promise Employees Who Leave Your Employment
By Stinson LLP
Clients sometimes like to ease the transition for employees who are retiring or whom the client would like to encourage to leave. One strategy is to continue the employee “on payroll” for a period of time with the expectation that…
Make Sure Participants Know When Their Plan Benefits Have Been Transferred
By Stinson LLP
Employers need to make sure that their employees know when benefits shift from one plan to another as illustrated by this case from Utah:
Martin Marietta Corporation (Martin) operated a cement plant that it later decided to lease to Southwestern…
Employers Can Be Responsible for FICA Withholding Errors
By Stinson LLP
Back in 2013 I blogged about a class action lawsuit brought against Henkel Corporation for improper Social Security (FICA) tax withholding from nonqualified deferred compensation benefits. I am blogging now on an update to that case. To understand that case…
Plan Administrators Have Discretion to Round
By Stinson LLP
Cash balance plans often provide a pay credit and an interest credit in determining a participant’s accrued benefit. The pay credit is often a percentage of compensation. The interest credit is established in the plan and can be a fixed…
DEPARTMENT OF LABOR AND AICPA COMMENT ON DEFICIENT EMPLOYEE BENEFIT PLAN AUDITS
At a recent American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (”AICPA”) conference, the Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Department of Labor Employee Benefits Security Administration reportedly commented that the ERISA benefit plan audits are deficient in over 1/3 of the audits…
Undocumented Worker Can Cause Health Plan Problems
By Stinson LLP
Employers know that since the 1980s they have been required to check the lawful work status of employees that they hire through the I-9 process. Employers also know that Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) can audit their workplaces, as can…
EEOC Challenges Honeywell’s Wellness Program
By Stinson LLP
The EEOC recently sued Honeywell International, Inc., claiming that Honeywell’s wellness program violated the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and the Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act (GINA). Although the EEOC sued two other employers for wellness program violations before it sued…
Attention All You Procrastinators!
By Stinson LLP
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) has postponed to 11:59 pm on December 5, 2014, the deadline for health insurance issuers and self funded plans to submit their annual enrollment count for the transitional reinsurance program.…