The Compensation & Benefits Blog, published by Proskauer Rose LLP, focuses on legal developments and regulatory updates related to employee compensation, retirement plans, and benefits administration. It covers topics such as ERISA compliance, qualified retirement plan limits, private investment fund regulations under ERISA, flexible spending accounts, and withdrawal liability issues affecting private equity funds and their portfolio companies. The blog addresses the intersection of labor and employment law with financial and investment considerations, providing insights on fiduciary duties, plan asset regulations, and litigation risks associated with employee benefit plans and private market investments.
During the last week of August, the Departments of Labor, Treasury, and Health and Human Services (the “Departments”) issued FAQs Part 74, addressing HIPAA nondiscrimination and wellness program rules.
In the FAQs, the Departments confirmed that sponsors of group…
In late July, the Department of Labor proposed new regulations that would extend the “notice-and-access” electronic disclosure model that the DOL finalized in 2020 for retirement plans to group health plans. The proposed rule closely tracks the current notice-and-access model…
Building on FAQs Part 72 released last fall, on May 10, the Departments of Labor, Treasury, and Health and Human Services announced proposed regulations outlining a path for employers to offer fertility coverage as a limited excepted benefit.
What…
In International Painters and Allied Trades Industry Pension Fund v. Florida Glass of Tampa Bay, Inc., 2026 WL 191344 (4th Cir. Jan. 26, 2026, No. 25-1312), the Fourth Circuit held that the “contingent” proof of claim a multiemployer pension plan…
On April 14, 2026, the U.S. Department of Labor’s Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA) issued Field Assistance Bulletin No. 2026-01 (FAB) which sets out four enforcement priorities and guiding principles that are designed to ensure that EBSA’s enforcement “is fair,…
The Ninth Circuit recently issued a pair of decisions clarifying how the rules governing withdrawal liability apply to employers in certain industries. In Walker Specialty Const., Inc. v. Bd. of Trs. of the Constr. Indus. & Laborers Joint Pension Tr.…
On March 30, 2026, the U.S. Department of Labor (“DOL”) issued a much-anticipated proposed regulation (“Proposed Rule”) that would facilitate the inclusion of alternative assets within designated investment alternatives (“DIAs”) offered under participant-directed defined contribution plans such as 401(k) plans…
In a ruling that upends conventional thinking on the standards for class certification of claims brought under ERISA section 502(a)(2), the Fourth Circuit overturned class certification of a lawsuit challenging the selection of 401(k) defined contribution plan investment funds. Trauernicht…
On March 20, 2026, the U.S. Department of Labor (“DOL”) published guidance (the “2026 Guidance”) that formally reinstates the DOL’s original 1975 five-part test (the “Five-Part Test”) for purposes of determining whether a person is a “fiduciary” under the U.S.…
