On March 11, 2021, President Biden signed the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 (“ARPA”) into law. Under ARPA, certain employees and their dependents who lost group health coverage during the COVID-19 pandemic due to the employee’s involuntary termination (other than for gross misconduct) or reduction of hours are allowed to temporarily receive fully-subsidized COBRA
New DOL Electronic Disclosure Safe Harbor Offers Relief for Retirement Plans
The Department of Labor has issued final regulations that will enable employers to electronically provide required information and documents to more plan participants. Although employers have been able to electronically provide some documents and information to some participants under existing rules, use of electronic delivery was limited because of an affirmative consent requirement that applied
Annual Limits on Qualified Plans for 2020
On November 6, 2019, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) released Notice 2019-59, which sets forth the 2020 cost-of-living adjustments affecting dollar limits on benefits and contributions for qualified retirement plans. The IRS also announced the health savings account (HSA) and high deductible health plan (HDHP) annual deductible and out-of-pocket expense adjustments earlier this year
Department of Labor’s New Guidance Helps Employers of Uniformed Service Members Manage Pension Obligations
The Department of Labor’s Veterans Employment and Training Services (“VETS”) issued a new fact sheet (“Fact Sheet”) to help employers better manage their pension obligations under the Uniform Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act (“USERRA”). USERRA creates certain rights and protections for uniformed service members. For example, under USERRA, service members who were reemployed after