Understanding Employee Benefits
Understanding Employee Benefits and key developments in the employee benefits field and items of interest to our clients. MORE
Revised January 11, 2023
Congress made several changes to retirement plans as part of the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2023, which recently passed both the House and Senate. The final bill contains several provisions affecting retirement plans under Division T of the bill titled “Secure 2.0 Act of 2022.” An official summary of all…
On October 21, 2022, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) released Notice 2022-55, which sets forth the 2023 cost-of-living adjustments affecting dollar limits on benefits and contributions for qualified retirement plans. Earlier this year, the health savings account (HSA) and high deductible health plan (HDHP) annual deductible and out-of-pocket expense adjustments were announced in Revenue…
On August 3, 2022, the IRS published Notice 2022-33, which extends the deadlines for amending retirement plans and IRAs to reflect certain changes to the law made by the SECURE Act; the Bipartisan American Miners Act; and section 2203 (allowing waiver of 2020 required minimum distributions) of the CARES Act. Before the IRS released Notice…
Employers sponsoring 401(k) or other types of defined contribution plans “pre-approved” by the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) should be aware that the restatement deadline is quickly approaching. The IRS requires pre-approved plans to be amended and restated every six years to incorporate recent law changes. The deadline for the current restatement cycle, “Cycle 3,” is…
Updated November 18, 2021
On November 4, 2021, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) released Notice 2021-61, which sets forth the 2022 cost-of-living adjustments affecting dollar limits on benefits and contributions for qualified retirement plans. The health savings account (HSA) and high deductible health plan (HDHP) annual deductible and out-of-pocket expense adjustments were announced earlier…
On April 14, 2021, the Department of Labor’s (DOL) Employee Benefits Security Administration issued guidance on cybersecurity for the first time to help plan sponsors, fiduciaries, service providers, and participants protect personal information and retirement assets. In the guidance, the DOL identifies evaluating cybersecurity practices as part of the plan sponsor’s or other plan fiduciary’s…
On March 11, 2021, President Biden signed the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 (the “ARPA”) into law. Many of the provisions in this sweeping legislation bring changes to the employee benefits world of which employers should take note and which are summarized below.
Subsidized COBRA
The ARPA contains several new rules which impact COBRA…
On October 26, 2020, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) released Notice 2020-79, which sets forth the 2021 cost-of-living adjustments affecting dollar limits on benefits and contributions for qualified retirement plans. The IRS also announced the dollar limitation for employee salary reductions for contributions to health flexible spending arrangements in Revenue Procedure 2020-45. The…
On Friday, June 19, 2020, the IRS released Notice 2020-50 which provides additional guidance regarding the coronavirus-related distributions (“CRDs”) and coronavirus-related loans and loan repayment delays (“CR Loan Relief”) made available to certain retirement plan participants affected by COVID-19 under the CARES Act. The notice expands, and in some cases modifies, previous guidance issued by…
In a new information letter, the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) concludes offering professionally managed asset allocation funds, which include a private equity component as an investment option in an individual account plan (e.g., a 401(k) plan), is not a per se violation of ERISA. Plan fiduciaries commonly invest defined benefit pension plan assets…
