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 the Department of Labor, and impose fines and other sanctions for failure to comply with
Understanding Employee Benefits and key developments in the employee benefits field and items of interest to our clients. MORE
Benefits Notes
Even a Tax Lawyer Can Get the IRA Rollover Rules Wrong – Part 2
I blogged recently about a tax court decision where a tax lawyer flubbed an IRA rollover, resulting in adverse tax consequences to him and his wife. An interesting aspect of the case – but one not mentioned in the decision – is that the tax lawyer’s action were consistent with the IRA rollover rules as …
Another Way to Become Personally Liable to a Multiemployer Plan
I have blogged in the past about individuals and businesses that are not signatories to a collective bargaining agreement being found liable for withdrawal liability imposed by multiemployer pension plans (plans jointly trusteed by union and management trustees for the benefit of a number of unionized employers). Withdrawal liability is imposed when an employer exits …
ACA Pay or Play: Is Your Dependent Coverage Compliant?
Now that the IRS has issued final regulations under Section 4980H, the so-called “pay or play” provision of the Affordable Care Act, employers are deciding how to determine whether employees are full-time (30 hours or more a week on average), whether the coverage the employer offers is affordable (generally no more than 9½% of the …
DOL Has Helpful ERISA Self-Compliance Tool
The Department of Labor recently issued the Form M-1, an annual report that must be filed by Multiple Employer Welfare Arrangements (MEWAs). In general, a MEWA is an arrangement that offers health or other welfare benefits to employees of more than one employer. Employers that are part of a controlled group of businesses are …
An SPD Can be a Plan Document
In Cigna v. Amara, the U.S. Supreme Court held that the plan document is the governing document for an ERISA plan and that in a conflict between the plan document and the summary plan description (SPD), the plan document must be enforced. A participant misled by an SPD may be able to bring various …
Even a Tax Lawyer can get the IRA Rollover Rules Wrong
Individuals are permitted to roll over amounts in one IRA to another IRA only once in a 12 month period. The rollover must be completed within 60 days. A tax lawyer at a major New York law firm recently tripped on this rule to his detriment. The tax lawyer had several different IRAs. He took …
Former Employee Cannot Recover Penalties for COBRA Notice Violation
Terminating employees who lose coverage under an employer’s group health plan are frequently entitled to continue that coverage under the federal law commonly known as COBRA. Employers are required to provide a former employee with a notice at the time of termination of employment describing the employee’s rights to continue coverage and the cost of …
Another Reason to be Careful if ROBS is Your Business Financing Strategy
I blogged earlier this year about a tax court decision in which taxpayers used assets in their IRA to finance a new business in a structure sometimes known as ROBS or Rollover for Business Startups. Unfortunately, because of personal guarantees provided by the taxpayers at the time that the business owned by the IRA was …
Are All Severance Plans Subject to ERISA?
I blogged recently about an ERISA case involving an executive severance plan where the executive sued claiming that his employment termination was effective before the first anniversary of a change in control, thereby entitling him to severance benefits under the plan. The court had concluded that the severance occurred after the first anniversary but allowed …