The California wildfires were officially declared a federal disaster by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) on January 7, 2025. Plan sponsors and participants continue to navigate the financial and administrative impacts of these events. During this unpredictable time, plan sponsors may be able to provide various forms of relief to impacted participants. Plan sponsors
District Court Rejects Post-Loper Challenge to DOL’s Payroll Practice Exemption
In Hansen v. Laboratory Corporation of America, 2024 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 193350 (E.D. Wis. 2024), the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Wisconsin rejected a challenge to the authority of the Department of Labor (DOL) to promulgate a “payroll practice” exemption to the definition of plans covered by the Employee Retirement Income Security
DOL Again Enters the Investment Advice Fray With Proposed Retirement Security Rule
On October 31, the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) issued the proposed Retirement Security Rule (Proposed Rule), which would amend the existing rule that defines when a person is an investment advice fiduciary under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974, as amended (ERISA), and the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended (Code).
Winter Is Coming: Employee Benefits Planning for the Eventual Economic Downturn
Part 2: Partial Plan Terminations
Workforce reductions seem to be an inescapable consequence of economic downturns. Whether this occurs through the sale of a business, layoffs or plant closures, employers too often overlook the potential impact on their employer-sponsored retirement plans. Unfortunately, failure to recognize and timely address the retirement plan implications of a reduction
Winter Is Coming: Employee Benefits Planning for the Eventual Economic Downturn
Part 1: Introduction
Some economists are now predicting a global economic downturn as soon as 2020, as indicators from bonds, interest rates, currencies, and commodities signal declining growth, including the recent inversion of the yield curve. While there is not a consensus on this point (as George Bernard Shaw once said, “if all economists
Unauthorized Workers Create Uncharted Territories for Retirement Plans
News coverage of the current administration’s enforcement of immigration policies has demanded the attention of the entire country. It should therefore come as no surprise that this issue has permeated every corner of the legal world, and the law governing retirement plans is no exception. What may come as a surprise given the prevalence and