Morgan Lewis
Home > Our Thinking > Blogs > ML BeneBits
Blogs

Editors

Matthew H. Hawes, Michael Gorman, Timothy J. Durbin

ML BeneBits

EXAMINING A RANGE OF EMPLOYEE BENEFITS
AND EXECUTIVE COMPENSATION ISSUES

ESG Investments Updates for 2023

By Elizabeth S. Goldberg
// January 22, 2024
US state and federal laws have increasingly sought to regulate environmental, social, and governance (ESG) investing—a trend that continued in 2023. This increased regulatory focus has impacted benefit plans, including ERISA plans and, especially, public retirement plans.
Read More
Topics: ERISA Fiduciary Duty, ESG Sustainability Advisory, Investment Management, Labor, Employment & Benefits, Retirement Plan Design and Administration

Not Done Yet—Employee Benefits Plan Transition and Integration Decisions Continue After M&A Transactions Close

By Carley Clark and Patrick Rehfield
// January 19, 2024
The letter of intent has been executed. The due diligence is done. The purchase agreement is signed. The money has been wired. The deal has closed. You’re done—back to business as usual! Think again. For the folks responsible for employee benefits matters, whether it be the CEO, CFO, comptroller, or human resources team, the real work after a merger or acquisition may be just beginning.
Read More
Topics: Employee Benefits, Health and Welfare Plan Design and Administration, Mergers & Acquisitions, Retirement Plan Design and Administration

Implementing the New Forms W-4P and W-4R: One Year Later

By Matthew H. Hawes and Anna M. Pomykala
// January 12, 2024
Effective as of January 1, 2023, payors of qualified plan distributions have been required to use a redesigned IRS Form W-4P for payee withholding elections on periodic payments and a new Form W-4R for nonperiodic payments and eligible rollover distributions. Since then, we have fielded myriad questions on the new forms, from the basic requirements for their use and who is responsible for implementation to interpreting long-standing qualified plan withholding regulations that have not yet been fully updated to align with the new forms.
Read More
Topics: Retirement Plan Design and Administration

Publicly Traded Companies: Don’t Forget to Register Plan Interests in Deferred Compensation Plans

By Samuel P. Bryant , David B. Zelikoff , and Justin W. Chairman
// December 07, 2023
Publicly traded companies generally file registration statements on Form S-8 to register the offering of the company’s stock pursuant to the company’s equity incentive plans under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended (Securities Act). This same filing requirement applies under certain circumstances to a company’s nonqualified deferred compensation plans.
Read More
Topics: Executive Compensation, Retirement Plan Design and Administration

Reminder to Multiemployer Pension Plan Administrators: New Federal Income Tax Withholding Election Forms Are Mandatory

By Althea R. Day and William J. Marx
// November 16, 2023
In January 2022, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) changed the withholding election rules applicable to distributions from pension plans (a term that includes 401(k) plans, money purchase pension plans and defined benefit pension plans). Specifically, the IRS issued a revised Form W-4P, to be used for reporting periodic payments only (such as monthly pension payments) and creating a new Form W-4R, to be used for nonperiodic payments (such as lump sum distributions and eligible rollover distributions). Use of the new forms was optional for 2022 but became mandatory as of January 1, 2023.
Read More
Topics: Multiemployer Plans

DOL Provides Guidance on Racial Equity Plan Supplier Program

By Elizabeth S. Goldberg and Julie K. Stapel
// November 14, 2023
The US Department of Labor (DOL) recently issued DOL Advisory Opinion 2023-01A, (Advisory Opinion) addressing racial equity and supplier diversity. The Advisory Opinion answered an inquiry about the application of ERISA’s fiduciary duty requirements to an employer’s racial equity program.
Read More
Topics: ERISA, ERISA Fiduciary Duty

Reminder: DOL’s Final Rule on Prudence and Loyalty in Selecting Plan Investment Options Effective Dec 1

By Elizabeth S. Goldberg and Michael B. Richman
// November 09, 2023
As discussed in a previous LawFlash, the US Department of Labor’s Final Rule on Prudence and Loyalty in Selecting Plan Investment Options, also known as the ESG Rule, contains provisions on proxy voting, which are not limited to environmental, social and governance issues. As a reminder, the ESG Rule, including the changes regarding proxy voting, will go into effect on December 1, 2023.
Read More
Topics: ERISA, ERISA Fiduciary Duty

Department of Labor’s 'ESG' Rule Survives Challenge in Federal District Court

By Julie K. Stapel
// October 06, 2023
Since its effective date in February 2023, the Department of Labor’s (DOL’s) rule officially titled Prudence and Loyalty in Selecting Plan Investments and Exercising Shareholder Rights, and colloquially called the “ESG rule,” has been challenged in both the courts and US Congress. In September 2023, a federal district court in one of the two court challenges ruled in favor of the DOL and its authority to adopt the ESG rule.
Read More
Topics: ERISA, ERISA Fiduciary Duty

Student Loan Repayments to Resume: SECURE 2.0 Student Loan Matching Contributions to the Rescue?

By Emily Jordan and R. Randall Tracht
// September 29, 2023
With the expiration of COVID-19 pandemic relief suspending loan payments and interest accruals on federal student loans (interest accruals resumed September 1 and loan payments are set to resume in October), now is a good time for employers to take a closer look at the student loan matching contribution feature of the SECURE 2.0 Act of 2022 (SECURE 2.0).
Read More
Topics: Employee Benefits, SECURE Act Updates and Developments

First Gag Clause Attestations Due From Group Health Plans by December 31

By Saghi Fattahian and Lindsay M. Goodman
// September 21, 2023
The Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021 (CAA), requires group health plans and insurers to annually attest that they are in compliance with the gag clause prohibition under the CAA. The first attestation is due no later than December 31, 2023 and covers the period from the date of the enactment of the CAA on December 27, 2020 through the date of the attestation. Future attestations will be due each subsequent December 31 and will cover the period since the last attestation was completed.
Read More
Topics: Health and Welfare Plan Design and Administration
  •  
  •  
  • 6
  • 7
  • 8
  • 9
  • 10
  •  
  •  

WHO WE FOLLOW

  • CUPA-HR:“The Higher Ed Workplace Blog”
  • Defined Contribution Institutional Investment Association (DCIIA)
  • The ERISA Industry Committee (ERIC)
  • Employee Benefit Research Institute (EBRI)
  • International Foundation of Employee Benefit Plans' “Word on Benefits”
  • Plan Sponsor Council of America
  • TEI News Feed Blog
  • TheCorporateCounsel.net
  • CompensationStandards.com

WANT TO RECEIVE NOTIFICATIONS?

  • Subscribe
  • RSS Feed

INFORMATION

  • About Us & Contributors

© 2025 Morgan, Lewis & Bockius LLP. Morgan Lewis is a registered trademark of Morgan, Lewis & Bockius LLP. All rights reserved.