New York Governor Kathy Hochul enacted an auto-IRA law, effective October 21, which requires certain New York employers to either offer their employees a qualified retirement plan or join the state-run IRA program. The new law amends the New York’s Secure Choice Savings Program, a voluntary IRA program that has been in place since 2018 and is run by the New York State Secure Choice Savings Program Board.
ML BeneBits
EXAMINING A RANGE OF EMPLOYEE BENEFITS
AND EXECUTIVE COMPENSATION ISSUES
AND EXECUTIVE COMPENSATION ISSUES
The IRS recently issued FAQs to address workforce issues and labor shortages resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic. The guidance seems to be in response to well-publicized labor shortages affecting schools and the education industry, although it is not limited to that industry. The FAQs reaffirm prior IRS guidance, but may give comfort to employers who are contemplating rehiring retirees as they try to manage workforce issues “related to” the pandemic.
President Joseph Biden signed the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA) into law on November 15, 2021. The IIJA will provide funding to overhaul the country’s physical infrastructure and will serve to give the nation’s roads and bridges a much-needed facelift, but squirreled away in the legislation are tweaks that will give defined benefit plans a bit of a nip and tuck too. The new law also provides further relief for taxpayers facing filing deadlines after a disaster and updates the list of such disasters to include wildfires.
The American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) provided relief from certain annual notice and funding requirements to multiemployer plans reeling from COVID-19–related investment and experience losses. IRS Notice 2021-57, issued on October 8, 2021, gives plan sponsors a roadmap for electing relief.
Recent LawFlashes from the employee benefits practice include IRS FAQs: A Potential Shield for Taxpayers—Not a Sword for the Service, A Survival Guide to DOL Group Health Plan Mental Health Parity Audits, and ERISA Fiduciaries: DOL Proposed Rule Signals More Ease for ESG Investing.
The US Department of Labor (DOL) released on Wednesday, October 13, a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking on Prudence and Loyalty in Selecting Plan Investments and Exercising Shareholder Rights (the proposed rule), which would amend a prior regulation (the 2020 rule).
The Department of Labor (DOL) released on October 13, 2021, a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking on Prudence and Loyalty in Selecting Plan Investments and Exercising Shareholder Rights (Proposed Rule), which would amend a prior regulation (the 2020 Rule). This blog post provides a high-level summary of the Proposed Rule and outlines how it may affect environmental, social, and governance (ESG) investing for ERISA plans.
Hinting that the US Department of Labor (DOL) is currently working on guidance related to cryptocurrency, the Acting Assistant Secretary for the DOL’s Employee Benefits Security Administration recently commented that the DOL finds the prospect of cryptocurrency investments in 401(k) plan lineups “troubling.” This may be a sign of DOL focus on the increasing frequency of ERISA plan investments in cryptocurrency vehicles, including funds with cryptocurrency exposures.
Addressing what they call the four major “crises” facing the nation—COVID-19, the economy, climate, and inequity—US President Joseph Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris have consistently framed many of their most important executive actions and policy proposals as attempts to prioritize one or more of these four policy concerns. Read our LawFlash for a recap of some of the more wide-reaching and impactful (or in some cases, potentially impactful) executive orders, legislative actions, policy proposals, and other developments during the first 100 days of the Biden-Harris administration.
Reversing a lower court’s decision, the US Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit issued an opinion in Cooper v. DST Systems, Inc., et al., finding that an arbitration agreement signed by an employee as part of his employment did not require that he arbitrate any fiduciary breach claims challenging the investment options and fees in his employer’s 401(k) plan. Read our recent LawFlash to learn more about the decision and the potential implications.