As we described in our LawFlash from last spring, the US Department of Labor’s Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA) and the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) (collectively, the Agencies) issued EBSA Notice 2020-01 and a joint final rule (collectively, Guidance) suspending certain deadlines under the Employee Retirement Income Securities Act of 1974, as amended (ERISA) and the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended (Code).
ML BeneBits
EXAMINING A RANGE OF EMPLOYEE BENEFITS
AND EXECUTIVE COMPENSATION ISSUES
AND EXECUTIVE COMPENSATION ISSUES
Join Morgan Lewis this month for these programs on employee benefits and executive compensation.
As we addressed in our recent LawFlash covering the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021 (Act), the Act includes several requirements to enhance group health plan transparency. One provision we wanted to further highlight relates to the new requirements to show compliance with the Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act (Mental Health Parity).
Since 2012, US Department of Labor (DOL) regulations under ERISA Section 408(b)(2)—a statutory exemption from the ERISA prohibited transaction provisions—have required certain service providers to employer-sponsored retirement plans to make detailed disclosures about their services and related “direct” and “indirect” compensation to a “responsible plan fiduciary” of the plan.
Amid the current climate of individuals engaging in protests for racial justice and other causes, some employers are looking for ways to help employees arrested in connection with exercising their first amendment rights to speech and assembly.
For our clients, we have formed a multidisciplinary Coronavirus COVID-19 Task Force to help guide you through the broad scope of legal issues brought on by this public health challenge. Find resources on how to cope with the post-pandemic reality on our NOW. NORMAL. NEXT. page and our COVID-19 page to help keep you on top of developments as they unfold.
Join Morgan Lewis in the coming weeks for these programs on employee benefits and executive compensation
The US Departments of Labor, Health and Human Services, and the Treasury (Departments) issued a set of 14 frequently asked questions (FAQs) on April 11. The FAQs are intended to offer guidance on the application and implementation of the Families First Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRA), the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (CARES Act), and other health coverage issues related to the coronavirus (COVID-19).
The Coronavirus Air, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act signed into law on March 27 includes an allocation of $200 million to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to support telehealth services and $125 million to the US Department of Agriculture’s Rural Utilities Service to expand its existing distance learning, telehealth, and broadband initiative.
Single employer defined benefit plans are required to comply with limitations on accelerated benefits payments, future benefit accruals, and implementation of benefit increases triggered by plan underfunding or plan sponsor bankruptcy.