As previously discussed, the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (the “PBGC”) issued final regulations in July 2022 for plans that receive special financial assistance (“SFA”) under the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 (“ARPA”). Among other things, the regulations imposed special withdrawal liability rules on plans that receive SFA – including a phase-in period for
Latest from Employee Benefits & Executive Compensation Blog
The Long-Awaited End of the Tolling of Plan Deadlines due to COVID-19
The Biden Administration recently announced that the COVID-19 National Emergency will end on May 11, 2023. This means that the requirement to extend various benefit plan deadlines due to the COVID-19 pandemic will end as well.
By way of brief background, early during the pandemic, the U.S. Departments of Labor and Treasury adopted relief pursuant to
IRS Proposed Regulations Would Permanently Allow Remote Witnessing of Spousal Consent
The IRS issued new proposed regulations that would permanently change the rules that require spousal consent for plan distributions to be signed in the physical presence of a notary or plan representative. Specifically, the proposed regulations would allow plans to accept remote notarization or witnessing by a plan representative if the remote process meets certain
Clarification on Extension of Amendment Deadlines for CARES Act Provisions
On September 26, 2022, the IRS released IRS Notice 2022-45, which corrected a potential oversight in IRS Notice 2022-33, discussed in detail here. Notice 2022-33 had extended the deadline to adopt certain retirement and savings plan amendments required by the Setting Every Community Up for Retirement Enhancement Act of 2019 (“SECURE Act”) and
IRS Guidance Extends Deadline for SECURE & CARES Act Amendments
On August 3, 2022, in a welcome and surprising move, the IRS released Notice 2022-33, providing for an extension for qualified retirement plans to adopt amendments under the Setting Every Community Up for Retirement Enhancement Act of 2019 (“SECURE Act”), the Bipartisan Miners Act of 2019 (the “Miners Act”) (which provided defined benefit plans
PBGC Issues Final Rule on Special Financial Assistance Program for Troubled Multiemployer Pension Plans
On July 8, 2022, the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (“PBGC”) published its much anticipated final rule on the special financial assistance (“SFA”) available to certain troubled multiemployer plans under the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 (“ARPA”).
As we previously described in our client alert, ARPA provided for cash payments from the PBGC to
No Presence? No Problem: Temporary Relief for Witnessing Spousal Consent Further Extended Through Year-End
Perhaps channeling the old adage of “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it,” the IRS recently released Notice 2022-27 extending through December 31, 2022 its temporary relief from the requirement that spousal consent for plan distributions or loans be witnessed in person.
As discussed in greater detail in our earlier posts (here and here
Congress Reopens Door For HSA With No-Deductible Telehealth, But With a Hole
Effective April 1, 2022, high-deductible health plans can once again offer first-dollar coverage for telehealth and other remote services without making participants ineligible for health savings account (“HSA”) contributions. The relief runs only through the end of 2022, and the regular high-deductible health plan requirements generally apply for the months of January through March 2022.
[Podcast]: Employee Retention Issues
In this episode of The Proskauer Benefits Brief, Proskauer partner David Teigman, senior counsel Nick LaSpina, and special guest Michelle Garrett, a principal at the compensation consulting firm Semler Brossy, discuss employee retention. It seems like there is an article almost every day talking about the “great resignation.” In a nutshell, there
There’s More! Tri-Agencies Provide Clarifying Guidance on Group Health Plan Coverage of Over-the-Counter At-Home COVID-19 Tests
A few short weeks ago we told you in a blog post that, with only four days’ notice, the Departments of Labor, Treasury, and HHS (the Departments) required that, starting January 15, 2022, group health plans cover FDA-approved over-the-counter (OTC) at-home COVID-19 tests without participant cost-sharing, preauthorization, or medical management, regardless of whether a health