alexa

Good morning, I haven't worked on plans part of a master trust(MT) for awhile 2 DC plans 001 & 333 are part of MT No audit was done for MT but Form 5500 filed Instead, each plan filed their own detailed Sch H with audit reports and auditor mentioned in 2022 audit notes about the plans being part of MT Is this ok? In the past, I have filed the audit with MT Form 5500 and the plans would just list their $ in MT on Sch H. I'm also questioning the use of plan #333? this is a union 401(k) plan- no other employers Much thanks, Lexy

GM- We have folks who move from regular benefits eligible jobs to non-benefits eligible jobs during the year. 401k plan compensation is W-2 wages +401(k) deferral less fringe benefits. Plan counts all comp not just comp from entry. Question: Payroll has been sending wages every 2 weeks to our 401k provider including wages when the employee is in a non-benefits eligible position. Do we count this non-eligible status pay for plan compensation? If you have a code section that addresses this please provide. Much thanks! Lexy

But we have been excluding these direct sellers based on Pub 15A, similar to exclusion of real estate agents. However, it is my understanding that these direct sellers' income is reported on W-2 with all taxes being withheld by us including federal income tax, etc.. Can if we exclude them if they are getting a W-2 vs a Form 1099? Thank you.

We have direct seller who get a W-2 from us; the majority pf what they do for most is 100% direct sales. They are excluded from H&W & 401k benefit plans. Must these direct sellers be counted in ACA testing? thnaks Alexa

HI Luke A little late replying we had an erisa plan which I filed late filings through the DFVCP process; luckily capped at $4k:) Alexa

Thanks Brian for your help. We are not terminating the employee's benefits since he is working >20 hours/week and he is able to keep some LTD $ as long as combined co wages + LTD benefit < 100% of pre-disability pay And he does not have medical with us just the Health FSA, vision and life.

Thanks Brian I had thought the employee was going to drop down to the 16 hours/week but he has decided to do closer to 30 hours/week. He is only 30. If he had gone down to 16 hours he would have been benefits ineligible and been able to change his health FSA to 0 deduction correct? I am reading that it is trickier to change health HSA

We have an employee who just got approved for LTD after 6 months. He has been working part-time (about 20 hours/week) after his STD expired 6 months ago He has decided to continue to work part-time. Our benefits eligibility is 20 hours/week He currently has a health FSA. Our policy has been to terminate all benefits with exception of continuing medical and employer paid basic life at 1x pay and offering COBRA for dental & vision one someone gets approved for LTD. This is the first LTD who has returned to work Can we terminate his health FSA or other benefits since still actively employed and benefits eligible? Is LTD status a "change in status" event? if so what benefits can be changed? Our fully insured carrier has a Return to Work Incentive of up to 12 months as long as monthly earnings from job+ LTD benefit not more than 100% of predisability pay For him to get full LTD he will need to reduce his hours to no more than 16 hours/week which makes him ineligible for benefits To make things more interesting we are no longer going to terminate anyone on an LTD status so not sure yet how that affects the equation:) Thanks in advance for any help Lexy

HI All and Happy New Year! We have posted the new Surprise Billing Model Notice to the benefits section of our Company intranet along with all of our other H&W compliance Notices and recently provided a link to the Notice to all US employees. Would this satisfy the “publicly available” requirement? Much thanks! Lexy

Hi All, We have a handful of ex-pats (US citizens working abroad) where we offer an international plan for medical, dental and vision benefits. At Open enrollment for US we offer them the option of healthcare and dependent care accounts along with voluntary life and voluntary LTD. We have recently implemented other voluntary benefits(pet, legal, ID theft & auto/home) but carriers indicated residence must be US based so have not offered to the ex-pats Are there any things to look out for in offering the FSA accounts? Much thanks in advance! Kind regards, Lexy

Much thanks! actually parent's plan year is same as ours so our employee has decided to enroll in our plan effective 1/1/2022 at Open enrollment starting 11/1/2022

Hi All, Our employee came to me, indicating her parents are going through open enrollment effective for changes 11/1/2021. Our employee (under age 26) is under her parents plan currently. Her parents are considering dropping her since she can get medical though us. Our open enrollment starts in Nov effective 1/1/2022 Can we allow her to add medical due to losing coverage under her parents plan effective 11/1/2021? She will not be be 26 until next Sept. I believe the answer is Yes due to being a QLE I know COVID had muddied the waters a bit during 2020 and for health FSA extended relief again for 2021 regarding QLE’s. We did adopt these enhancements due to COVID for both 2020 and 2021. Your input/comments would be appreciated. Regards, Lexy

I have a db plan frozen 12/31/2013 SPD is really old 12/1/2000 I am assuming at least an SMM should have been done? plan doc was restated 1/1/2015 are there different requiremnts when a DB plan is frozen;ie. 5 years after a major change, 10 years otherwise? Much thanks Lexy

We have an ex-Exec started severance in Feb 2020 for net 3 years(before my time). She is having Roth 401k deductions taken out of her ongoing severance pay. Is that ok? It was my understanding our system is setup to stop 401k deferrals on severance pay and it seems to be for other employees. But perhaps since Roth is after-tax? Thanks Lexy

Our 401k plan doc allows uniform deferral beyond the comp limit; nothin in adoption agreement limits this- why woudl one?! Since the CEW, based on the 5% elected at beginning of employment would have been close to the 26K except for our HRIS system stopped the deferral at same time stopped match which is 100% to 5% off pay I agree with match stop but not deferral stop we have erisa counsel looking into If 401k should not have stopped some sort of selff correction program for missed deferral plus interest should occur correct? thanks Lexy