News Archive

"The December 31, 2026 amendment deadline should not be viewed merely as a document drafting exercise. It represents the final stage of a multi-year implementation process that began with the SECURE Act, continued through the CARES Act and was significantly expanded by SECURE 2.0. For many plans, the most important question ... is whether those amendments accurately reflect the way the plan has actually been operated."  MORE >>

"Employers across the country routinely receive a Letter 226-J from the IRS proposing an [ESRP], often running well into six or seven figures, for a tax year that may be several years in the past. Each of these letters contains a single sentence that the IRS treats as the foundation of the entire assessment.... This article lays out the statutory framework, explains in detail why a Letter 226-J is not a Section 1411 notice, walks through the Faulk decision, and shows how Loper Bright independently dooms the government's reading of the statute. It closes with what an employer holding a Letter 226-J should do now."   MORE >>

"[T]hree actions [that] could move the needle to advance affordability: [1] Policymakers could clarify when ERISA's fiduciary duties apply to [PBMs] and [TPAs], and identify examples of compensation schemes or other contracting and business practices that may violate these duties. [2] Congress could amend ERISA to directly regulate more PBM, TPA, and other service provider conduct, both to enhance oversight over its transparency requirements and to prohibit or limit anticompetitive contracting behavior and other abusive business practices. [3] Congress could provide the DOL with resources and authority to more actively support employers in their role as health care purchasers."  MORE >>

"Just over one year ago, the US Supreme Court addressed the pleading requirements for prohibited-transaction claims under ERISA ... The Court recognized the 'serious concern' that its decision could lead to an 'avalanche of meritless litigation,' and suggested five tools that district courts could use to screen out meritless, 'barebones' suits.... While the Supreme Court's five suggestions have not been widely adopted in the year since Cunningham, three of them have been utilized at least once, showing that courts are willing to use these tools in the right circumstances."  MORE >>

"Overall, the Final Rule is intended to streamline dispute processing, reduce ineligible claims, and ensure faster and more consistent payment determinations, although ... it will take some time for these changes to provide any meaningful relief to the overly strained IDR process, if at all.... The Final Rule includes a number of different applicability dates for the various changes, which are noted below. The Final Rule applies to plans, issuers, and Federal Employees Health Benefits (FEHB) carriers and their plans (collectively, plans and issuers)."  MORE >>

"The Proposed Rule does not by itself resolve all of the structural questions that private funds and other nonregistered products face in DC plans. It does, however, offer a clearer framework for fiduciaries' prudent process and highlights where the operational features of these products (particularly liquidity, valuation, benchmarking, fees, and complexity) may have to evolve. For managers and sponsors, the near-term focus is likely to be both on vehicles such as target date funds, balanced funds, and CITs and other delivery structures that can satisfy the Safe Harbor's expectations, and on targeted comments aimed at ensuring that the final rule can be applied to nonregistered structures on workable terms."  MORE >>

"Although rooted in an executive order on alternative assets, the proposal addresses more than just alternative assets and outlines a new process-based safe harbor for fiduciary decision-making. This LawFlash outlines key themes and implications from the proposal."  MORE >>

"The Self-Correction Program (SCP) lets plan sponsors correct the most common operational failures without IRS involvement or a user fee. SCP is not available to correct document failures or qualification issues not appropriate for self-correction under SCP. This article will focus on the proper self-correction of the most common errors found during financial statement audits."  MORE >>

"[I]ndependent evaluation of a consulting relationship requires looking past process documentation to economic architecture. The most important questions are not about methodology. They are about money. How does your firm generate revenue beyond our retainer? Does any portion of your compensation, or that of your parent, flow, directly or indirectly, from recordkeepers or investment managers you recommend to us? ... Can you help us understand, in writing, every way your firm, not just your team, is compensated in connection with our retirement plan? How is individual consultant compensation structured, and does any component create incentives around provider relationships?"  MORE >>

"Every year, thousands of Applicable Large Employers (ALEs) across the country hand off their ACA reporting obligations to a payroll vendor, a benefits administrator, or a general-purpose HR technology platform and trust that the job is being done correctly.... [T]he accuracy of the Forms 1094-C and 1095-C matters enormously ... This article is for employers who want to understand what accurate ACA reporting actually looks like -- and for the brokers and advisors who serve them. Because the stakes are too high to leave this to chance."  MORE >>

"For the moment, though, pay particular attention to the Proposal's six defined factors. For each factor, there is a standard that reflects the DOL's expectations of plan fiduciaries. In addition, there are examples of prudent and imprudent fiduciary behavior under each example. Those factors, standards, and examples reflect the DOL's thinking. That thinking is consistent with views on retirement plan professionals in most cases. While some may be different or more demanding than current practices, they still reflect the behavior that the DOL clearly expects from fiduciaries, and fiduciaries should take that into account as they undertake their activities on behalf of plans."  MORE >>

"[T]he Sixth Circuit became the first federal appellate court to weigh in, determining that ERISA prohibits employers from using unreasonable or outdated actuarial assumptions when calculating joint and survivor annuities. Just days later, the Eastern District of Missouri reached the opposite conclusion ... The decision whether to proactively amend plan assumptions is not straightforward. Updated assumptions can increase plan liabilities, and an amendment could be characterized as a tacit acknowledgment that the prior assumptions were inadequate, potentially strengthening retroactive claims."  MORE >>

"Although rooted in an executive order on alternative assets, the proposal addresses more than just alternative assets and outlines a new process-based safe harbor for fiduciary decision-making.... [B]eyond plan fiduciaries who are directly impacted by the Rule, the Rule will also impact many other stakeholders in the DC Plan ecosystem, including plan consultants, investment advisers, fund sponsors/managers, asset managers, recordkeepers, insurers, investment advisers, broker-dealers, and other DC plan service providers and product manufacturers."  MORE >>

"One of the most consequential features of the Proposed Rule is its breadth. Although the rulemaking was prompted by the Order's directive to facilitate access to alternative assets, the safe harbor's detailed fiduciary process framework is designed to apply to the selection and monitoring of all designated investment alternatives on a plan's menu -- not only to products offering exposure to private equity, private credit, real estate, or other alternative strategies."  MORE >>

"Healthcare costs remain top of mind for many Americans ... Premiums have increased across commercial and individual marketplaces ... The public and private sectors are looking for solutions as U.S. spending on prescription drugs continues to increase ... Price transparency for healthcare prices has momentum ... Federal and state policymakers show interest in addressing the impacts of healthcare consolidation."  MORE >>

"[T]he only participants who default to electronic disclosure of all participant statements are those who are wired-at-work and have received the required 2002 Safe Harbor Notice or those who have affirmatively elected ... to receive electronic statements.... [It] may be reasonable to just give paper statements to everyone (and, if you want, you can also provide duplicate electronic delivery to all). If you choose this option, however, remember to consider that one of the advantages to electronic delivery is the security it provides."  MORE >>

"The proposal includes what the DOL terms as 'narrow' amendments to ERISA's two separate electronic disclosure safe harbors to implement the paper benefit statement requirement under [SECURE 2.0]. The proposed rule would apply to defined contribution (DC) and defined benefit (DB) plans that are subject to ERISA. Comments on the proposed rule are due by April 27, 2026[.]"  MORE >>

This 186-page report describes, and organizes by topic in detail, over 200 FMLA decisions of federal and state courts from November 1, 2024 through October 31, 2025.  MORE >>

"Executive benefits are an increasingly common way for employers to attract and retain top talent for key positions in the organization. Although nondiscrimination rules often present barriers to implementing certain forms of executive arrangements, there are almost always workarounds, alternatives, or taxable (with a gross-up if desired) approaches that can accomplish many of the same goals."  MORE >>

"[T]he proposed regulation is much broader than the corresponding rule for pension and retirement plans, not only in terms of the type of compensation and fees that are subject to disclosure but also regarding [1] the extent of the written disclosure, [2] the timing and frequency of disclosure, [3] the requirement to generally disclose using monetary amounts (versus formulas or percentages), and [4] the provision of specific rights to plan fiduciaries with respect to the disclosures (e.g., audit rights)."  MORE >>

81 pages; Jan. 21, 2026.  Cumulative list of PBGC court cases, with summaries, organized by topic.    MORE >>

This 50 page guide is organized by plan type, regardless of agency: [1] All plans; [2] Health and welfare plans; [3] All retirement plans; [4] DB retirement plans; [5] DC retirement plans.  MORE >>

6-page chart describes important administrative dates and deadlines for single-employer defined benefit plans that are subject to ERISA and the Internal Revenue Code.  MORE >>

"[T]he burden of requesting affirmative elections from all catch-up eligible participants will exceed the burden of sending a deemed election notice ... Assuming that service providers will take care of administering the Roth catch-up mandate will almost certainly land employers in correction-land.  ... Collaboration with payroll companies, bundled recordkeepers, and third-party administrators, as applicable, will be instrumental to the success of the Roth catch-up mandate administration."  MORE >>

"Heath savings accounts (HSAs) are proving to be a way for many employers and employees to better control health care costs, thanks to their tax benefits, lower premiums, and long-term investment opportunities. Learn how to drive greater participation throughout the plan year."  MORE >>