"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 >>
"The Proposed Rule identifies six non-exhaustive factors that a plan fiduciary must objectively, thoroughly, and analytically consider when selecting DIAs.... Each factor's applicability depends on the particular facts and circumstances, though the DOL believes all six are integral to the selection of the vast majority of DIAs." MORE >>
"[1] FMLA and ADA overlap but serve different purposes ... [2] Why the ADA interactive process is required for accommodation requests ... [3] Rigid leave policies can create ADA liability ... [4] Why documentation is critical for FMLA and ADA compliance ... [5] When to err on the side of caution under FMLA and ADA." MORE >>
"The Proposed Rule establishes a safe harbor process rather than mandating the selection of specific designated investment alternatives.... Under the safe harbor process, when a plan fiduciary objectively, thoroughly, and analytically considers any of the six factors and makes a determination following the described process, its judgment regarding that factor is presumed to satisfy section 404(a)(1)(B) of ERISA and should be entitled to significant deference." MORE >>
"The San Francisco Office of Labor Standards Enforcement (OLSE) has opened the Health Care Security Ordinance (HCSO) Employer Annual Reporting Form (ARF) website. All covered employers must submit the required reporting on the 2025 calendar year by May 1, 2026. Employers required to complete the reporting will find many useful resources on the ARF website, including instructions, previews, an educational webinar with slides, FAQs, and the reporting form itself." MORE >>
"[T]he court applied de novo review after finding that First Reliance Standard committed multiple non-inadvertent violations of the [DOL's] claims-procedure regulation ... in processing Booth's internal appeal. The court found that Booth was Totally Disabled under the policy's 'any occupation' standard, and that the insurer's own vocational evidence -- not just the claimant's -- established that she could not perform any occupation her education, training, or experience would reasonably allow." [Booth v. First Reliance Standard Life Ins. Co., No. 24-3927 (S.D.N.Y. Mar. 30, 2026)] MORE >>
"Evaluating alternative assets through this framework would be new to many 401(k) plan sponsors who have avoided going beyond stocks and bonds in plans due to risk of lawsuits under [ERISA]. The DOL estimated that among the roughly 721,000 plans affected by the proposed rule there would be 51,307 instances each year where target date funds with alternative investments are added to plan menus. The plans would have approximately $178 billion and 4.5 million participants annually flowing into these TDFs, the DOL projected." MORE >>
"[T]he judge ruled that the decision to releverage was a corporate decision appropriately made by the board of directors. The fiduciary obligation rests with the ESOP trustee, GreatBanc, to make sure that the price that the ESOP pays is at fair market value and that the terms of the deal are not harmful to the plan participants." [Shipp v. Central States Mfg., Inc., No. 23-5215 (W.D. Ark. Mar. 30, 2026)] MORE >>
"[The District Court] ruled that when the administrator of a long-term disability (LTD) plan abused its discretion in denying LTD benefits, the employee was entitled to a retroactive reinstatement of benefits from the time his benefits were terminated through the date of the court’s decision." [Ehrlich v. Hartford Life & Accident Ins. Co., No. 20-2284 (N.D. Calif. Mar. 28, 2025)] MORE >>
"In the commercial market, drug spending is substantial. Yet hospital and facility services account for the largest share of medical expenditures—and therefore represent the greatest financial exposure for self-insured employers. Understanding why requires a closer look at how these employer plans work." MORE >>
"Last year ... the Supreme Court resolved a circuit split on pleading standards for prohibited transaction (PT) claims under [ERISA]. This article provides an overview of how that decision has affected motions to dismiss those claims." MORE >>
"[R]ecently there has been an uptick in litigation questioning the selection of particular stable value funds.... [S]ome of these lawsuits have suggested that stable value funds may not be safe investments at all, citing potential default risks that plan fiduciaries should take into account when selecting and monitoring these investments. This article summarizes a few of the key risks that may make stable value funds less stable than you once thought." MORE >>
"ERISA coverage provides for many advantages, and the related compliance requirements are not particularly onerous. This article discusses what causes a severance plan to be subject to ERISA, the consequences that result, and the advantages of ERISA coverage." MORE >>
"West Virginia’s Public Employees Insurance Agency enrolls nearly 215,000 people — state workers, as well as their spouses and dependents. The new law, which will take effect June 10, will allow plan members who have been approved for a course of treatment to pursue an alternative, medically appropriate treatment of equal or lesser value without the need for another approval from the state-based health plan." MORE >>
"[1] Automation is helpful -- but it's not a substitute for human oversight and alignment with the plan document.... [2] 'Comp' is not a casual HR term -- it has a technical definition that must line up across your plan document, payroll codes, and recordkeeper/TPA setup.... [3] [Y]ou can delegate tasks, but you can't delegate responsibility. Even if someone else is signing your Form 5500 or managing your plan, ultimately, the buck stops with you." MORE >>
12 pages. "The external executive compensation landscape is shifting less through new [SEC] rulemaking and more through evolving expectations around disclosure quality, proxy advisor methodologies and investor scrutiny. Set out [in this article] are nine key issues and reminders to help compensation committees, in-house legal teams and human resources leaders plan for 2026 program design and executive compensation proxy disclosure." MORE >>
"Employers in Delaware with 10 or more eligible employees must submit required hours and wage reports to the [DOL] by the end of a 90-day grace period on Tuesday, March 31, in order for workers to receive benefits through the state's Paid Leave program, which began Jan. 1.... [A]bout 6,000 employers in Delaware fit that requirement and noted the reports are quarterly for all of 2025 and are typically due 30 days after the end of each quarter." MORE >>
"Recent statements by the EBSA leadership and Assistant DOL Secretary, Daniel Aronowitz, frame ERISA litigation as abusive,' 'frivolous,' and in need of increased structural restrictions.... This position ... is inconsistent with ERISA's statutory design, controlling Supreme court precedent, and the legislative history of ERISA itself. Properly understood, ERISA depends upon participant-driven litigation as a primary enforcement mechanism.... [E]fforts to restrict access to the courts undermine -- not further -- ERISA's core purposes." MORE >>
"The path to changes to rules governing life insurance and annuity illustrations is sure to be a long one.... The new Life Insurance and Annuities Illustrations Working Group, established by the National Association of Insurance Commissioners, held its second call to discuss the 11 comment letters it received ... Regulators highlighted examples of annuity illustrations suggesting annual returns between 10% and 27%, prompting questions about whether consumers are receiving an accurate picture of potential performance at the point of sale." MORE >>
"Dispute volume in the first half of 2025 more than doubled from the same period in 2024 -- driven largely by a small number of private equity-backed providers and IDR middlemen effectively rigging the system to extract payouts that can be 'three to nine times in-network rates' ... This provider-driven abuse of the No Surprises Act contributes to higher premium costs, fueling the health care affordability crisis impacting every American." MORE >>
"Democrats are casting about for new health reform ideas in the hope that they can gain traction in the run-up to 2028 and be enacted afterward.... There are at least three equally important big priorities Democrats will be thinking about that are in themselves challenging and, in a world of limited dollars and political capital, will be in tension." MORE >>
"The DOL proposed a six-factor safe harbor to meet a fiduciary's duty of prudence when selecting designated investment alternatives under participant-directed defined contribution plans. The proposed regulation does not apply to brokerage windows or self-directed brokerage accounts under defined contribution plans.... By clarifying the fiduciary process affording discretion to plan fiduciaries to select investments, the DOL hopes the courts will follow through with deference." MORE >>
"The proposal is an ERISA fiduciary-process framework. It does not resolve whether, or how, a plan can access certain investments under the federal securities laws and related regimes.... [It] also does not provide an easy operational solution to the practical liquidity challenges that can arise in participant-directed plans ... The proposal sets forth a checklist of topics fiduciaries should be prepared to evaluate for each investment option, using an objective and well-documented process." MORE >>
"This software is being issued only as a supplemental tool for issuers of risk adjustment covered plans to better understand and simulate the calculation of plan liability risk scores for their enrollees.... Python software is being phased in to replace the SAS software, which will be discontinued for benefit year 2026." Also available:
"The deadline to file the 2025 Forms 1094-C and 1095-C for filers is today, March 31, 2026.... [T]he employer may receive an automatic 30 day extension by filing a Form 8809 with the IRS. This extends the electronic deadline to April 30, 2026. This article provides basic instructions regarding how an employer should complete the Form 8809." MORE >>
