June 12, 2002 - 11,385 subscribers Today's sponsor: In Plain English (Click on company name or banner to learn more.) Help Your Employees Write Better in Print or on the Web One-day writing course, custom-designed for your company. Train your employees to write in plain English to customers, employees, target audiences, and the general public. Whether your employees create letters, business reports, corporate strategy, websites, or e-mails, we can help them write clearly, correctly, and in plain English. Click Here to sign up for our free 21 Writing Tips for the 21st Century, learn more about our writing seminars, and bring In Plain English to your organization. (Help BenefitsLink to provide this newsletter at no charge to you -- our sponsors pay our way. Remember to visit them periodically; we try to make sure their products and services will be of interest to you. Thanks! --Editor) IRS Rules N.Y. Police, Firefighters' Survivor Annuities Are Not Includible in Federal Estate (PDF) Excerpt: "The accidental death benefits payable pursuant to New York City and New York State laws to specified beneficiaries of a deceased New York City firefighter or police officer who died in the line of duty are not includible in the decedent's gross estate, except to the extent the benefits represent a return of the decedent's contributions to the pension fund." (Internal Revenue Service) Another Question is Answered in the Who's the Employer Q&A Column A PEO has operated a 401(k) plan as a single employer but intends to convert to a multiple employer plan. It will be a 401(k) with a safe harbor match. The COs will have the option of making a non-elective contribution, allocated in proportion to compensation. Is this a uniform allocation formula, or will general nondiscrimination testing need to be performed? Rev. Proc. 2002-21 does not clearly resolve the issue of who is the employer, so how can any such testing be done with confidence? (BenefitsLink.com) Nominations Deadline for PSCA Signature Awards Is July 19 Excerpt: "PSCA's annual Signature Awards is a competition designed to honor excellence in plan communication and investment education. By sponsoring the Signature Awards competition, PSCA encourages the sharing of communication ideas and rewards excellence in profit sharing and 401(k) plan communication and investment-education. The competition also provides plan sponsors with outside, objective recognition of the efforts of their company and their staff." (Profit Sharing/401(k) Council of America) Alliance Capital Management Answers Lawsuit by State of Florida Excerpt: "An investment firm that put Florida pension money into failing Enron stock said in court papers Tuesday that stock picks are speculative and it can't be blamed for Enron's accounting mess. New York-based Alliance Capital Management is being sued by the Florida State Board of Administration for the disastrous investment late last year, which cost the pension fund about $300 million." (AP via Yahoo! News) Creating Value Through DB Outsourcing Excerpt: "Outsourcing-- using either a fully bundled or semibundled approach-- is a growing trend among all sizes of DB plans. In fact, the 2001 Chatham Study of plan sponsors and providers predicted a 15% annualized growth rate in outsourcing." (The Vanguard Group) Links to Items on Executive Comp, Benefits in General (These items appear in both editions of the BenefitsLink Newsletter) Analysis: IRS Approves Electronic SPDs, Objects To Kiosk Distribution Excerpt: "[I]n a move that could make things difficult for employers such as manufacturers whose line employees do not have access to computers, the DOL has outlawed the use of kiosks as a method of distributing benefits information. Simply making it available on communal computers, officials decided, does not satisfy minimum distribution requirements." (BenefitNews.com) PEO Administaff's Stock Tumbles After IRS Ruling, Sluggish First Quarter Excerpt: "The latest Wall Street whammy on the Kingwood [Texas]-based human resources company came last week when Administaff said it had resolved a long-running dispute with the IRS. The IRS ended an audit of Administaff's 401(k) program, while ruling that the company must make changes to the plan." (Houston Business Journal via bizjournals.com; free registration required) Some Say It's Time To Account For Stock Options Differently Excerpt: "When is an expense not an expense? When it's a stock option, of course. Over the past several years, countless companies have taken advantage of what many see as a crucial flaw in the corporate accounting system -- the freedom of companies to issue stock options without ever seeing the expense hit their bottom line." (Washington Business Journal via bizjournals.com; free registration required) Newly Posted or Renewed Job Openings -
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Feel free to send this email to friends, colleagues or clients, if you copy or forward this email in its entirety (including this boilerplate part). Copyright 2002 BenefitsLink.com, Inc. Published by: BenefitsLink.com, Inc. https://benefitslink.com/about.html 1298 Minnesota Avenue, Suite H Winter Park FL 32789 (407) 644-4146 Fax: (407) 644-2151 Editor and Publisher: David Rhett Baker, J.D.
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