Health & Welfare Plans Newsletter |
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| November 25, 2009 \ Compliance \ Costs \ Administration \ Design \ Policy | ||
BenefitsLink Wishes You a Safe and Happy Thanksgiving Holiday
Have a safe and happy Thanksgiving holiday! BenefitsLink newsletters and news updates on our Benefits in the News web page will resume publication on Monday, November 30. (BenefitsLink)
International Foundation of Employee Benefit Plans (Advert.)
DOL One-Day Compliance Programs: Electronic Filing, 2009 Forms 5500 and other DOL Updates Attend this one-day workshop where DOL representatives will provide a comprehensive walk-through of:
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[Guidance Overview]
Defense Bill Expansion of FMLA 'Qualifying Exigency' and Military Caregiver Leave
Excerpt: "With the passage of the NDAA 2010, the right to take leave for qualifying exigencies has been changed in two important ways. Qualifying exigency leave is no longer limited to family of National Guard members or reservists. Under the new amendments, family members of any regular component of the Armed Forces are eligible for qualified exigency leave. The right to take qualified exigency leave is no longer triggered by a family member being on active duty or called to active duty in support of a military 'contingency operation.' Now, an eligible employee whose spouse, parent or child is a member of the Armed Forces may take FMLA leave for a qualifying exigency related to the fact that they are deployed with the Armed Forces to a foreign country." (McGuireWoods LLP)
Ford and GM Face $2.5 Billion First VEBA Bill December 31
Excerpt: "When Ford Motor Co. and General Motors Co. hand over health care for hourly retirees to the United Auto Workers on December 31, they also will hand over checks totaling nearly $2.5 billion. Ford owes the most. As a first installment on a $13.2 billion obligation, Ford is scheduled to pay $1.9 billion to a UAW-administered health care trust. That total includes at least $1.3 billion in cash, with the remainder in Ford stock. The automakers' health care trusts are known as voluntary employee beneficiary associations." (Workforce Management; free registration required)
State Health Care Reform Update as of November 25, 2009
Excerpt: "Over the past few months, state action in health reform has slowed, due to interest in the national health reform debate. While most states are waiting to act on health reform until after the national plan is voted on, the National Conference of State Legislators has found that members of at least 11 state legislatures are using the legislative process to seek to limit, alter, or oppose selected federal action, including single-payer provisions and mandates that would require the purchase of insurance. As of late October, formal resolutions or bills had been filed in Arizona, Florida, Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, New Mexico, North Dakota, Ohio, Pennsylvania, West Virginia, and Wyoming. None of the proposals has been approved; Arizona's resolution is the only measure to have passed the legislative process thus far, and it needs to be voted on next November." (Wolters Kluwer)
OSHA Outlines H1N1 Flu Inspection Procedures
Excerpt: "The Occupational Safety and Health Administration on Friday, November 20, issued a compliance directive to ensure uniform inspection procedures to identify and minimize or eliminate high- to very high-risk occupational exposures to H1N1 flu among frontline health care and emergency medical workers. According to OSHA, the directive closely follows guidance issued by the Atlanta-based Centers for Disease Control and Prevention." (Workforce Management; free registration required)
[Opinion]
Health Care Reform Legislation: The Coming Compliance Tsunami
Excerpt: "Like the effects of a submarine earthquake not seen until its giant tidal wave crashes ashore, the Affordable Health Care for America Act, the single biggest piece of domestic policy legislation in 45 years, has the potential to drown our nation's employers in new and far-reaching HR, payroll and benefits compliance requirements. . . . But if the final health care reform legislation that becomes law looks anything like what the U.S. House of Representatives approved, or even resembles U.S. Senator Reid's newly announced legislation, the new law could be the compliance equivalent of the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), the Family & Medical Leave Act (FMLA) and COBRA all rolled into one." (Ceridian Corporation)
BenefitsLink Newsletter (Advert.)
We Have Your Target Audience Advertise your company's products and services right here in the BenefitsLink newsletter. Our subscribers care about employee benefit plan compliance, administration, costs and design. Roles include in-house benefits directors and administrators, TPAs, consultants, attorneys, trust officers, auditors and investment managers. Your ad will show both your banner and a paragraph of text -- more exposure than you'll find anywhere else. And, of course, a clickable link to any page on your web site. Contact Mary Hall for details. |
Links to Items on Executive Comp, Benefits in General
[Guidance Overview]Two Issues Under Final Regulations Governing Employee Stock Purchase Plans Under Code Sec. 423
Excerpt: "The final regulations set forth the categories of employees that may be excluded from coverage under an ESPP or an offering under the ESPP. The Regs permit multiple offerings under an ESPP with different exclusions applicable to the one or more corporations whose employees participate in the particular offering. Thus, an employer has the ability to make future and overlapping offerings that are more (or less) inclusive than prior offerings under the ESPP." (Michael Melbinger via Winston & Strawn LLP)
[Guidance Overview]
Additional DOL Guidance on 2009 Form 5500 Schedule C Reporting (PDF)
3 pages. Excerpt: "The new FAQs confirm that health and welfare plans currently exempt from Schedule C filing requirements (i.e., certain plans with respect to which premiums and benefits are not paid from a trust) will remain so. The fact that there are revenue sharing payments among the plan's service providers will not require the plan to complete a Schedule C. However, group health and other welfare plans that are funded through a trust will have to file Schedule C and are subject to the indirect compensation reporting rules. The FAQs also provide that certain health plan fees will be treated as transaction-based fees for Schedule C reporting purposes." (Buck Consultants)
Bank of America Urges Dismissing Investor Lawsuit
Excerpt: "Bank of America Corp (BAC.N) has asked a Manhattan federal court to dismiss an investor class-action lawsuit over its Merrill Lynch & Co purchase, including disclosures about Merrill's losses and bonus payouts. . . . Bank of America is separately defending a lawsuit by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission over the bonuses, after a federal judge rejected a $33 million accord with the agency as inadequate. New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo has threatened civil charges arising from the Merrill merger. . . . The case is In re Bank of America Corp Securities, Derivative, and Employment Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) Litigation, U.S. District Court, Southern District of New York, No. 09-2058." (Reuters)
FAS 123(R) Option Assumptions: The 2008 Results
Excerpt: "Watson Wyatt recently completed its third annual analysis of stock option valuation assumptions and results under Statement of Financial Accounting Standards (SFAS) 123(R).1 From 2007 to 2008, the percentage of companies disclosing option fair values decreased from 73 percent to 72 percent. The median percentage increase in stock compensation expense from 2007 to 2008 was 2.4 percent." (Watson Wyatt Worldwide)
BenefitsLink Wishes You a Safe and Happy Thanksgiving Holiday
Have a safe and happy Thanksgiving holiday! BenefitsLink newsletters and news updates on our Benefits in the News web page will resume publication on Monday, November 30. (BenefitsLink)
Show Employees the Value: A Companion Report to the Study of Employee Benefits, 2009 & Beyond (PDF)
6 pages. Excerpt: "Employees need to be aware of and understand the value of the benefits available to them in order to appreciate those benefits. Therefore, it is essential that benefits be successfully explained and promoted throughout the organization. Interestingly, communications can have as much impact on worker satisfaction with benefits as the range of benefits offered or the perceived dollar amount of employer contributions. The perceived value of benefits directly influences their importance to workers when selecting a job or deciding to stay with their current employer, as illustrated [in the document]." (Prudential Retirement)
Webcasts and Conferences
401(k) Plan Investment Committee--How Should It Do Its Job?in New York on December 17, 2009
presented by WEB (Worldwide Employee Benefits Network) New York Chapter
Gifts & Entertainment: Should ERISA Dampen Your Clients' Holiday Spirit?
Nationwide on December 17, 2009
presented by ABA Joint Committee on Employee Benefits
PBGC Forum Looks At Future of Pensions
in District of Columbia on December 7, 2009
presented by Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC)
Webcast: Forget about EFAST2! What's New on the Forms?
Nationwide on December 10, 2009
presented by American Society of Pension Professionals & Actuaries (ASPPA)
Webcast: IRC §430/436 Regulations: AFTAPs and Their Aftermath
Nationwide on December 2, 2009
presented by American Society of Pension Professionals & Actuaries (ASPPA)
Webcast: IRC §430/436 Regulations: FT, TNC and COB/PFB Issues
Nationwide on December 15, 2009
presented by American Society of Pension Professionals & Actuaries (ASPPA)
Webcast: Preparing the 2009 Schedule C
Nationwide on December 3, 2009
presented by American Society of Pension Professionals & Actuaries (ASPPA)
Webcast: Things I Know Now as a Lawyer - That I Wish I Knew Then as an Administrator
Nationwide on December 8, 2009
presented by American Society of Pension Professionals & Actuaries (ASPPA)
(Click to post your webcast or conference)
Press Releases
Health Reform Resources Now Reflect Provisions of Senate Leadership BillKaiser Family Foundation
PBGC Forum Looks At Future of Pensions
Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC)
US Labor Department Obtains Court Order Garnishing Wages of Former Trustee of 401(k) Plan Abandoned by Rochester, NY, Employer
U.S. Department of Labor, Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA)
Swift Transportation Selects The Principal for Retirement Plan Services
Principal Financial Group
(Click to post your press release)
Employee Benefits Jobs
Client Service Managerfor Ascensus
in MN
Retirement Sales Wholesaler - Inside Sales
for ExpertPlan, Inc.
in NJ
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