News

For the first time, the Department of Labor (DOL) has issued guidance addressing cybersecurity for plan sponsors, plan fiduciaries, recordkeepers, and plan participants of ERISA covered plans.

As you have probably heard, student loan debt is a big issue. According to federal statistics, 69 percent of college students in the Class of 2019 took out student loans, and they graduated with an average debt of $29,900 per student. Additionally, approximately 14 percent of these students’ parents took out loans to assist their children attend college. Overall, there is more than $1.71 trillion in student loan debt in the United States, and this is spread out over approximately 44.7 million borrowers. So, what are some methods an employer can use to assist its employees and attract new employees related to student loan debt? This article will discuss two options that the IRS allows employers to use to assist with and encourage the repayment of student loan debt.

On March 11, 2021, President Biden signed into law a comprehensive stimulus package titled the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 (ARPA) that includes assistance in the form of a 100 percent COBRA premium subsidy to “assistance eligible individuals” for a period of up to six months. Although ARPA went into effect on April 1, 2021, employer implementation of the new law has been delayed pending the release of the model notices by the Department of Labor (DOL). However, on April 7, 2021, the DOL issued the model notices to be used by employers to satisfy the notice obligations imposed by ARPA along with a set of FAQ’s that provide some clarifying guidance. Now that the model notices have been released, employers should begin taking steps toward satisfying its obligations under ARPA.

The American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 (ARPA) was signed by President Biden on March 11, 2021. The ARPA follows previous laws applicable to the minimum funding contribution requirements for defined benefit plans, and this article discusses the impacts of the ARPA on Single Employer Plans (as opposed to Multi-Employer Plans).

Employers who sponsor group health, dental and/or vision plans should be aware that the Department of Labor (DOL) just issued EBSA Disaster Relief Notice 2021-01 which provides specific guidance and recommendations to employers in connection with Outbreak Period relief previously issued by the DOL and Internal Revenue Service (IRS) in joint guidance issued last year in EBSA Disaster Relief Notice 2020-01 (Joint Notice).

The IRS has provided additional guidance regarding the coronavirus-related distributions, the modification to plan loans made to individuals impacted by COVID-19, and the 2020 waiver of the required minimum distributions. This article will provide an update to such article as provided in the recently released additional guidance from the IRS in Notices 2020-50 and 2020-51.