On this episode of Coffee Talk With Benefits, Richard and Sarah venture out of the office as part of an Employee Benefits retreat and engage in brief discussions with their colleagues, Diane Dygert, Caroline Pieper, Alisha Sullivan, Ben Conley, Jen Kraft, Sam Schwartz-Fenwick, and Ada Dolph covering a range
Employee Benefits
Multiple Cyber Incidents Impact Employee Benefit Plans and Participants
By this point, most people in the employee benefits space have heard about the MOVEit and Retirement Clearing House (RCH) cyber incidents, which could directly impact employers’ benefit plans. The MOVEit file transfer application is used by a number of vendors, including those that locate missing plan participants or find information regarding deceased plan participants…
Preventive Care Mandate Returned to Status Quo — Temporarily
Seyfarth Synopsis: The 5th Circuit Court of Appeals has stayed enforcement of a Texas federal district court ruling that that voided the ACA requirement for health plans to cover preventive care items and services (without cost sharing) recommended by the United States Preventive Services Task Force (“USPSTF”) effective as of March 23, 2010.…
Seyfarth Shaw’s Employee Benefits & Executive Compensation Department Earns Distinguished Ranking from Legal 500
Seyfarth Shaw’s Employee Benefits and Executive Compensation department has secured a notable position as one of the best in the country, according to the esteemed Legal 500 United States 2023 edition. This recognition reaffirms Seyfarth’s commitment to excellence in the field of employee benefits and executive compensation law.
Client feedback has played a pivotal role…
FICA Tax Avoidance Wellness Program Viewed Unfavorably by 87,000 New IRS Agents
Seyfarth Synopsis: Just like a bad penny, schemes promising employers ways to reduce their FICA tax burden, and maybe their employees’ income tax burden at the same time, keep popping up with a slightly different burnish on the coin. The risks of such an approach have concerned tax practitioners and now the IRS has directly and…
New Guidance on Gag Clause Attestation
Seyfarth Synopsis: The Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021 (“CAA”) contains a requirement that that group health plans may not have agreements with service providers that would restrict certain information that the plan may make available to another party (the “Gag Clause Prohibition”) and must attest on an annual basis that they are complying (the “Compliance Attestation”).
A Reminder – Washington Cares Fund Premium Payments To Begin July 2023
Seyfarth Synopsis: As a reminder to companies with workers in Washington State, payroll tax withholding under the Washington State Long Term Care Act will begin on July 1, 2023, unless an employee qualifies for an exemption. Companies with employees in Washington will need to be ready to withhold the payroll tax and keep track of…
Texas District Court Nullifies Portions of Preventive Care Mandate
Update: On June 13, 2023, the 5th Circuit issued a stay order which freezes the ruling issued by a Texas federal district court that voided the ACA requirement for health plans to cover preventive items and services (without cost-sharing) recommended by the U.S Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF). For more information, see our blog post…
Wait What??? I Don’t Have to Audit My Small Employer Retirement Plan Anymore??
Seyfarth Synopsis: New rules change the method of counting participants for Form 5500 purposes, possibly both eliminating audits and allowing use of the abbreviated Form 5500-SF.
On February 23, 2023, the Department of Labor released its changes to the 2023 Form 5500 filing instructions. Among the changes was a modification of the participant counting…
Coffee Talk With Benefits Episode 12: Edification on ‘Rothification’ under SECURE 2.0
Signed into law in the waning days of 2022, the SECURE 2.0 Act contains over 90 provisions impacting qualified retirement plans. Several of these provisions materially expand how Roth contributions are to be used, that impact employers and participants alike. We are witnessing the Rothification of retirement accounts. Grab your cup of coffee and tune…