Insights on benefits counseling and litigation issues impacting employers nationwide
Many employers facing economic challenges because of COVID-19 have considered several possibilities for reducing their contributions to their 401(k) plans. Whether freezing safe harbor matching or nonelective contributions or deciding against making discretionary matching and/or profit-sharing contributions, the goal has been the same: reduce their employee benefits costs.
What many employers have not focused on…
Recent statements by Small Business Administration (SBA) and Treasury Department officials have confused many Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) borrowers and led many to return PPP funds or consider doing so. Finally, the SBA has issued FAQ 46, which should assuage many borrowers’ concerns.
Previously, the SBA notified borrowers through a number of pronouncements that they…
The executive and equity compensation plans, agreements, policies and arrangements (collectively, the “Plans”) of publicly traded companies receive close scrutiny from various shareholder advocacy groups during the annual proxy season, which is well underway for 2020. These groups advise institutional shareholders whether to vote for, to abstain from voting on, or to vote…
On May 4, 2020, the Internal Revenue Service released much-anticipated guidance related to implementing the retirement plan aspects of the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (“CARES Act”) enacted on March 27, 2020, see our article here. Although the questions and answers fall short of resolving all open questions, they provide helpful insight…
In our post of April 4, we advised there was an ambiguity between the CARES Act and subsequent guidance issued by the Small Business Administration (SBA) on whether employees of foreign affiliates of applicants are considered when determining eligibility for Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loans.
Applicants in the SBA’s Business Loan Programs (which includes…
The Department of Labor (DOL) and other federal regulators released updates and clarifications related to employee benefits, including updates to model COBRA notices and an extension of certain statutory deadlines intended to minimize the possibility of participants and beneficiaries losing benefits during the COVID-19 pandemic. This article highlights the DOL’s recent changes and updates relating…
Guidance issued by the Treasury Department and the Small Business Administration (SBA), the federal agency that administers the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP), demonstrates that the PPP loans, as originally thought, were too good to be true.
PPP was established by section 1102 of the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (CARES Act), Public Law…
Much has happened in the three-plus weeks since the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Securities (CARES) Act was enacted on March 27, 2020. The $349 billion dollars appropriated to the newly created Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) has been exhausted. The Small Business Administration (SBA), the Federal agency administering the PPP, reports they have made over…
What could be in the next stimulus bill in response to the COVID-19 pandemic? Congress reportedly is working on a bill (dubbed “Stimulus 3.5”) that includes additional funding for the Paycheck Protection Program created by the CARES Act. Will the new stimulus bill address long-awaited reforms to the multiemployer pension plan system?
The imminent…
The Internal Revenue Service has broadened the filing and payment relief provided under prior guidance. IRS Notice 2020-23 postpones, among other relief, the due date for employee benefit plans required to make the Form 5500 series filings due on or after April 1, 2020, and before July 15, 2020. Plans with original due dates or…
