McDermott Will & Emery
Subscribe to McDermott Will & Emery's PostsRetention Agreements or Severance Pay Arrangements: What’s the Difference and What are the Considerations?
By McDermott Will & Emery on Oct 24, 2014
Posted In Employment
As the economy continues to rebound and the United States again starts to see more movement in the employment market, employers are once again revisiting their severance pay and retention policies and developing an underlying rational of whether or not to provide these benefits and if so, how broadly among their workforce. However, it has...
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PBGC Intends to Monitor Lump-sum and Annuity Cashouts Under Defined Benefit Plans
By McDermott Will & Emery on Oct 15, 2014
Posted In Retirement Plans
The Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC) stated in a filing published in the Federal Register on September 23, 2014, that it intends to require that plan sponsors report to the PBGC “certain undertakings” to cashout or annuitize benefits for specified groups of employees under defined benefit pension plans. PBGC intends to make this reporting part of the...
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Cracking the Code: Taxing Developments in Benefit Compliance
By McDermott Will & Emery on Sep 19, 2014
Posted In Executive Compensation
When a nonqualified deferred compensation plan qualifies as a “top-hat” plan under the regulations of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974, as amended (“ERISA”), the benefits of that particular classification to an employer are that the plan is exempt from various reporting, disclosure and funding rules. These exemptions can significantly ease an employer’s...
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Upcoming Health and Welfare Plan Requirements Checklist for Employers
By McDermott Will & Emery on Aug 21, 2014
Posted In Health and Welfare Plans
As the mid-way point of 2014 approaches, employers should actively turn their attention to several upcoming compliance obligations for the health and welfare benefit plans they sponsor. Following is a checklist of upcoming health and welfare compliance initiatives that require action by employers, including preparation for upcoming fees and penalties under the Affordable Care Act,...
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UK Based Employees Who Refuse to Work Their Notice Period
By McDermott Will & Emery on Aug 19, 2014
Posted In Employment
If an employee walks out, refusing to work his notice period, can an employer elect to keep the contract of employment alive, without paying the recalcitrant employee? In the case of Sunrise Brokers LLP v Rodgers [2014] EWHC 2633 (QB), the High Court held that the answer to this question is yes. Read the full article.
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UK Pensions Auto-Enrolment Scheme
By McDermott Will & Emery on Aug 12, 2014
Posted In Employment, Retirement Plans
A radical change to UK pension law is expected to affect tens of thousands of organisations with UK-based employees in 2014. This follows the imposition of an unprecedented obligation on employers to “automatically enrol” eligible employees in, and to contribute financially to, a pension scheme that meets specific, carefully defined criteria. Read the full article.
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Individual Responsibility under the ACA
By McDermott Will & Emery on Aug 11, 2014
Posted In Health and Welfare Plans
Effective 2014, if a taxpayer is not covered under minimum essential coverage for one or more months, then, unless an exemption applies, the taxpayer is liable for the individual shared responsibility payment on his return. The individual shared responsibility payment is the lesser of: (1) the sum of the monthly penalty amounts; or (2) the...
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PBGC Announces 2014 Moratorium on ERISA Section 4062(e) Enforcement Actions
By McDermott Will & Emery, Michael T. Graham and Patrick Ryan on Jul 10, 2014
Posted In Retirement Plans
On July 8, 2014, the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC) issued a press release announcing a moratorium on its enforcement of Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974(ERISA) Section 4062(e) through the end of 2014. In general, ERISA Section 4062(e) allows PBGC to require that employers financially guarantee pension obligations in the form of plan...
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Final Regulations Allow Retirement Plan Payments for Accident, Health and Disability Insurance
By McDermott Will & Emery on Jun 10, 2014
Posted In Health and Welfare Plans, Retirement Plans
On May 9, 2014, the Internal Revenue Service finalized regulations that govern the tax treatment of payments made by retirement plans to pay accident or health insurance premiums. Under the final regulations, accident or health insurance premium payments by qualified defined contribution plans are taxable distributions to the participant unless those payments are used to...
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Transaction Structures for Acquisitions by ESOP Companies
By McDermott Will & Emery on Jun 5, 2014
Posted In Employee Stock Ownership Plans (ESOPs)
ESOPs have long provided an exit strategy for owners of privately held businesses and a platform for management buyouts. Mergers and acquisition (M&A) advisors increasingly look to leveraged ESOPs to accomplish both conventional stock and asset acquisitions. Once an ESOP company decides to pursue an acquisition opportunity, it will generally structure in one of three...
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