Benefits Blast
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November 20, 2024
|2 min read
The Internal Revenue Service Health and Welfare Limits for 2025
The Internal Revenue Service recently published limits for 2025 in Revenue Procedure 2024-40. Below we have outlined health and welfare limits for 2025 and the changes in those limits from 2024.
November 8, 2024
|2 min read
FTC Asks Appeals Courts to Revive Ban on Worker Non-Compete Agreements after Nationwide Block
The FTC recently appealed a Texas federal court’s decision from August to block the implementation of the FTC’s rule banning worker non-competes.
November 4, 2024
|2 min read
Retirement Plan Contribution Limits Announced for 2025
The IRS recently released Notice 2024-80 to announce cost-of-living adjustments to the indexed dollar limits applicable to retirement plans. Most importantly, the new IRS guidance addresses the SECURE 2.0 change to the catch-up contribution limit for participants aged 60 to 63.
October 25, 2024
|3 min read
Supreme Court to Decide Pleading Standard in Prohibited-Transaction Litigation
On October 4, 2024, the U.S. Supreme Court agreed to resolve a three-way circuit split regarding the pleading standard for alleged prohibited-transaction claims under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974, as amended (ERISA).
September 30, 2024
|6 min read
September 6, 2024
|2 min read
Initial Executive Compensation Takeaways from the ISS Annual Global Benchmark Policy Survey
Institutional Shareholder Services, one of the leading proxy advisory firms, uses its Annual Global Benchmark Policy Survey to gauge investor and other stakeholder interests and market sentiment.
August 29, 2024
|3 min read
Reminder: Glass Lewis Annual Policy Survey Closes Friday, August 30th
There is still time to submit responses to Glass Lewis’s 2024 Policy Survey, which the proxy advisor uses to gauge investor and other stakeholder interests and market sentiment. Since Glass Lewis selects the questions, the policy survey also indicates the advisor’s areas of policy focus. In this blog post, we identify a few highlights from the Executive Compensation portion of the survey we think practitioners should be tracking.
July 9, 2024
|3 min read
Notable Decisions of the 2024 U.S. Supreme Court Term Impacting Group Health Plans
As the Supreme Court’s 2024 term comes to a close, we want to highlight several decisions that impact employer-sponsored group health plans. Health plan sponsors will want to monitor the impact of these decisions.
July 3, 2024
|3 min read
Last month, the United States (U.S.) Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit partially upheld a lower court ruling in Braidwood Management, Inc. v. Becerra that invalidated the preventive care mandate under the Affordable Care Act (ACA).
May 17, 2024
|1 min read
Health & Welfare Plan Contribution and Benefit Limits Announced for 2025
The IRS recently released Rev. Proc. 2024-25, which provides the inflation-adjusted limits related to health savings accounts (HSAs), high deductible health plans (HDHPs), and excepted benefit health reimbursement arrangements (HRAs) for the 2025 calendar year.
May 7, 2024
|7 min read
U.S. Department of Labor Publishes Final Amendment to the QPAM Exemption
On April 3, 2024, the U.S. Department of Labor (Department) published its final amendment (the Final Amendment) to Prohibited Transaction Class Exemption 84-14 (the QPAM Exemption or Exemption).
April 29, 2024
|5 min read
The U.S. Department of Labor Finalizes its Most Recent Definition of an Investment Advice Fiduciary
On April 25, 2024, the U.S. Department of Labor’s Employee Benefits Security Administration (the Department) published the Retirement Security Rule: Definition of an Investment Advice Fiduciary (the 2024 Fiduciary Rule). The 2024 Fiduciary Rule defines when a person is considered a fiduciary under Title I and Title II of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA) in connection with providing investment advice or making an investment recommendation to a retirement investor. In addition to the 2024 Fiduciary Rule, the Department also finalized amendments to certain Prohibited Transaction Exemptions (PTEs) to reflect the Department’s updated definition of an investment advice fiduciary.
March 15, 2024
|3 min read
February 29, 2024
|8 min read
As discussed in prior blog posts, on June 9, 2023, the Securities and Exchange Commission (the SEC) approved listing standards promulgated by the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) and Nasdaq Stock Market (Nasdaq) regarding the recovery of erroneously awarded incentive-based compensation, referred to as “clawbacks.”
February 13, 2024
|6 min read
Recent Developments Highlight the Need for Fiduciary Attention to Health Plan Fees
New transparency requirements under the Affordable Care Act and the Consolidated Appropriations Act have ushered in a new era of fee and pricing transparency with respect to the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) group health plans.
February 12, 2024
|1 min read
In January, the 2024 federal poverty level (FPL) was announced as $15,060.
February 12, 2024
|1 min read
Just Out: Executive Travel on the Corporate Jet First Half 2024 Imputed Income Rates
Due to increased physical and cybersecurity concerns, executives are increasingly provided travel on the company aircraft for both business and personal purposes. However, any non-business travel invokes Form W-2 income inclusion using the Standard Industry Fare Level (SIFL) rates published by the Department of Transportation twice per year, effective for a six-month period.
February 8, 2024
|2 min read
Department of Labor Increases Civil Penalties for Non-Compliance
Effective January 15, 2024, the United States Department of Labor increased its ERISA health and welfare civil penalties for non-compliance
January 25, 2024
|4 min read
Benefits Bulletin – DOL Final Independent Contractor Rules and Benefit Plans
On January 10, 2024, the Department of Labor (DOL) published a final rule (the Final Rule) regarding independent contractors under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). The Final Rule, which is effective March 11, 2024, replaces the 2021 rule and applies a “six-factor” test that does not give a predetermined weight to any of the economic reality factors, but rather looks at the individual’s activity as a whole in determining whether they are an independent contractor.
December 28, 2023
|6 min read
Benefits Bulletin – IRS Issues Guidance on Implementing SECURE 2.0