Retirement Plans

Subscribe to Retirement Plans via RSS

Under 29 U.S.C. § 1301(b)(1), all “trades or businesses” under common control with an employer that has withdrawn from a multiemployer pension plan are jointly and severally liable for the employer’s withdrawal liability.  The statute does not define what it means to be a “trade or business,” and though the statute references regulations promulgated by the…

Last week, the U.S. Departments of Labor and Treasury issued a Joint Notice requiring the extension of certain benefit plan deadlines for individuals affected by Hurricanes Helene and Milton and Tropical Storm Helene.[1] The deadline extensions echo relief issued during the COVID-19 pandemic, but apply to a more limited group of individuals. The…

The Sixth Circuit recently reversed a district court’s dismissal, and order requiring arbitration of, a proposed class action alleging fiduciary breaches in connection with the Kellogg Company 401(k) plan.  Fleming v. Kellogg Co., 2024 WL 4534677 (6th Cir. Oct. 21, 2024).  In so ruling, the Sixth Circuit added to the list of recent decisions…

In 2021, the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) issued 3 documents outlining guidance on cybersecurity practices for benefits plans, which we discussed in a blog post at the time. The DOL recently issued revised versions of the original three documents in its Compliance Assistance Release No. 2024-01. The revised versions of these documents clarify…

A federal district court in Massachusetts recently denied a motion to dismiss a complaint filed by plan participants in the Cape Cod Healthcare, Inc. 403(b) plan, which alleged that the plan’s fiduciaries breached their ERISA duty of prudence by permitting the plan to pay excessive recordkeeping fees and remain invested in overpriced, underperforming investment options.

The Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals recently affirmed a district court’s grant of summary judgment in favor of the fiduciaries of the Home Depot 401(k) plan, who defended against claims that they breached their fiduciary duties by permitting the plan to pay excessive financial advisor fees and retaining underperforming investments. In so ruling, the court…

Plan sponsors of Code Section 403(b) tax-sheltered annuity plans (“403(b) plans”) that have not already done so may want to consider applying for an IRS determination letter or planning and budgeting for the process next year if they are not yet eligible.

In June, the IRS determination letter program became available to a second group…

Update:  Following the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas’s stay of the Final Rules and related amendments to PTE 84-24 in Fed’n of Americans for Consumer Choice (discussed below), the very next day the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas issued a broader stay in American Council of Life …

Employers may be bound by multiemployer pension plans’ trust agreements and collections policies, but the force of these governing documents may have its limits. In Nevada Resorts Ass’n–Int’l All. of Theatrical Stage Emps. and Moving Picture Mach. Operators of the U.S. and Canada Local 720 Pension Trust v. JB Viva Vegas, L.P., No. 2:19-cv-00499…

A federal district court recently granted a motion to dismiss claims that defined contribution plan fiduciaries breached their fiduciary duties of loyalty and prudence, and violated ERISA’s anti-inurement and prohibited transaction rules, by using forfeited funds to satisfy a portion of the employer’s matching contribution obligations where the plan also permitted using such forfeitures to…