von Briesen & Roper, s.c. - Practice Area - Compensation and Benefits/ERISA

Compensation and Benefits/ERISA

Attorneys

Conway, Catherine F.	Kappes, Debra Doolittle
Dowse, Alyssa D.	McDonald, Timothy C.
Evans, Jr., George A.	Welytok, Daniel S.
Hoogstra, Kenneth A.

Specialties

Articles

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Title	Created
Health Care Reform Provides Federal Tax Relief for Adult Child Coverage The new health care reform legislation signed by President Obama last month provided some tax simplification for Wisconsin employers that provide health care coverage to the children of their employees. Unfortunately, these changes will not be effective for determining Wisconsin income tax or Wisconsin income tax withholding until the Wisconsin legislature acts to adopt these federal changes.	04/21/10
Extending Health Benefits to Children and Domestic Partners Who Are Not Tax Dependents Historically, employers extending group health plan coverage to the dependents of employees limited the availability of that coverage to individuals who qualified as dependents of employees for purposes of the federal income tax laws applicable to employer-sponsored group health plans. Either by choice or to comply with government mandates, however, employers are increasingly extending dependent coverage to individuals who do not qualify as dependents of employees for purposes of those tax rules ("Non-tax Dependents). Covering Non-tax Dependents can present some significant tax issues and complications for employers.	02/16/10
New Regulations Prohibit Questions Regarding Family History or Other Genetic Information on Certain Health Risk Assessments On October 7, 2009, Interim Final Rules were issued to implement certain sections of the Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act ("GINA"). These rules prohibit (i) the use of genetic information for increasing the group premiums or contribution amounts based on genetic information; (ii) requesting an individual or family member to undergo genetic testing, except in limited circumstances; or (iii) requesting genetic information in connection with enrollment or for "underwriting purposes," which includes offering benefits or rewards for completing a health risk assessment ("HRA").	10/16/09
Economic Stimulus Package Includes Premium Assistance for COBRA Benefits On February 17, 2009, President Obama signed into law the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (the "Act"). The Act includes assistance for individuals who are entitled under federal or state law to continue coverage under a group health plan on a self-pay basis after an involuntary termination of employment. For purposes of this Alert, the term "COBRA" refers to self-pay continuation coverage under either federal or state law. The Act includes premium assistance for up to nine months of COBRA coverage for "assistance eligible individuals," as defined in the Act. The following questions and answers summarize key provisions of the COBRA assistance provisions in the Act.	02/20/09
2008 Year-End Benefits Planning With the close of 2008 fast approaching, benefits professionals should take time to refocus on what tasks need to be completed before the end of the year. This article briefly highlights some important employee benefits issues that should be addressed in the coming weeks.	11/24/08
Protections Against Discrimination Based On Genetic Information: New Rules Impact Group Health Plans, Health Insurers and Employers On May 21, 2008, President Bush signed the Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act of 2008 (GINA). The purpose of GINA is to prevent discrimination in health insurance and employment based on genetic information. GINA imposes new restrictions on group health plans (including both large and small group plans, church plans and non-federal government plans), insurance issuers, employers, employment agencies, labor organizations, and joint labor-management committees. Genetic information is defined as information regarding an individual's own genetic tests, the genetic tests of the individual's family members, and the manifestation of a disease or disorder in the individual's family members. The term "genetic test" is defined in the statute as "an analysis of human DNA, RNA, chromosomes, proteins or metabolites that detects genotypes, mutations, or chromosomal changes." A genetic test is used to predict whether an individual has a predisposition to a disease, disorder, or pathological condition, and does not include a genetic analysis that is performed after a disease is manifested. The term "family member" is defined very broadly to include an individual's dependents and any other individual who is a first, second, third or fourth-degree relative of the individual.	08/06/08
IRS Issues Guidance for 403(b) Plan Sponsors: Model Language for Public Schools and Transition Relief for Contract Exchanges and Frozen Plans Last July, the Internal Revenue Service ("IRS") released final regulations under section 403(b) of the Internal Revenue Code ("Code") that are generally effective for tax years beginning after December 31, 2008. The final regulations make 403(b) plans more like other defined contribution retirement plans such as 401(k) or 457(b) plans.	01/14/08
Severance Arrangements Under Internal Revenue Code Section 409A Late last month, the Internal Revenue Service ("IRS") provided some relief to employers attempting to comply with the new rules under section 409A of the Internal Revenue Code (the "Code") applicable to nonqualified deferred compensation arrangements. Under Notice 2007-86, employers now have until December 31, 2008, to amend documents to comply with Code section 409A. If arrangements subject to Code section 409A are not documented, employers have until December 31, 2008, to put those arrangements in writing.	11/30/07
IRS Targets School Districts for 403(b) Review Over the next eighteen months, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) will be contacting public school districts in every state to determine whether the districts’ 403(b) plans are complying with the “universal availability” rule. von Briesen & Roper’s school law and employee benefits law attorneys have significant experience in this area and frequently work with the IRS when 403(b) plan compliance issues arise.	08/02/07
Employers' Obligations Under Federal and Wisconsin Law to Employees Serving in the Military The federal Uniformed Service Employment and Reemployment Rights Act of 1994 ("USERRA") provides employees with certain employment and reemployment rights after service in the United States Armed Forces or the National Guard.	09/01/06
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Description

Our attorneys have over 80 years of combined experience in assisting clients with their employee compensation and benefit programs. The group advises clients with respect to the design and implementation of qualified and nonqualified retirement plans, insured and self-insured health plans, flexible benefit and cafeteria plans, corporate pension plans, 401(k) plans, profit sharing plans, executive compensation plans, and employee stock ownership plans (“ESOPs”). The group also advises clients with respect to compliance with federal and state laws applicable to their employee compensation and benefit programs. These laws include, among others, applicable tax and labor laws, health care continuation requ ...

On-going communication is the key to successful compliance, and our clients can rely on us to provide up-to-date information on compliance requirements under ERISA, the Internal Revenue Code, and other relevant provisions of other laws through our electronic bulletins and affiliation with benefitslink.com. We represent all types of businesses including manufacturing and service companies, tax-exempt hospital systems and health care providers, financial institutions, professional service corporations, charitable religious organizations, government entities, colleges, and third-party administrators. Specific areas of practice include:

Qualified Retirement and Tax Sheltered Annuity Plans

Plan design, preparation and consulting

Fiduciary responsibility analysis

Nondiscrimination review and analysis

Prohibited transaction analysis

ERISA compliance and preemption analysis

Separate line of business analysis

Analysis of benefit programs in business mergers and acquisitions

Analysis of benefits in bankruptcy

Participant directed investments/ERISA section 404(c) analysis

Qualified domestic relations order review and preparation

ESOPs

Multiemployer and multiple employer plan analysis

Plan terminations and reversions

Collectively bargained benefits

Controlled group/affiliated service group analysis

Utilization of voluntary compliance programs

Compensation Plan Design – Implementation and Maintenance

Nonqualified deferred compensation plan design, preparation and analysis

Comparison of direct and indirect, current and deferral alternatives

Tax analysis and planning

Code section 457(b) plans for governmental and tax-exempt employers

Health Plan Design and Compliance

Compliance with HIPAA nondiscrimination and privacy rules

Compliance with COBRA and state mandated continuation requirements

Compliance with Family and Medical Leave Act

ERISA compliance and preemption analysis

Fiduciary obligation analysis

Self-funded and insured medical benefit plan

Flexible Benefits and Cafeteria plans

Retiree medical analysis

Collectively bargained plans

Qualified Medical Child Support orders

Practice Section Leader:
Timothy C. McDonald

tmcdonal@vonbriesen.com
Milwaukee
tel: (414) 287-1260
fax: (414) 238-6610