Compensation and benefits are critical to recruiting and retaining the best employees. And given the heavy regulation involved and the rapid pace at which those regulations change, establishing and administering plans can be challenging.
Our Employee Benefits and Executive Compensation lawyers provide counsel to clients regarding the application of the Internal Revenue Code and the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA) to benefit plans, agreements and compensation programs. We continually review and analyze the latest developments in the field to provide clients the most current and applicable advice. Working closely with human resources personnel, plan administrative professionals and other plan advisers, we strive to provide the most practical and straightforward compliance strategies.
Our lawyers provide counsel on a wide range of benefits and compensation instruments, including:
- Title I of ERISA, including ERISA fiduciary issues in connection with managing and investing of ERISA plan assets (including IRAs) and the prohibited transaction rules.
- Advising on ERISA issues related to the formation of and the investing in investment funds including the “venture capital operating company” and “real estate operating company” rules and the “significant” participation tests under the plan asset regulations; ERISA issues related to borrowers and lenders in credit facilities; and ERISA issues in connection with various securities offerings including mortgage-backed securities, asset-backed securities, collateralized loan obligations and bond offerings.
- Retirement plans, including the establishment and administration of 401(k), 403(b) and 457 plans; qualified profit sharing and money purchase pension plans; defined benefit plans; Employee Stock Ownership Plans (ESOPs); Simplified Employee Pensions (SEPs); Taft-Hartley plans; and government and church plans.
- Welfare and fringe benefit plans, group health plans, health reimbursement arrangements (HRAs), health savings accounts (HSAs); cafeteria plans, including health FSAs and dependent care assistance accounts; group life, disability and indemnity plans; Voluntary Employee Beneficiary Associations (VEBAs); and commuter benefits, tuition assistance and other fringe benefit plans.
- Executive compensation, equity compensation, nonqualified deferred compensation plans, supplemental executive retirement plans (SERPs), severance and change in control plans and agreements, phantom equity arrangements, executive employment agreements, Section 457 plans for governmental and tax-exempt organizations, and annual and long-term incentive compensation arrangements.
We also have experience with joint boards of trustees, government plans and systems, IRS and Department of Labor practices and procedures, including audits and correction programs, the prohibited transaction rules of ERISA and the Internal Revenue Code, and employee benefits in connection with mergers and acquisitions.
