Employee benefits are an important part of every employees' total compensation package. The continuously evolving landscape in the areas of health care reform, retirement plan design, and executive compensation makes it difficult for employee benefits professionals to keep up with relevant developments. The employee benefits attorneys at Leonard, Street and Deinard provide human resources professionals, plan fiducia- ries, actuaries, accountants, and others in the industry with practical and cost-effective assistance as they navigate through the complex laws, regulations and guidance that govern employee benefits plans. This blog highlights key developments in the employee benefits field and items of interest to our clients. Our Bloggers →
Compensation Questions, Payroll Those of us who work in the benefits area understand that the distinction between employee and independent contractor is an important one, but one in which the determination is not always clear. In many cases, the IRS takes the position that a particular worker is an employee, rather than an independent contractor,...
Compensation Questions, Executive Compensation Our sister blog, Dodd-Frank.com, recently published summaries of the respective proposed rules for public companies issued by the New York Stock Exchange and the NASDAQ in entries on September 25 and September 26. You may access the summaries through the following links:...
Compensation Questions In IRS Notice 2010-6 and Notice 2010-80, the IRS expanded rules outlined in the 2007 Final Regulations under Code Section 409A to describe a potential violation of that Section where certain severance type payments are made upon the execution of a release (or the expiration of a statutory...
Compensation Questions, Deferred Compensation and 409A, ERISA and Other Benefits Litigation, Executive Compensation A recent Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals decision involved high ranking executives who participated in a company’s long-term incentive plan. Under the plan agreements, executives who did not continue employment for a three year performance period forfeited benefits under the plan unless they qualified for a...
Compensation Questions, Payroll, Uncategorized, Welfare Plans Mary worked for IT, Inc. at its headquarters in Maryland. Her husband moved to New Jersey for his work and Mary moved with him. Mary continued to work for IT, Inc., writing computer code from her home in New Jersey and uploading her work to her co-workers in Maryland via the Internet. IT, Inc. withheld New Jersey...
Compensation Questions, Payroll In many cases where the IRS claims that compensation is not "reasonable," the focus is on whether the compensation is too high to be deductible by the employer. The arguments are often reversed in the S corporation context. Because there is only one level of tax in the S Corporation, some owners try to minimize the...
