Broadcast Date: Wednesday, March 23, 2022
from 12:00 pm to 1:00 pm (ET)
Overview:
The implementation of several amendments in employee benefit plans by the end of 2021 along with the new requirements for the coming year continue to bring regulatory changes in areas including welfare plan, flexible spending account (FSA), and hardship distribution. These pose new challenges among practitioners in complying with all the legal developments and addressing critical issues in this field.
Listen as experienced compensation and benefits specialists, Michelle Buckley (Meaden & Moore, Ltd.) and Teresa Y. Huang (Hawkins Parnell & Young, LLP) provide the audience with a comprehensive discussion of the latest trends and developments in employee benefit plans regulation. Speakers, among other things, will offer effective compliance strategies in this rapidly evolving legal climate.
Key issues that will be covered in this course are:
- Employee Benefit Plans: Updates
- Regulatory Changes and Implications
- New Requirements for the Coming Year
- Exploring Compliance Strategies
- What Lies Ahead
Learning Objectives:
- Determine effective practices and key considerations in monitoring the day-to-day administration of employee benefit plans to minimize errors and the need future corrections.
- Identify strategies to ensure compliance with current regulations without generating confusion and incurring liability risks.
Credit:
Course Level:
Intermediate
Advance Preparation:
Print and review course materials
Method of Presentation:
On-Demand Webcast
Prerequisite:
General knowledge of employee benefits laws
Course Code:
149926
NY Category of CLE Credit:
Areas of Professional Practice
NASBA Field of Study:
Personnel/Human Resources – Non-technical
Total Credit:
1.0 CLE
1.0 CPE (Not eligible for QAS (On-demand) CPE credit)
How to Claim CLE Credits Per State:
https://knowledgewebcasts.com/how-to-claim-cle-credits-per-state/
CLE State Requirements:
https://knowledgewebcasts.com/cle-state-requirements/
CPE State Requirements:
Speaker Panel:
Michelle Buckley, CPA, AIFA, Vice President, Practice Leader, Benefit Plan Group
Meaden & Moore, Ltd.
Michelle is a Vice President in Meaden & Moore, Ltd.’s Assurance Services Group with over 30 years of public accounting experience serving middle market companies focused on manufacturing, distribution and service industries. Michelle maintains close contact with clients to develop long-term relationships and earn their confidence. As a practice leader of the firm’s employee benefits and consulting practice, Michelle has had extensive experience with qualified benefit plan audits, operational reviews, tax issues and the unique complexities of these engagements. She understands the risks to plan sponsors and continuously offers suggestions for improvement to minimize any potential fiduciary liability. As an Accredited Investment Fiduciary Analyst TM (AIFA®), Michelle also assists in consulting retirement plan sponsors in fiduciary best practices.
Teresa Y. Huang, Partner
Hawkins Parnell & Young, LLP
Teresa is a Partner in Hawkins Parnell & Young, LLP’s Napa office with over 16 years of practice in employee benefits, including employee stock ownership plans and trusts (“ESOPs”) and 401(k) Plans, mergers and acquisitions, and executive compensation. She regularly advises clients with respect to ERISA fiduciary issues related to ESOPs, other employee benefit plans, transactions involving such plans, and corporate tax matters. She represents the plan sponsors of executive compensation and employee benefit plans in a variety of matters, including without limitation, designing and implementing such plans, providing advice and counseling with respect to required and optional plan amendments, plan administration, participant claims for benefits, plan benefit payments, plan termination, Internal Revenue Service audits, and U.S. Department of Labor investigations.
Agenda:
Michelle Buckley, CPA, AIFA, Vice President, Practice Leader, Benefit Plan Group
Meaden & Moore, Ltd.
- The “great resignation” has caused considerable turnover in key benefit roles for plan sponsors. With that loss of talent, the risk for errors in plan administration becomes greater. We will discuss best practices in monitoring the day to day administration of the plan to minimize errors and the need future corrections
- For plans subject to an independent auditors report, many auditors will be implementing new auditing standards for audits of 2021 calendar plan years. We will discuss the impact to the Plan Sponsor
- Missing participants have been a focus of the regulators in the recent years. We will discuss best practices in reducing missing participants and provide an overview of the investigative processes when under audit issued by the DOL
Teresa Y. Huang, Partner
Hawkins Parnell & Young, LLP
- How can Plan Sponsors Comply with the SECURE Act Lifetime Income Disclosure Laws for 2022 Participant Statements without Generating Confusion to Participants and Liability risks to the Sponsor?
- How can a Plan Sponsor Avoid Risks of Claims Relating to Participant-Directed Investment Options? Both the December 21, 2021, DOL statement regarding private equity funds as an investment alternative for participant-directed investments and the Supreme Court decision in Hughes v. Northwestern University will be covered.
- What is the status of implementing venue restrictions or alternative dispute resolution mandates in your Plans? Are they enforceable? Are they advisable?
- Penalties for Form 5500 Filing Delays and Defects have skyrocketed under the SECURE Act. How can Plan Sponsors mitigate risks that they will face these penalties?
- Required Minimum Distributions are an administrative minefield after the pandemic-related holiday in 2020, the increase in the applicable age in the SECURE Act and new IRS regulations---how can these issues be managed without undue cost by plan sponsors?
Date & Time:
Wednesday, March 23, 2022
12:00 pm to 1:00 pm (ET)
Who Should Attend:
- Employee Benefits Lawyers
- Compensation and Benefits Managers
- Employee Benefits Administrators
- Chief Human Resource Officers
- VPs and Directors of HR
- Chief Executive Officers
- Chief Compliance Officers
- In-House Counsel
- General Counsel
SPEAKERS
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