Legal

The Labor Department's Spring agenda includes a proposal that would amend the regulatory definition of a fiduciary, taking into account practices of investment advisers and the expectations of plan sponsors and participants.

As the new law rolls out, some plan sponsors are questioning whether the government's capabilities to negotiate with Medicare on lower drug prices could prompt manufacturers to increase medication costs for employer plans.

While litigation is not widespread, it's important for plan sponsors to look at operations and shore up practices since there was action on 43 defined contribution cases during the first quarter of 2023, according to Mercer.

The National Association of Government Defined Contribution Administrators sent a letter to the IRS and the Treasury, urging clarification on age-60 catch-up contributions and plan participation for part-time workers.

The mandatory SECURE 2.0 provisions that must be implemented within the next two years are generally action items for human resource and benefits professionals, benefits committees, and recordkeepers.

The DOL is asking Congress for $5 million to establish a dedicated program, led by the Employee Benefits Security Administration, which recovered more than $1.5 billion in lost benefits for missing participants in 2021.

Since there are disparate timelines for part-timers in SECURE 2.0 of 2022 and SECURE 1.0 of 2019, plan sponsors must make sure they have processes in place to keep track of those employees who will be impacted by the new law.

The new state transparency laws generally fail to account for one form of compensation ripe for bias - bonuses, which in some industries, such as finance and insurance, are one of the biggest parts of total compensation.