For many employers, finding missing participants can seem an impossible task. Nevertheless, employers are required to take all reasonable actions to locate a missing participant. Employers have a fiduciary obligation under ERISA to locate or “make a reasonable effort” to find a missing participant of a terminated defined contribution plan. Failing to do so could …
When administering their 401(k) plan, one of the most common mistakes that employers make is allocating plan contributions to a participant account using the incorrect employee compensation. The most common occurrence is when an employer mistakenly excludes forms of compensation such as bonuses, overtime, or commissions that are defined as eligible compensation in the company’s …
Does your plan have target date funds (TDFs)? Are you doing enough in managing those investments as the plan fiduciary? Let’s see what the Department of Labor (“DOL”) says about these funds. The DOL has general guidance on the selection and monitoring of TDFs. With many plan sponsors making these TDFs available to participants, it …
The Department of Labor (“DOL”) has been working on revisions to the current “Fiduciary” Conflict of Interest Rule for multiple years but on April 8, 2016, the DOL’s final rule was posted to the Federal Register which is effective June 7, 2016 and applicable beginning April 10, 2017. The rule now defines who is a …
As plan auditors we are frequently asked how long documents relating to a plan should be retained by the plan sponsor. Like anything related to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), there is no one simple answer. Before discussing some general guidelines on record retention, let’s discuss some general responsibilities of the plan sponsor to operate …
Plan sponsors have an option to incorporate a true-up provision into their employee benefit plan(s). True-up adjustments are done at the end of the plan year in order to ensure that the amount of employer matching contributions is grossed up to maximum allowable benefit per the plan document; they protect the less savvy participants from …
Are you a benefit plan fiduciary, or maybe you are the administrator for a benefit plan and work closely with the plan fiduciary? If you are, then hopefully this article will provide some key dates and tasks to remember; or, if you are currently aware of all these dates and tasks, then hopefully this article …
A key element in setting up an employee benefit plan is determining which service provider to use. With so many to choose from how do you know which one is the best for your employee benefit plan? Sure, each service provider has a plethora of information about their services available on their website, but how …
If your company offers its employees a 401(k) or 403(b) plan then it is your fiduciary responsibility to ensure those salary reductions are paid into the plan assets in a timely manner. If money taken out of your employees’ paychecks is paid late, then you, the employer, may owe excise tax and be subject to …
Open Enrollment Time Again – As a Plan Administrator what questions should you be asking yourself? • First and foremost you should ensure that the Plan Document and your Summary Plan Description (SPD) is up-to-date and supports the plan administrative practices that the Plan Administration has put into place. For example, if your Plan Document states …