Employee Benefits and ERISA

Our clients come to us for thorough and straightforward answers to complex employee benefits issues. In Chambers USA 2022, based on client and peer reserach, two Shareholders on our team were awarded its highest recognition for their work in this specialty area and three other shareholders were highly recognized in their supporting practice areas of tax and employment litigation (read more here).

The opportunities and requirements surrounding employee benefit plans and programs are dynamic and ever-changing. On one hand, new laws and innovative programs assist companies in recruiting and retaining executives and employees. On the other hand, employers can feel overwhelmed by the dizzying array of time-consuming rules and regulations that govern the development, administration and termination of their employee benefit programs.  At McGrath North, we assist our clients in designing, reviewing and operating a wide variety of employee benefit programs and plans, including retirement, health and welfare, wellness, executive compensation, and other programs offered by employers to their employees.  Our practical, solutions-oriented approach creates a strategic framework in which an employer’s benefits program is aligned with the company’s overall business objectives and goals.

Our deep experience has been built through our support for clients operating at all levels in the market. This includes large global organizations, publicly traded companies, and family-owned businesses serving local, regional and national customers. In addition, our team also represents benefit plan recordkeepers, third-party administrators and accounting firms which positions us to better understand the complexities presented by benefit plans and programs.

We have a wide range of expertise and are able to advise our clients on federal, state and international benefit matters, ERISA and tax law matters, and ESOP establishment and transactions.  We are able to assist our clients with all aspects of employee benefits including drafting plan documents and amendments and assisting with daily administrative matters and fiduciary compliance.

Our work includes: Department of Labor and Internal Revenue Service audits and voluntary correction procedures; governmental and tax-exempt employer plans; executive and deferred compensation arrangements; corporate restructurings and acquisitions; welfare and fringe benefit programs; health care reform compliance; HIPAA; qualified retirement plans; continuation coverage (COBRA and state continuation coverage) compliance; reporting and disclosure obligations to the Department of Labor and the Internal Revenue Service; retirement and welfare plan nondiscrimination requirements; fiduciary compliance; investment committee administration; qualified domestic relations orders (QDROs); qualified medical child support order (QMCSOs); payroll tax compliance; international benefit arrangements; plan administration, plan documentation and  annual plan reporting; and ESOP establishment and transactions.

Representative Matters:

• Represented clients in both IRS and Department of Labor examinations to successful resolutions.
• Performed and implemented fiduciary reviews and education to minimize potential fiduciary liability.
• Conducted health care reform compliance audit of clients’ health and welfare plans to minimize audit liability.
• Successfully completed 401(k) plan correction filings with the IRS and DOL relating to delinquent employee contributions.
• Successfully eliminated or reduced ACA employer mandate penalties.
• Review, analyzed, and mitigated HIPAA and data security breaches relating to benefit plan data, and handled distribution of notices to affected individuals.
• Implemented effective cost-reduction methods for health plans, including centers of excellence and direct contracts with providers.
• Business succession through the use of ESOPs.
• Defined benefit plan terminations and establishment of Qualified Replacement Plans.