Proskauer Benefits Brief: Legal Insight on Compensation & Benefits

In this episode of the Proskauer Benefits Brief, partner Ira Bogner and senior counsel Adam Scoll discuss ERISA’s bonding requirements. ERISA’s bonding rules generally require that every fiduciary of an ERISA-covered employee benefit plan and every person who handles funds or other property of such a plan be bonded. We will break down these bonding rules and their importance, so be sure to tune in...

Over a year after the CA Supreme Court set new standards for worker classification in its Dynamex ruling, employers with workers in California are faced with often conflicting information about this decision’s practical impact.  In this episode of The Proskauer Benefits Brief, Kate Napalkova , special employee benefits and executive compensation counsel, and associate Pietro Deserio discuss Dyname...

In this episode of The Proskauer Benefits Brief, our final installment in the series exploring the basic COBRA rules, partner Paul Hamburger is joined by associate Katrina McCann and they discuss the penalties for noncompliance. Employers and plan administrators often ask what types of penalties they are exposed to if they get it wrong. What is the cost in correcting the COBRA error? We discuss th...

In this episode of The Proskauer Benefits Brief, our series on the COBRA basics rolls on. Partner Paul Hamburger is joined by associate Talya Scolnik and they discuss some of the key COBRA considerations for some of the nontraditional health plan related programs such as Employee Assistance Programs (EAPs) and Health Wellness Programs, Flexible Spending Accounts (FSAs) and Health Reimbursement Arr...

In this episode of The Proskauer Benefits Brief, partner Paul Hamburger and associate Tyler Forni highlight some of the key COBRA rules to keep in mind in Mergers and Acquisition context. Most people understand that in any M&A interaction, COBRA rules need to be addressed, so be sure to tune in to the next episode in this COBRA series.

In this episode of The Proskauer Benefits Brief, our series outlining the basic COBRA rules continues. Partner Paul Hamburger and associate Talya Scolnik highlight some of the key COBRA rules to keep in mind in understand how long COBRA coverage lasts. This can be a complicated and very technical issue, so be sure to tune in.

In this episode of The Proskauer Benefits Brief, partner Paul Hamburger joins Jennifer Rigterink to talk about some of the tricky points related to COBRA premium payment rules. In this installment of our series on COBRA rules, they highlight what plan administrators need to consider when facing COBRA premium payment issues.

In this episode of The Proskauer Benefits Brief, partner Paul Hamburger is joined once again by associate Gabrielle Fox as they discuss important rules and practical issues that arise in dealing with COBRA’s election rules. They will provide insight on important questions related to COBRA election rules such as when elections have to be made, who can make the elections, and what happens to coverag...

In this episode of The Proskauer Benefits Brief, partner Paul Hamburger talks with associate Gabrielle Fox about some of the important considerations in dealing with notice rules for COBRA purposes. In this edition of our COBRA series, we will explain how notices are a key to COBRA administration. They trigger rights for qualified beneficiaries and obligations for plans and plan administrators, so...

In this episode of The Proskauer Benefits Brief, partner Paul Hamburger is joined by associate Talya Scolnik to explore some of the important considerations in identifying qualifying events for COBRA purposes. This is a little more complicated than just listing the qualifying events, so be sure to tune in for important information on this topic.

In this episode of The Proskauer Benefits Brief, we continue our series on the basics of COBRA. Partner Paul Hamburger and associate Caroline Cima discuss some of the important considerations in identifying who are qualified beneficiaries for COBRA purposes.

In this episode of The Proskauer Benefits Brief, we begin our series outlining the basic COBRA rules and understand the facts and fiction surrounding COBRA coverage rules. In this kickoff episode, partner Paul Hamburger and associate Tyler Forni highlight basic COBRA terms and definitions. They also identify the group plans that are subject to COBRA. So be sure to tune in for some important inform...

In this episode of The Proskauer Brief, Kate Napalkova , special employee benefits and executive compensation counsel, and associate Oleg Zakatov discuss potential pitfalls that lurk in employment agreements and other employee compensation arrangements. Specifically, they will focus on key contractual provisions that employers should incorporate into any document that includes a confidentiality co...

In this episode of the Proskauer Benefits Brief, partner Ira Bogner and senior counsel Adam Scoll provide an overview of the plan assets exceptions for private investment funds, and discuss why such plan assets exceptions matter to private investment fund managers that might want to accept investments from ERISA-covered plans. Given that compliance with a plan assets exception may prove to be quit...

In this episode of the Proskauer Benefits Brief, partner  Rob Projansky  and associate  Jennifer Rigterink follow up on a previous Benefits Brief episode on Cybersecurity and Employee Benefit Plans by discussing the risks associated with cyber theft of 401k plans. Cyber theft in 401k plans usually happens when a hacker has a person’s credentials and is able to access their plan account through e-m...

In this episode of the Proskauer Benefits Brief, partner Paul Hamburger, and associate  Katrina McCann  discuss the suspension of benefits rules, and the unique and interesting issues that arise when defined benefit plan participants work beyond their normal retirement age.  Plan sponsors and administrators should tune in, as these rules are quite complicated and are often misunderstood.

In this episode of the Proskauer Benefits Brief, Paul Hamburger, co-chair of Proskauer’s Employee Benefits & Executive Compensation Group, and associate  Joe Clark discuss how the attorney-client privilege rules apply in an employee benefit plan context. The attorney-client privilege allows for the free flow of information between an attorney and a client in order to insure that the client get...

In this episode of The Proskauer Benefits Brief, partner Ira Bogner and senior counsel  Adam Scoll discuss the key considerations for ERISA plan fiduciaries when delegating investment authority over plan assets.  We will break down some of the material ERISA issues that may apply when an ERISA plan hires a separate account investment manager or invests in a private investment deemed to be holding...

In this episode of the Proskauer Benefits Brief, Paul Hamburger, co-chair of Proskauer’s Employee Benefits & Executive Compensation Group, and associate Steven Einhorn discuss the recently proposed IRS regulations addressing the hardship withdrawal rules affecting 401(k) and 403(b) plans.  We will discuss challenging questions employers and administrators face as they work through the new requ...

In this episode of the Proskauer Benefits Brief, partner  Robert Projansky  and associate  Katrina McCann  discuss the recent district court case, Texas et al. v. The United States of America, which declared the Affordable Care Act (ACA) unconstitutional. On December 14, 2018, a district court judge in the Northern District of Texas deemed the entirety of the Affordable Care Act invalid because he...

In this episode of The Proskauer Benefits Brief, partner Ira Bogner and senior counsel  Adam Scoll discuss the key considerations for ERISA investors in private investment funds, as well as a plan fiduciary’s overarching fiduciary duties and responsibilities that are related thereto. One of the first key considerations is to determine the plan asset status of the private investment fund. Tune in a...

In the final episode of a seven-part series for The Proskauer Benefits Brief, partners Michael Album and Josh Miller talk about employment agreements in the context of a management buyout. They go over the key terms and issues that management should focus on when reviewing and negotiating their go-forward employment arrangements, compensation structure, severance protection and restrictive covenan...

In this episode of The Proskauer Benefits Brief, partners Michael Album and Josh Miller discuss the incentive equity package that management will be offered in the buyout, including the structure of the incentive pool, vesting, and favorable tax treatment of incentive grants. Tune in and listen for the latest insights and perspective on management buyouts in this sixth of a seven part series.

In this episode of The Proskauer Benefits Brief, partners Michael Album and Josh Miller are back to continue their discussion of the rights that management gets when it “rolls” old equity into new equity in the buyout vehicle and then introduce incentive equity awards for management. Be sure to tune in and listen for the latest on management buyouts in this fifth of a seven part series.

In this episode of The Proskauer Benefits Brief, partners Michael Album and Josh Miller return to discuss how management can use a “template” to have a bidder identify the way compensation issues will be addressed in an MBO.  They also discuss the “rollover” by management of their equity in an MBO. Be sure to tune in and listen for the latest insights and perspective on management buyouts in this...