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Kelly Smith Hathorn advises public and private sector employers on a variety of employee benefits issues. Kelly has experience with qualified plan design, drafting, administration/compliance, and termination. She also has experience with non-qualified deferred compensation arrangements, including drafting and reviewing executive employment agreements and incentive plans for Code Section 409A compliance.

On August 25, 2023, the IRS delayed the requirement, originally slated to be effective in 2024, that catch-up contributions for higher earners be made on a Roth basis.  Now, that provision will be effective in 2026.  This applies to 401(k), 403(b) and governmental 457(b) plans.

SECURE 2.0 requires that individuals whose prior year wages exceed $145,000 and

The Consolidated Appropriations Act 2022 (“CAA”), signed into law by President Biden earlier this month, allows high deductible health plans (HDHPs) to provide first-dollar coverage for telehealth and other remote care services for the period from April 1, 2022 to December 31, 2022.  This is an extension of relief first brought about by the Coronavirus

The American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 (“ARPA”) provides for a 100% COBRA premium subsidy for “assistance eligible individuals,” for the period from April 1, 2021 to September 30, 2021. During this six-month time period, group health plans must treat an assistance eligible individual as having paid the full amount of premiums for COBRA coverage.

On March 11, 2021, President Biden signed into law the American Rescue Plan of 2021 (“ARPA”).  This Alert will summarize the significant tax and employee benefit provisions that are contained in ARPA.

Recovery Rebates to Individuals

ARPA enacted new Internal Revenue Code (the “Code”) Section 6428B, which provides individuals with a $1,400 recovery rebate credit

On December 20, 2019, President Trump signed into law H.R. 1865, the Further Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2020 (now Pub. L. 116-94) (the “Appropriations Act”), which, among other things, contains the Setting Every Community Up for Retirement Enhancement (SECURE) Act (the “Act”). The Act is a significant piece of retirement legislation which seeks to expand access

One hotly debated aspect of the Affordable Care Act (“ACA”) has been the so-called “Cadillac Tax” on high-cost health benefits, currently slated to take effect in 2022.  The Cadillac Tax is a 40% excise tax on the amount of employer-sponsored health care coverage which exceeds $10,200 for individuals and $27,500 for families.  (Higher thresholds apply

Can an employer provide health care coverage for its employees by simply setting aside cash for them on a tax-favored basis (in an HRA – a health reimbursement arrangement), and otherwise get out of the complexities of sponsoring an ERISA health care coverage program? Until now, the answer to that question was “NO” because that

On June 25, 2019, Governor Lamont signed into law “An Act Concerning Paid Family and Medical Leave,” (“PFMLA”) enacting what is reported to be the most generous family leave law in the country. The law provides employees with up to 12 weeks of paid leave (14 weeks for those incapacitated by pregnancy) in a 12-month

Join Shipman & Goodwin pension and employee benefits attorneys for this complimentary webinar for companies with 401(k) plans. Presenters will discuss today’s 401(k) issues that require the immediate and ongoing focus of 401(k) plan sponsors and administrators, and provide them with guidance for meeting their fiduciary duties, reducing liability and improving plan compliance and effectiveness.