Pension plans consist of contractual promises made by employers to reward employees for their faithful and devoted service and also serve as a retention incentive to encourage employees to remain with their employers. However, the traditional defined benefit pension plan that promises a monthly lifetime annuity to workers and their spouses has been rapidly disappearing, […]
The Department of Labor has proposed new regulations for disability benefit claims that will provide better protections for claimants.
Although the ERISA law generally preempts state law causes of action that relate to claims for employee benefits, a recent federal court ruling from California Dale v. Reed Group, Ltd., 2015 WL 6954915 (N.D. Cal. November 10, 2015), permitted an exception to that general rule. Ed Dale, an employee of Intel Corporation who became disabled, […]
The Supreme Court will hear a case questioning the timeline for ERISA cases involving a fiduciary’s duty to monitor investments. SCOTUS, or the Supreme Court of the United States, has agreed to hear a case that questions the extent of an employer’s fiduciary duty to monitor the ERISA plans they sponsor. ERISA, or the Employee […]
A recent case out of New York’s District Court illustrates when ERISA governs owner benefit plans. The Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 sets minimum standards for private retirement, pension and health plans. Yet ERISA is a complex law and it is not always clear whether ERISA applies to a particular benefit plan. ERISA exemption […]
A decision by the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois takes into account the role of weekends in extending ERISA deadlines.