On October 1, 2018, the Massachusetts Noncompetition Agreement Act (the “Act”) came into effect, creating several new requirements for noncompetition agreements between employers and service providers based in Massachusetts. The new law does not impact agreements entered into before October 1; however, going forward, employers should evaluate when to seek a noncompetition agreement from a…

On October 29, 2018, the Departments of the Treasury, Health and Human Services, and Labor jointly issued proposed regulations providing employer plan sponsors greater flexibility in integrating health reimbursement accounts (HRAs) with other health insurance coverage.  The proposed regulations would take effect for plan years beginning on or after January 1, 2020, and would make…

As part of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017, Congress enacted new § 4960 of the Internal Revenue Code.  Section 4960 imposes an excise tax on certain executive compensation paid by tax-exempt organizations – similar to the $1 million limit on deductions for compensation paid to highly paid executives in for-profit companies under…

On the last day of August, the Trump administration signed an executive order proposing a number of changes which the administration says is intended to strengthen retirement security in America, specifically, by expanding access to multiple employer plans and reducing the costs and burdens associated with employee plan notices.  However, tucked away at the end…

This article originally appeared in Law360.

Companies have had a lot to digest since the passage of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (the “TJCA”) late last year.  But for executive compensation attorneys and professionals who work with or advise public companies, the elimination of the tax deduction for performance-based compensation under section 162(m)…

In January, we posted about the Department of Labor’s (DOL or the “Department”) proposed rule to allow more Association Health Plans (AHPs) to be regulated as large group health plans.  The proposed rule garnered national attention and the Department received over 900 stakeholder comments from consumer groups, individual employers, employer associations, health insurance issuers, business…

During a participant’s lifetime, required minimum distributions (“RMDs”) from a defined contribution plan are relatively small in size.  Less favorable treatment may apply after the participant’s death, depending on the distribution options offered by the plan, the form of distribution elected by the participant, the age of the beneficiary and the relationship between the participant…