Employee Benefits & ERISA

• Employee welfare benefit plans (including group health plans, cafeteria plans, wellness programs, mental health parity, on-site clinics, health savings accounts, and telemedicine, and COBRA requirements), and multi-employer plan withdrawal liability
• Design, administration, compliance, and termination of qualified benefits plans (such as 401(k), 403(b), profit-sharing, and pension plans), as well as nonqualified deferred compensation arrangements (including top hat plans and SERPs)
• Benefits-related support on corporation transactions, including drafting, review and negotiation of purchase agreements, due diligence, treatment of equity, change in control and employment agreements, 280G parachute analysis and cleansing votes, and post-closing benefits structure
• ERISA compliance (advice on plan governance, fiduciary training, and cybersecurity risks for employee benefit plans), the Affordable Care Act, the Internal Revenue Code, the SECURE 2.0 Act, the CARES Act, and other laws affecting employee benefit plans
• Negotiating severance, vendor, trust, investment management, and service provider agreements
• State paid family and medical leaves and parental leave compliance
• 457(f) plans for not for profit entities
• Severance plans, and other benefits programs

• Multinational and U.S. corporations
• Hospitals and integrated health care systems
• Tax-exempt colleges, universities, and independent schools
• Hedge funds and private equity pools
• C-Suite Executives , Founders, and Directors
• Multiemployer TAFT Hartley Funds
  
• Employee benefits consultants and brokers
• Trade associations
• Health insurance issuers
• Advising clients across industries, including: financial services, healthcare, technology, media, telecommunications, hospitality, retail

ERISA Fiduciaries: Plan fiduciaries are increasingly more concerned about the management of their retirement plans and investments. Proper management of their health and welfare programs is also of increasing concern.  Mintz advises plan sponsors and benefits committees on fiduciary governance of their benefit plans and development of best practices. 

Artificial Intelligence & Employee Benefits: We bring our knowledge and experience to counsel clients that are digitally transforming their business on the use of automation and artificial intelligence in the workplace and the related implications for employee benefits for their changing workforce.

Cryptocurrency: Interest in crypto investments has been rapidly increasing. Amid this growing interest, employers seeking to offer their employees innovative compensation and benefits programs are weighing the pros and cons of designing compensation programs to pay employees in the form of cryptocurrencies. At the same time, benefit plan fiduciaries have been cautioned to consider whether cryptocurrencies should be available as plan investments. Mintz has been breaking down the key considerations for many employers as they consider this option.

Cybersecurity for Benefit Plans: Ongoing advancements in technology and the novel cybersecurity risks that those advancements bring create concerns for both the security of employee data that is collected, transmitted, processed, and stored for employee benefit plans, and the security of the assets in participant accounts.  In light of Department of Labor guidance, our team advises plan fiduciaries on the development of prudent policies and procedures to mitigate cybersecurity risks and secure information and data. We often partner with our data privacy/security colleagues to address interplay of state and other laws with benefit plan data considerations.

Clients value our ability to proactively advise on changes in the law that impact employee benefits, and provide forward-thinking advice to benefit plan sponsors that seek to offer their workers attractive benefit plan program.