Practice Areas

Maslon's employee benefit lawyers help employers and executive employees with all facets of benefits planning, operations and compliance. We represent employers, employees who are retiring or have been terminated, benefit consultants, actuaries, trustees and third party administrators. In this area, our practice includes:

• General client counseling
• Designing and drafting benefit plans
• Maximizing tax-favored benefits for key employees
• Curing a plan's operational defects under revised federal tax law and ERISA
• Drafting "plain language" employee summaries and other documents
• Resolving disputes with governmental agencies
• Other ERISA-related litigation

Our team's capabilities and experience include the following types of plans and other arrangements, plus employee summaries, in custom-designed or prototype document format:

Retirement Plans

• 401(k) plans
• Employee stock ownership plans (ESOPs)
• Profit sharing plans
• Money purchase pension plans
• 403(b) plans for certain tax-exempt employers
• 457 plans for certain tax-exempt and government employers
• Defined benefit pension plans, including "cash balance plans"
• "Cross-tested" qualified plans providing extra benefits for key employees

Health and Welfare Plans

• "Cafeteria plans" that include pre-tax health premium, medical reimbursement, dependent care and adoption benefits

Health plans (both insured and self-insured)

• "Wrap-around" welfare plans that minimize government reporting
• COBRA, HIPAA, FMLA and USERRA compliance
• Severance pay plans
• Short-term and long-term disability plans
• Tax-saving trusts for voluntary employee beneficiary associations ("VEBAs")
• New employer-funded Health Reimbursement Accounts

Deferred Incentive Plans

• "Phantom stock" and stock appreciation rights plans

IRC Section 409A Resources:

• Important Year-End Alert - Section 409A
• Section 409A - Detailed Memo to Clients
• Section 409A - 2007 & 2008 Action Items for Employers
• Section 409A - Quick Reference Calendar of 2007 & 2008 Actions
• The Impact on Executive Compensation from the IRC Section 409A Final Regulations (presentation slides - 12/07)

Resources:

• Cash Balance Pension Plan Outline for Employers (Mark Baumann, November 2007)