Accurate Documentation of Welfare Plans May Save Employers Certain Costs and Headaches Down the Road

Kevin Hogan • October 21, 2014

ERISA requires all pension and welfare benefit plans to be maintained in a written plan document.  The DOL and several courts have taken a broad view of what constitutes a “written plan document,” and while pension plans are usually very well documented, many welfare plans consist of a loose, and often out-of-date, collection of insurance policies, certificates of coverage and summary plan descriptions.

While a loose collection of documents may technically satisfy the ERISA written plan document rule, there are many other reasons an employer may want to consider more formal, updated plan documents:

•  The DOL has recently started to focus more on welfare plan audits.  Upon DOL audit of a benefit plan, the first thing the DOL will ask for is the employer’s plan documents.

•  If an employer is merging with, acquiring, or being acquired by another employer, the employer will likely have to provide all plan documents.

•  If an employer is amending or terminating a plan, clear reservations of rights language allowing the employer to amend or terminate the plan will be quite helpful.

•  Employers may be unaware of the terms and conditions of their insurance policies and those terms and conditions may actually conflict with the provisions of the summary plan description or the way the employer is administering the plan.

Having formal plan documents that accurately reflect the intentions of the employer and the benefits provided to the participants may help employers deal with any of the above scenarios.  Accordingly, employers may want to consider reviewing their welfare plans and assessing whether they need better, updated plan documentation.

Employee burnout: what it is and how to prevent it

By Mardy Gould • May 24, 2024
Employee burnout has become an epidemic in today’s modern workplace. So much so that the World Health Organization (WHO) officially recognizes it as an “occupational phenomenon.”1 While many used to consider mounting workplace stress an individual employee problem, these days, it’s become an employer’s responsibility to prevent burnout before it hurts productivity and business performance—not to mention your employees’ physical and mental health. Luckily, you can prevent burnout from affecting your workforce in several ways. This article will explore the causes and signs of employee burnout and the steps you can take to create a positive work environment where employees feel safe from toxic stress levels.

Form 720 and PCORI fee FAQs

By Mardy Gould • May 23, 2024
If you're a small business owner, you may have heard of the acronym PCORI and the fees that come with it. But what is PCORI, and how does it apply to your organization? Under the Affordable Care Act (ACA), sponsors of self-insured health plans must pay a fee to fund the federal Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI). PCORI is an independent organization the ACA created to conduct research to help healthcare consumers make better decisions for their specific needs and outcomes. It also performs research related to clinical effectiveness. Employers offering a self-insured medical reimbursement health plan, such as a health reimbursement arrangement (HRA), must pay this fee by July 31 each year via Form 7201. This fee was initially set to expire in 2019, but Congress extended it through September 30, 20292, due to the Further Consolidated Appropriations Act of 20203.
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