Congress Eases Restrictions on Hardship Distributions
Matthew P. Chiarello • June 8, 2018
We previously reported on certain changes made to the hardship distribution rules for qualified retirement plans by the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act. Since then, Congress has made additional and significant changes to those same hardship distribution rules by the passage of the Bipartisan Budget Act (the “BBA”). The BBA loosens various restrictions on a participant’s ability to request and receive a hardship distribution. In particular, the BBA provides:
- Effective for plan years beginning after December 31, 2018, participants may receive hardship distributions comprised of employee elective deferrals, employer contributions and earnings on both. Traditionally, hardship distributions were limited to employee elective deferrals and did not include qualified nonelective contributions, qualified matching contributions, safe harbor contributions or earnings on the same.
- Effective for plan years beginning after December 31, 2018, participants may resume contributing to the qualified plan immediately following a hardship distribution. Historically, participants were barred from making contributions for the six-month period following a hardship distribution.
- Effective for plan years beginning after December 31, 2018, participants may receive a hardship distribution without first requesting a loan from the plan. Previously, a participant was required to exhaust plan loans before becoming eligible to request a hardship distribution.
- For a limited period, victims of the California wildfires are granted hardship distribution relief similar to that extended to victims of Hurricanes Harvey, Maria and Irma. We previously reported on this relief in our blog dated September 11, 2017.
Employers may consider amending their qualified retirement plans to reflect the changes made to the hardship distribution rules by the BBA.
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.
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.
