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Retirement

OK if retirement plan favors surviving spouses

06/20/2012
Courts have spent considerable time sorting out the impact of Title VII on defined-benefit pension programs. Does an employer have to equalize the total amount male and female retirees receive? The answer is no.

IRS proposes rules to help retirees make their 401(k) funds last longer

05/17/2012

Even if they’ve been diligently socking away money in their 401(k) plans, employees who are about to retire are no doubt nervous about their financial futures. The nagging question: Will their retirement savings last as long as they do? Believe it or not, the IRS wants to help.

Unused leave takes a bite out of municipal budgets

05/10/2012
It’s a benefit designed to retain long-term employees, but the practice of allowing retiring government ­workers to cash out unused leave may turn in­­to an actuarial time bomb. The prob­­lem: Local governments are shedding employees at a record pace, often through early-retirement packages. And the leave liability is largely unfunded.

Are your employees ready for retirement? 6 smart steps

04/11/2012
How many of your retirement-age em­­ployees are just hanging around so they can receive benefits and collect paychecks, simply because they can’t afford to stop working? It’s in employers’ best interests to improve the retirement outcomes for their employees by creating a culture of retirement readiness.

Court: No arbitration for government retirement plan disputes

04/03/2012

A state appeals court has reversed a lower court ruling and held that the city of Yonkers’ refusal to reimburse new employees for their statutorily required Tier V retirement plan contributions was not subject to arbitration. Our firm—Bond, Schoeneck & King—represented the city of Yonkers in the litigation.

Compass sent retirement funds the wrong way

03/29/2012
Two recent settlements make what should be an obvious point: You can’t misappropriate employees’ retirement money and expect to get away with it. Cases in West Chester and Bethlehem show that the feds will come looking for you, and make you pay it back.

Austin’s HBMG agrees to repay diverted retirement funds

03/08/2012
Austin-based information technology firm HBMG and its president, Manuel Zarate, have agreed to settle a lawsuit alleging the company failed to transfer employee retirement fund contributions into its 401(k) program.

‘Part-timer’ working 40 hours: Eligible for benefits?

02/15/2012
Q. We hired a nonexempt part-time employee, but for several months she’s been working about 40 hours a week. Are we required by law to convert her to full-time status and offer benefits if she averages near 40 hours?

When can worker take 401(k) hardship distribution?

01/20/2012
Q. An employee’s spouse has become disabled. Even though this employee is younger than 59½, he’d like to take a distribution out of his 401(k) account. Can we accommodate him?

EBSA says employer took liberties with retirement funds

11/23/2011

The U.S. District Court for West­ern Pennsylvania has ordered Kevin T. Weir, chief executive officer of Liberty-Pittsburgh Inc., to repay $67,138 to his employee’s 401(k) plan. The settlement resulted from an in­vestigation by the U.S. Depart­ment of Labor’s EBSA.