Employee Benefits

King & Ballow's attorneys in the Employee Benefits Section counsel clients on a wide variety of issues involving the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974, as amended (ERISA), and the Internal Revenue Code, as amended (the Code), with respect to single employer, multiple employer and multi-employer retirement plans, including withdrawal liability. Our attorneys have significant experience analyzing, interpreting and applying the ERISA and the Code requirements applicable to tax-qualified retirement plans, such as defined benefit plans, money purchase pension plans, 401(k) plans, profit-sharing plans and employee stock ownership plans. They have a thorough understanding of the statutory requirements and the Treasury regulations, the Department of Labor regulations, and the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation regulations applicable to employee benefit plans. They regularly assist clients on ERISA and the Code compliance requirements.

Our attorneys also have extensive experience advising fiduciaries on actions required to properly administer ERISA-covered employee benefit plans. Our attorneys perform audits of clients' retirement plans and frequently assist in correcting operational defects through the IRS's voluntary compliance program. In addition to retirement plan matters, our attorneys counsel clients on various employee benefit issues. For example, our attorneys counsel clients on requirements pertaining to cafeteria plans, flexible spending arrangements, group health plans, non-discrimination under self-insured medical reimbursement plans, educational and tuition assistance plans, medical savings account arrangements, voluntary employee beneficiary associations, the application of the Medicare secondary payer provisions to employer-sponsored group health plans, retiree medical plans, the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, as amended.

Our attorneys assist clients in designing and administering severance plans, early retirement plans, bonus programs and a variety of miscellaneous programs administered as payroll practices, such as stock-based compensation plans as well as advise clients on taxation and various other issues pertaining to non-qualified deferred compensation plans, such as supplemental executive retirement plans, incentive stock option plans, non-statutory stock option plans, phantom stock plans, stock bonus plans and golden parachute arrangements. As part of our service to clients, our attorneys draft various procedures, documents and forms to enable clients to satisfy legal requirements applicable to various employee benefits. For example, our attorneys will draft ERISA reporting and disclosure documents, pension plan loan documents and procedures, qualified domestic relations order procedures applicable to pension plans, benefit distribution procedures and forms and various other types of procedures and forms required under ERISA or the Code. Our attorneys have extensive experience advising clients on employee benefit matters associated with mergers and business acquisitions. They evaluate the liabilities and responsibilities of buyers and sellers in those transactions.