By Jane Meacham, Contributing Editor
As most retirement plan sponsors and administrators know, the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) doesn’t technically require a plan to have an investment policy statement (IPS), but the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL), which has enforcement authority for ERISA, has said that having one is consistent with the fiduciary obligations set by the law.

By Matthew A. Goodin, Seyfarth Shaw
California law allows employers to compensate their employees on a piece-rate basis, meaning workers are paid a specific amount for a specific task. The following case involves whether truck drivers who were paid by the load were properly compensated for all the hours they worked as required by California law.

Maximum penalties for violating many employment and benefits laws were increased as part of an inflation adjustment rule recently published (84 Fed. Reg. 213) by the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL).

By Jane Meacham
The federal government should take steps to clarify whether millions of dollars of retirement savings transfers to states from employer-based plans, such as 401(k)s, constitute reportable and taxable distributions, according to a report by the Government Accountability Office (GAO).

By Brian Levine, Linda Chen, and Karyn Marciniak of Mercer
Under increased pressure from activist investors, companies are considering whether to disclose “median pay gaps” between women and men and between nonwhites and whites.

By Susan Eichen, Carol Silverman, and Amy Knieriem
Executive compensation and governance are priorities for U.S. public companies as the 2019 proxy season ramps up. Hot-button issues include CEO pay ratio disclosures, the impact of recent tax law changes, increased investor opposition to say-on-pay proposals, scrutiny of director pay, and lack of board diversity.

By Jane Meacham, Contributing Editor
Defined benefit (DB) plan sponsors received another “derisking” tool in early March when the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) and U.S. Treasury Department unexpectedly reversed course on retiree lump-sum payouts.