Critical to the hiring and retention of a company’s workforce within all industries, employee benefits and executive compensation strategies require harmonization with business objectives and compliance with intensive and ever-changing government regulations. From plan design, development, and compliance, to analyzing the effects of M&A and other transactions on existing plans and programs, employers require ongoing, sophisticated employee benefits counsel.
Akerman’s Employee Benefits and Executive Compensation team works with Fortune 500 companies and other public and private entities on ongoing employee benefits compliance matters, including the design and implementation of employer-sponsored benefit plans, compliance with federal regulations, including ERISA and the Affordable Care Act, negotiation of service agreements with outside plan service providers, and internal audits and benefits-related implications of corporate transactions. We also advise clients with respect to targeted audits of benefit plans by the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), the Department of Labor (DOL), and in the case of group health plans, HIPAA-related audits from the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). Group health plan compliance has never been more challenging, and we assist with workforce strategies that accomplish business goals while still complying with federal healthcare reform mandates. In terms of retirement plans, we offer drafting and strategic planning within the adoption, amendment, and termination of qualified plans, and also in the context of supplementing retirement benefits through the use of charitable trusts, insurance planning, non-qualified deferred compensation arrangements, and other techniques.
Our team works with public and private employer clients on executive compensation matters, and has the capability to analyze the complicated individual and corporate tax ramifications that can result from executive compensation arrangements, including through deferred compensation and incentive compensation programs.
