Employee Benefits/Compensation
Well-designed employee benefit and compensation programs are integral to enterprises of all kinds, whether public or private. Conner & Winters’ attorneys advise clients on the full spectrum of employee benefits and compensation issues. We have extensive experience in designing and implementing employee benefits programs providing retirement and welfare benefits as well as executive compensation programs.
We serve a wide variety of clients throughout the United States, including public and privately held companies and nonprofit organizations. In addition, Conner & Winters’ church planning and benefits practice is nationally recognized, and our attorneys in the practice area represent the boards of numerous church denominations.
Working with clients on employee benefit plans
Employers face legal complexities in offering benefit plans for their employees. For any business or other organization, the high costs of providing retirement and welfare benefits, as well as the considerable consequences of failing to comply with applicable laws and regulations, argue strongly for obtaining experienced legal counsel to advise on both plan design and ongoing legal compliance matters.
We assist our clients at the outset by drafting or reviewing plan documents, summary plan descriptions, notices, and other employee communications. Our employee benefits attorneys also frequently review and advise clients concerning vendor agreements relating to their benefit plans. We maintain a continuing relationship with our clients to provide advice on plan implementation and offer counsel on the impact of frequent legal and regulatory developments.
Our employee benefits attorneys are experienced in all aspects of design and legal compliance relating to retirement and welfare benefit plans, including:
- Defined benefit plans
- Cash balance plans
- 401(k) plans
- Profit sharing plans
- 457 plans
- 403(b) plans
- Medical, dental, and other health plans
- Wellness plans
- Long-term and short-term disability plans
- Life insurance plans
- Cafeteria plans (pre-tax premium, FSA, DCAP)
- HSAs and HRAs
- Education assistance plans
Representing the clients in regulatory interface
Our employee benefits attorneys negotiate on behalf of clients with the Department of Labor and/or the Internal Revenue Service in connection with plan qualifications, audits, correction programs, fiduciary issues, and other regulatory matters. We also routinely draft plan-related reports to regulatory agencies on behalf of our clients.
Advising clients on compensation issues
Our attorneys have many years of experience providing advice and assistance to clients on designing, implementing, and administering competitive and legally compliant compensation programs. Our clients include publicly traded companies whose compensation programs are scrutinized by the SEC as well as other regulatory agencies such as the IRS and the DOL, and other enterprises, large and small.
Conner & Winters’ attorneys assist clients with all types of compensation plans and arrangements, including:
- Stock option and other types of equity-based incentive programs
- Annual and multi-year cash bonus programs
- Nonqualified deferred compensation arrangements
- ESOPs
- Executive employment agreements
- Severance plans and agreements
- Change in control plans and agreements
- Split-dollar life insurance arrangements
Adopting a team approach
Our employee benefits and compensation attorneys work closely with attorneys in other practice areas within the firm, including labor and employment, securities, corporate governance/corporate services, banking, litigation, insurance, real estate, and bankruptcy to ensure that our clients have access to comprehensive legal support. For example, an active mergers and acquisitions practice results in our employee benefits attorneys working closely with corporate attorneys on business acquisitions and dispositions, reviewing all benefits-related issues as well as engaging in due diligence investigations. Our employee benefits attorneys also work with the firm’s trial attorneys in the defense of ERISA-related litigation involving our clients. This team approach assures that Conner & Winters’ clients benefit from the diverse professional knowledge, experience, and perspectives attorneys throughout the firm are able to offer on a particular case or project.