Employee Benefits: ERISA & Tax

3 units

This course explores the treatment of employer-sponsored fringe benefits (including retirement savings, health care benefits, life insurance, and disability insurance programs) under federal labor law and the federal income tax. The structure, scope, and objectives of labor law regulation of employee benefit plans, both pension and welfare, under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA) will be studied in depth. The tax treatment of contributions to, earnings of, and distributions from qualified (i.e., tax-subsidized) and non-qualified deferred compensation arrangements will be compared. The rules governing the terms and operation of qualified deferred compensation plans, such as 401(k) plans, will be examined, including workforce coverage, allocation of contributions and benefits, funding, fiduciary responsibility, vesting, and the timing, forms, and taxation of distributions. ERISA's disclosure, fiduciary oversight, and civil enforcement mechanisms will be covered and the rules governing executive compensation will be introduced. Students will work extensively with ERISA, related provisions of the Internal Revenue Code, and corresponding regulations. In addition to in-person class sessions there may be a few asynchronous presentations, consisting of prerecorded lectures introducing or summarizing important concepts. Federal Income Taxation is not a prerequisite, but students who have not taken that course may need to put in a little extra study time at a few points during the semester. International students pursuing an LLM degree should not take this course until they have successfully completed at least seven credits of substantive law coursework from a U.S. law school. Attendance and participation are required and sanctions will be imposed in cases of serious noncompliance. The course grade will be based on an in-school timed three-hour final examination, with adjustment for attendance and participation in exceptional cases. The exam will consist of essay questions or short-answer questions. The format of the exam will be Closed Software (meaning that students will not have access to the internet or files on their computers) and Open Book.