ERISA & Employee Benefits

3 units

This course is an in-depth study of the labor law regulation of employee benefit plans under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA). A substantial portion of the course will be devoted to the study of health and welfare benefit plans, including analysis of judicial decisions interpreting and applying ERISA's disclosure, fiduciary responsibility, enforcement and preemption provisions. The treatment of executive deferred compensation arrangements under the tax law and EIRSA will be examined. As time permits, ERISA's major pension plan content requirements (such as the rules governing plan participation, vesting, and spousal rights) will also be introduced. The course will be taught from a casebook and statutory pamphlet. Students will work extensively with ERISA and related provisions of the Internal Revenue Code. Attendance and preparation are required and sanctions will be imposed on serious offenders. The course grade will be based predominately on a final examination, which is likely to be a 24-hour take-home exam. Federal Income Taxation is not a prerequisite for this course, students who have not taken Federal Income Taxation should not be significantly disadvantaged. Additional course information is available on the web at - http://ls.wustl.edu/~wiedenbp/ *Note well: Students who have previously taken Pensions & Tax-Favored Savings are allowed to take this course, but because there is some overlap in the subject matter, those students (i.e., students who received credit for the Pensions course) will be awarded only 2 hours of additional academic credit for this course.