Significant Changes to Retirement Plans Proposed
April 3, 2019 | Barna, Guzy & Steffen, Ltd.As of April 2, 2019, there are two bills rapidly moving through Congress with bipartisan support. The Setting Every Community Up for Retirement Enhancement Act of 2019 (“SECURE”) passed the House and the Senate has proposed the Retirement Enhancement Security Act of 2019 (“RESA”). The bills are very similar and because there is bipartisan support it is likely that something will be passed soon. Some of the proposed changes are as follows: 1. Encourage employees to participate in automatic contributions in 401(k) plans and require employers to provide estimates of how much an employee’s account would provide employees if it were invested in an annuity. 2. Make it easier for small employers to join other employers in multiple-employer plans. 3. Easing nondiscrimination rules for frozen defined benefit plans. 4. Adding a safe harbor for selecting lifetime income providers in defined contribution plans. 5. Increase the automatic enrollment safe harbor cap from 10{a0c01d20c42349884e67ff80c137866b0a9fe47aaae8f8a86a605a369ae487c3} to 15{a0c01d20c42349884e67ff80c137866b0a9fe47aaae8f8a86a605a369ae487c3}. 6. Require employers to allow long time, part time employees to participate in their 401(k) plans. 7. SECURE would change the required minimum distribution age that distributions must begin from age 70 ½ to 72 years old. RESA does not include this provision.
Read MoreFMLA Boot Camp
March 18, 2019 | Tyler W. EubankThe Basics The Family Medical Leave Act, or FMLA, allows employees to take 12–26 months of unpaid leave for their own or a family member’s medical reasons. The FMLA generally applies to employers who have 50 or more employees. An employee covered by the FMLA must have been employed for at least a year and has worked at least 1,250 hours during preceding 12-month period. Intermittent FMLA and Reduced Leave Schedules Taking FMLA for a medical procedure or illness is one matter, it is another when that illness comes and goes unexpectedly. This is where intermittent FMLA and reduced leave schedules come into play. Intermittent FMLA allows employees to take FMLA in periodic blocks of time. For example, a pregnant mother may take days off in order to attend prenatal doctor appointments. Likewise, a migraine sufferer may use intermittent FMLA for migraine flare-ups. A reduced leave schedule allows an employee to reduce the number of hours the employee works in a day or a week. This is generally allowed for an employee recovering from an illness who is not yet able to work their full schedule. Certification The preceding likely has you begging the questions: What illnesses are covered and how do I know that the illnesses are real? The FMLA only applies…
Read MoreBGS Adds Experienced New Attorney to Real Estate/Banking Department
February 20, 2019 | Barna, Guzy & Steffen, Ltd.Barna, Guzy & Steffen LTD. is pleased to announce the addition of a new attorney to our firm. Joseph J. Deuhs, Jr. brings to BGS extensive expertise in representing financial institutions and commercial real estate owners. He will work closely with attorneys practicing in the firm’s Real Estate/Banking Department as he works with existing and new clients. Deuhs joins BGS after practicing for more than 25 years at the law firm of Leonard, O’Brien Spencer Gale & Sayre, LTD in Minneapolis where he began as an Associate in 1990. His extensive legal expertise in providing representation to financial institutions includes decades of counsel in matters of commercial lending transactions, workouts, restructures, enforcement of creditors’ remedies and other banking matters. Deuhs also has experience in commercial real estate matters in areas including acquisitions, financing, development and leasing. His addition to the firm solidifies Barna, Guzy and Steffen’s commitment to providing its clients the assistance of qualified and experienced attorneys working within the highly regulated banking community. During his career, Deuhs has been recognized as a Super Lawyer and Martindale-Hubbel AV rated lawyer. He is a 1986 graduate of Hamline University School of Law and was admitted to the Minnesota State Bar Association the same year. He is also a member of the U.S. District…
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