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Christopher Guldberg

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Preparing Multinational Employers for (More) RIFs in 2025

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Reductions in force (RIFs) are rarely straightforward—especially for multinational employers. Navigating conflicting labor laws, benefits obligations, cultural expectations, and logistical hurdles requires strategic planning and coordination to stay compliant and minimize disruption. Watch our latest video chat, where our Employment and Compensation attorneys unpack the legal and practical challenges of RIFs inside and outside of the US. They explore requirements under the US federal WARN Act and state mini-WARNs, and dive into mandates abroad—especially in Europe…

Understanding the Impact of the New US Stock Buyback Excise Tax on Stock-Based Compensation

By , and 8 Mins Read

On August 16, 2022, President Biden signed the Inflation Reduction Act (“IRA”) into law. One of the new provisions the IRA introduced is the stock buyback excise tax under Code section 4501, which applies as of January 1, 2023 and was designed to target large corporations that implement stock buybacks. Background Code section 4501 imposes a 1% excise tax on the value of covered corporation stock that is repurchased by the covered corporation or a…

Secure Act 2.0 Brings Changes for Retirement Plans

By 6 Mins Read

SECURE 2.0 Act of 2022 (the “Act”) was signed into law by President Biden on December 29, 2022, as part of the year-end omnibus spending bill known as the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2023. The Act follows the Setting Every Community Up for Retirement Act of 2019 (often referred to as “SECURE Act 1.0”) and makes numerous changes affecting retirement plans which are intended to strengthen the US retirement system. Below are some of the…

Welcome Guidance on the American Rescue Plan Act COBRA Subsidy

By 5 Mins Read

The Internal Revenue Service has issued welcome guidance related to the COBRA subsidy provisions under the American Rescue Plan Act (“ARPA”) in the form of IRS Notice 2021-31 (the “Notice”). As background, for the period from April 1, 2021, through September 30, 2021, ARPA requires employers to provide a 100% COBRA premium subsidy (the “COBRA Subsidy”) for “assistance eligible individuals” (an “Eligible Individual”). In general, an Eligible Individual is anyone who elects COBRA continuation coverage…

The American Rescue Plan of 2021 Requires Employer Action and Potential Updates to Severance Arrangements

By and 7 Mins Read

The American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 (the “ARPA”), was signed into law on March 11, 2021, and creates a temporary COBRA premium subsidy for certain qualifying individuals. This COBRA premium subsidy applies to all group health plans subject to the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974. Thus, most employers will be impacted by the new COBRA subsidy. Employers will need to evaluate the impact of the ARPA not only with respect to COBRA…

American Rescue Plan Act Expands Group Subject to Compensation Deductibility Limits

By and 2 Mins Read

Many employers will be surprised to learn that the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 (“ARPA”), which was signed into law on March 11, 2021 and is primarily intended to provide an economic stimulus package of $1.9 trillion, expanded the group of covered employees under section 162(m) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended (“Section 162(m)”), to include the five most highly compensated employees in addition to certain of the individuals already included…

Additional Guidance for Coronavirus Related Distributions and Loans

By 4 Mins Read

On June 19, 2020, the IRS released Notice 2020-50 (the Notice) which provides additional guidance on tax-favored distributions from retirement plans and expanded plan loan relief under the “Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act” (the CARES Act). As noted in our prior alert, the CARES Act provides that during the period January 1, 2020 to December 30, 2020, “qualified individuals” may take coronavirus-related distributions of up to $100,000 from their eligible retirement plans. A…

New Final Regulations for ERISA Electronic Disclosures Increase Flexibility for Employers

By 5 Mins Read

Department of Labor (DOL) issued final regulations establishing new safe harbors for the electronic delivery of required retirement plan disclosures under ERISA. As background, retirement plan administrators must deliver required disclosures using methods that are reasonably calculated to ensure actual receipt of documents by plan participants.  Under prior guidance from 2002, the DOL created a safe harbor electronic delivery method for required disclosures. But the 2002 safe harbor is only available with respect to employees…

Beware — COVID-19 Layoffs May Trigger Liability for Partial Plan Terminations

By 4 Mins Read

Employers considering COVID-19-related layoffs and RIFs right now should add one more item to their checklist of considerations: the possibility of inadvertently triggering a “partial termination” of their tax-qualified retirement plan. Where plan participant numbers decrease substantially, the plan may incur what’s known as a “partial termination.” This is significant because, once triggered, the IRS requires the benefits of all “affected employees” be fully vested. Failure to provide such vesting could put the plan’s tax-qualified…

An Alternative to Traditional Severance: SUB Plans

By 3 Mins Read

The financial fallout from the outbreak of COVID-19 has unfortunately forced employers to turn to layoffs and furloughs. Many employers facing these decisions are looking for cost effective ways to mitigate the financial impact on affected employees. A supplemental unemployment benefit plan (“SUB Plan”) may be one way to assist employees while generating some cost savings for the company. A SUB Plan is a unique type of severance benefit plan that permits employers to supplement…

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