Live & Recorded Webcasts by ASC

Join us for our annual Ethics for Employee Benefit Practitioners webcast, presented by John Griffin, J.D., LL.M.

During this 2-hour, Ethics Credits webcast, John will provide you with information so you can identify and deal with the ethical dilemmas that come your way. 

The following topics will be discussed during the webcast:

• An overview of ethical responsibilities
• An explanation of IRS Circular 230 from an employee benefits perspective
• Ethical concerns of the IRS' Office of Professional Responsibility
• Best ethical practices for your firm
• Practical case studies on ethical situations faced by practitioners

Don't let your professional knowledge of this ever-changing retirement plan industry become outdated!

Join John Griffin, J.D., LL.M. for his annual discussion of the most significant developments in the retirement plan industry over the past year.

• Recent retirement plan legislation
• Internal Revenue Service regulatory developments
• Department of Labor regulatory developments
• ERISA litigation trends
• Pending retirement plan legislation
• Plus other important retirement plan industry developments

Never rehire anyone!!! Following this piece of advice may help alleviate some plan administration headaches, but certainly is not practical. Plan sponsors do rehire previously terminated employees. Rehired employees often cause significant difficulties in administering qualified plans. 

In this 2-hour, CE credit webcast John Griffin, J.D., LL.M., will discuss many of the unique issues facing plan sponsors and recordkeepers in applying the eligibility, distribution and other rules applicable to rehired employees.

Topics covered during this webcast will include: 

• Applying eligibility rules to determine when employees must be allowed to participate upon rehire 
• Timing of cash-out distributions and the procedures for dealing with repayments/restorations
• Correctly calculating vesting for rehired employees
• Dealing with rehired employees under automatic deferral arrangements
• Applying the break-in-service rules and the difficulties of dealing with rehired employees under 401(k) plans
• And much more!

When a qualified plan participant dies, plan administrators are often faced with a wide range of issues. Understanding how a plan's provisions apply usually will answer most of these issues. Still, complications often arise.

In this 2-hour CE webcast, John Griffin, J.D., LL.M., will discuss many of the important issues plan administrators must confront when a plan participant dies. 

The following topics will be covered:

• Important plan provisions dealing with a participant's death
• Beneficiary designation issues
• Satisfaction of the required minimum distribution rules
• Spousal rights
• Missing participants
• QDRO issues
• And much more!

• Creating Cycle 3 restatements, either individually or in batch
• Generating a complete Cycle 3 restatement package
• Delivering the restatement package
  • E-Signing documents
  • Emailing directly to plan sponsor
  • Posting directly to Gemini
• Using CATTS to keep track of your restatement progress

• General requirements under the IRS pre-approved defined benefit plan program
• Plan restatement timing requirements
• Scope of reliance provided by an IRS Opinion Letter
• Responsibilities of a pre-approved defined benefit plan provider
• Overview of the ASC pre-approved defined benefit plan documents
• Important changes from the Cycle 2 (PPA) pre-approved defined benefit plan documents
• New trust agreement options

Retirement plan terminations can be tricky and confusing. Knowing how to handle these situations requires skill and a breadth of knowledge that not everyone has.

In this 2-hour CE credit webcast, John Griffin, J.D., LL.M., will guide you through the different IRS regulations surrounding qualified plan terminations and partial plan terminations.

Topics that will be covered: 

• Making the decision to terminate a retirement plan
• Consequences of plan termination
• Participant rights upon plan termination
• The process of terminating a defined contribution plan
• "Partial" plan termination determination and consequences
• How to handle lost or non-responsive participants
• And much more

Who would ever use that plan provision? Pre-approved qualified plan documents include hundreds of possible design provisions and elections. Most of these provisions are common and do not raise issues for document providers and plan sponsors. However, there are a number of somewhat obscure or seldom used provisions that may be overlooked when designing a plan.

In this 2-hour CE credit webcast, John Griffin, J.D., LL.M., will discuss many of these obscure provisions, some of which may be appropriate for certain plan sponsors.

Topics will include:

• Eligibility and vesting break-in-service rules
• Waiver of participation
• Unique employer contribution formulas
• Contributions of property
• After-tax employee contributions
• Consequences of amending a vesting schedule
• True-up contributions
• Different safe harbor plan eligibility criteria
• Cash-out and forfeiture provisions
• "ERISA" elections by entities exempt from Title I
• And much more!

Churches and church-related organizations may adopt 401(a) qualified retirement plans and/or 403(b) plans. However, because these plans generally are exempt from Title I of ERISA and certain tax qualification rules, the plan documentation and administration for such plans can be significantly different from a plan of a for-profit employer.

In this 2-hour CE webcast, John Griffin, J.D., LL.M. discusses the many special exemptions and requirements applicable to church plans. Topics will include:

• Exemption from Title I coverage
• Special application of the Code's tax qualification rules to church plans
• Issues relating to the definition of a church plan
• Other unique issues for church plans
  • Plan document issues
  • Nondiscrimination testing
  • Related employer determination
  • Advantages and disadvantages of different plan types
  • And more!

While a safe harbor 401(k) plan has become a very popular plan design for many plan sponsors, the rules are not always straight-forward. A number of "gotchas" can trip up plan sponsors and practitioners. In addition, SECURE 2.0 raises new issues and concerns.

In this two-hour CE webcast, John Griffin, JD, LLM will discuss the rules applicable to safe harbor 401(k) plans and the many compliance "gotchas" that plan sponsors and practitioners should know. Topics will include:

• What is (and what is not) a safe harbor 401(k) plan?
• Why an employer may (or may not) want to have a safe harbor 401(k) plan
• Rules for "traditional" safe harbor 401(k) plans
• Rules for qualified automatic contribution arrangements (QACAs)
• Special issues for safe harbor 401(k) plans
• Other things to keep in mind regarding safe harbor 401(k) plans
• Miscellaneous safe harbor plan questions and answers

Pre-approved 403(b) plans have become an important line of business for many practitioners and financial institutions. With Cycle 2 just around the corner, staying up to date on changes to the 403(b) pre-approved plan program and the options available to 403(b) plan sponsors is essential.

In this two-hour CE webcast, John Griffin, JD, LLM will discuss rules and procedures every practitioner who works with, or is thinking of working with, 403(b) plans should know. 

Topics will include:

• 403(b) pre-approved program under Revenue Procedure 2021-37
• Important Cycle 2 deadlines and decisions for 403(b) pre-approved plan Providers
• Impact of SECURE 2.0 on 403(b) plans
• 403(b) pre-approved plan options for 501(c)(3) organizations, public schools and churches 
• How 403(b) plans differ from 401(k) and 457(b) plans
• Common compliance issues

As the IRS proclaims, "mistakes happen!" The IRS Employee Plans Compliance Resolution System (EPCRS) allows retirement plan sponsors to correct plan mistakes and continue to provide retirement benefits on a tax-favored basis. EPCRS includes self-correction without IRS involvement (SCP), voluntary correction with IRS approval (VCP), and correction during audit under a closing agreement (Audit CAP).

In this 2-hour CE webcast, John Griffin, J.D., LL.M. explains what every retirement plan practitioner needs to know about the EPCRS plan correction procedures, including the impact of SECURE 2.0. After a brief summary of EPCRS, case studies will be used to illustrate common errors and suggested solutions, including:

• Failure to timely amend or restate a plan
• Failure to correct ADP/ACP testing violations
• Improper use of the definition of compensation
• Failure to properly provide matching contributions
• Improper coverage of employees (e.g., early or late entrance)
• Exceeding the §402(g) elective limit
• Improper hardship distributions
• And more!

With testing season just around the corner, we will take a deeper dive into the compliance testing requirements and common issues recordkeepers and TPAs face when testing 401(k) plans.

In this 2-hour CE credit webcast, John Griffin, J.D., LL.M., will discuss:

• Annual compliance testing requirements
• Issues in determining highly compensated employees
• Minimum coverage and nondiscrimination testing issues
• ADP/ACP testing issues
• Annual compliance testing for 403(b) plans
• Code §402(g) and 415 limitation issues
• Top-heavy testing
• Benefits, rights and features testing

Ultimately, plan participants will receive distributions of their defined contribution plan accounts. As a plan qualification concern, plans must satisfy certain distribution and forfeiture rules specific to their plan designs.

In this webcast, John Griffin, J.D., LL.M. will discuss the following topics:

• Distribution restrictions for different defined contribution plan designs
• Available forms of distribution, including QJSAs
• Distributions upon termination of employment
  • Consent and notice requirements
  • Involuntary cash-out distributions
  • Automatic and direct rollover rules
  • Required minimum distributions (just the basics)
• In-service distributions
• Distributions for active military employees
• Death distributions
• Plan termination distributions
• Penalty for receiving distributions "too soon"
• Permissible forfeiture events and timing
• Plan document requirements
• Correcting plan distribution failures

While basic to plan qualification, the eligibility rules play an important role in plan design. Knowing and applying the basic and advanced eligibility rules help practitioners properly design and administer qualified plans. 

In this webcast, John P. Griffin, J.D., LL.M. will discuss the following topics:

• Basic and advanced eligibility rules
• Using actual hours of service, equivalencies, and elapsed time
• The eligibility break-in-service rules
• The impact of different eligibility conditions for different contribution sources
• Considerations for related employers
• Mergers and acquisition concerns
• Correcting eligibility failure

Forgetting to account for protected benefits, including "optional forms of benefit," when amending a qualified plan can cause a violation of the so-called "anti-cutback" rules. This is a common mistake made by employers and plan drafters.

In this 2-hour webcast, John P. Griffin, J.D., LL.M. discusses the following topics:

• Protecting benefits - the basic anti-cutback rule
• Accruals under defined contribution and defined benefit plans
• Optional forms of benefit and early retirement subsidies
• Regulatory exceptions to protected benefit rules
• Mergers, transfers, rollovers and terminations
• Impact of the vesting rules
• Correcting protected benefits violations

The IRS has increased compliance enforcement on sponsors of 457(b) plans. 457(b) plans are special types of deferred compensation retirement plans available only to governmental and tax-exempt entities. While similar to 401(k) plans, 457(b) plans have their own set of rules and requirements, with significant differences applicable to governmental entities and tax-exempt organizations.

In this 2-hour CE credit webcast, John Griffin, J.D., LL.M. will discuss:

• The basic rules applicable under Code §457(b)
• The distinction between 457(b) plans for governmental and tax-exempt entities
• The differences between 457(b), 401(k) and 403(b) plans
• Recent IRS enforcement initiatives
• Plan document requirements, including amendments for CARES and SECURE Act

John P. Griffin, J.D., LL.M. discusses off-calendar and short plan years, which can create numerous compliance issues in administering plans.

In this 2-hour CE webcast, John P. Griffin J.D., LL.M. will discuss the following topics:

• Role of a plan's "plan year"
• Off-calendar plan year issues
  • Plan eligibility and participation
  • Plan limits and contributions
  • Nondiscrimination testing
  • Data issues
  • Form 5500 filings
  • Annual notices
• Short plan year issues
  • Identifying highly compensated employees
  • Compensation, 415, elective deferral and deduction limits
  • Coverage and nondiscrimination testing
  • Safe harbor 401(k) plans
  • Form 5500 filings
  • Plan termination

John P. Griffin, J.D., LL.M. provides an update on recent developments relating to ERISA fiduciary responsibilities and liability.

The Department of Labor (DOL) and courts have been active in the fiduciary area over the past year. Third party administrators and other qualified retirement plan service providers, even if not fiduciaries, need to understand the current fiduciary issues.

In this 2-hour CE webcast, John P. Griffin J.D., LL.M. will discuss the following topics:

• Who are fiduciaries and what are their general responsibilities and liabilities
• Taking on fiduciary duties as an ERISA §3(16) plan administrator or pooled plan provider
• "Hot" fiduciary topics
  • Missing participants
  • Cybersecurity
  • ESG and cryptocurrency investments
  • Investment advice prohibited transaction exemption
  • Plan document provisions to limit exposure
• DOL fiduciary correction program

The IRS recently issued new revenue procedures affecting interim amendments for pre-approved 401(a) plans (Revenue Procedure 2021-38) and pre-approved 403(b) plans (Revenue Procedure 2021-37). 

Plan document providers must understand the impact of these procedures on their clients and on their document provider responsibilities.

• In this free, one-hour webcast, John Griffin, J.D., LL.M. will discuss:
• Revenue Procedure 2021-38 - Interim amendment for pre-approved 401(a) plans 
  • New interim amendment timing requirements
  • Responsibilities of document providers for interim amendments
  • Impact on hardship distribution, SECURE Act and CARES Act interim amendments
• Revenue Procedure 2021-37 - Procedures for pre-approved 403(b) plans 
  • Simplification of the pre-approved 403(b) plan program
  • Submission date for Cycle 2 filings
  • Reliance on opinion letters
  • New Form 5307 determination letter program
  • Expansion of church-related organizations that may adopt pre-approved 403(b) retirement income account plans
  • Remedial amendment period and interim amendment rules
  • Responsibilities of document providers.

On July 15, 2021, the IRS issued Revenue Procedure 2021-30, updating its Employee Plans Compliance Resolution System (EPCRS) program. 

While many of the procedures remained unchanged, the IRS introduces several revisions and expansions to the EPCRS program.

In this 2-hour webcast, John Griffin, JD, LLM discusses the following topics:

• Overview of EPCRS and its correction programs
•  Changes to the EPCRS program, including:
  • Recoupments of overpayments
  • Elimination of anonymous VCP submissions
  • Addition of anonymous VCP pre-submission conferences
  • Extension of SCP correction timeframe
  • Expansion of SCP plan amendments
  • Extension of automatic enrollment plan safe harbor correction
• Proposed legislative changes affecting EPCRS
• Future of the EPCRS program 

More TPAs and other practitioners have enhanced or added 403(b) plans as a line of business. Staying up to date on the special rules and new developments is essential. In this two-hour webcast, John Griffin, JD, LLM will discuss the rules every practitioner who works with, or is thinking of working with, 403(b) plans should know. 

Topics include:

• Review of the important rules for 403(b) plans
• How 403(b) plans differ from 401(k) and 457(b) plans
• Working with pre-approved 403(b) plans
• Common IRS and DOL issues
• Using EPCRS to correct 403(b) plan errors

Participants in qualified retirement plans must receive certain required minimum distributions (RMDs) during their lifetimes. Employers that fail to timely provide these RMDs jeopardize the qualified status of their plans. Participants who fail to receive the RMDs are subject to significant excise taxes. In this two-hour webcast, John Griffin, JD, LLM discusses the applicable RMD rules, including the important changes made by recent legislations, including the SECURE Act.

Topics include:

• General rules for required minimum distributions
• Using the account balance method
• Using the annuity distribution method 
• Minimum distributions when a participant dies before, on or after the required beginning date
• Special minimum distribution rules
• Potential penalties, excise taxes and EPCRS corrections

Pooled Employer Plans (PEPs) became available in 2021. To date, the IRS and the Department of Labor have issued little guidance. Still, many practitioners and Pooled Plan Providers are moving forward on helping clients establish PEPs. In this 2-hour webcast, John Griffin, JD, LLM will discuss the rules and latest developments applicable to PEPs and PPPs.

Topics include:

• Introduction and background on Pooled Employer Plans
• What is a Pooled Employer Plan (PEP)?
• What is a Pooled Plan Provider (PPP)?
• PEP document requirements
• Registration requirements
• Advantages and disadvantages of PEPs
• Outstanding issues
• Administration of PEPs
• Considerations for potential PPPs

The SECURE and CARES Acts were enacted over a year ago. While the IRS has issued some guidance on these laws, practitioners continue to have questions on implementation of the new rules applicable to retirement plans. 

In this two-hour webcast, John Griffin, JD, LLM will discuss the latest guidance, issues and developments. 

Topics include:

• An analysis and status of SECURE Act provisions*, including:
  • Increased cap for QACA safe harbor plans
  • Rules relating to safe harbor 401(k) plans
  • Tax credits for start-up and automatic enrollment plans
  • Portability of lifetime income options
  • Participation of long-term, part-time employees
  • Qualified birth and adoption expenses
  • Required minimum distributions
  • In-service distributions for pension plans
• An update on the status of CARES Act provisions on distributions and loans
• Plan amendment requirements and deadlines
• Impact of the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021
• Legislative proposals to expand retirement plan coverage and savings

* ASC will offer a separate two-hour webcast on the SECURE Act rules for Pooled Employer Plans on May 27, 2021.

Starting this year, 401(k) plan sponsors will have to track employees who work more than 500 hours per year but are not eligible for the plan. The new "long-term, part-time employee" rules pose significant administrative and compliance issues for plan sponsors and practitioners.

Join John Griffin, J.D., LL.M. in this 2-hour CE webcast for an explanation of the new rules and recent IRS guidance.  John will use case studies to illustrate practical application of the impact on 401(k) plans.

Topics Include:

• When must long-term, part-time employees enter the plan. 
• How coverage, top heavy and nondiscrimination testing may be impacted by the inclusion of these employees. 
• How these rules interact with certain plan design options, such as eligibility for employer and matching contributions.

As the IRS proclaims, "mistakes happen!" The IRS Employee Plans Compliance Resolution System (EPCRS) allows retirement plan sponsors to correct plan mistakes and continue to provide retirement benefits on a tax-favored basis. EPCRS includes self-correction without IRS involvement (SCP), voluntary correction with IRS approval (VCP), and correction during audit under a closing agreement (Audit CAP).

In this 2-hour webcast John Griffin, J.D., LL.M. explains what every retirement plan practitioner needs to know about the EPCRS plan correction procedures. During the webcast, we will provide practical insights into EPCRS program and how to conduct periodic compliance reviews.

Case studies and examples illustrate the correction of common errors, including:

• Failure to timely amend or restate a plan
• Dealing with scrivener's errors
• Failure to correct ADP/ACP testing violations
• Improper use of the definition of compensation
• Failure to properly provide matching contributions
• Improper coverage of employees (e.g., early or late entrance)
• Exceeding the §402(g) elective limit
• Correcting late deposits
• Improper hardship distributions
• And more!

Dealing with mergers and acquisitions is among the most complex and confusing areas for qualified plan administration. Changes in controlled group status, stock sales and asset sales all present unique issues for plan sponsors and service providers.

In this 2-hour CE credit webcast, John Griffin, J.D., LL.M. will discuss these unique issues and present a checklist of items that plan sponsors and practitioners must address when dealing with a merger or acquisition situation.

 The webcast covers: 

• Overview of transactions that cause merger and acquisition issues for qualified plans 
• Distinguishing asset and stock sales 
• Due diligence 
• Severance from employment issues 
• Service crediting 
• Coverage and nondiscrimination testing
• Plan document issues
• Other merger and acquisition concerns

In this 2-hour free webcast, John Griffin, J.D., LL.M. and Dawn Johnson, CRSP, will continue their discussions of the newly-approved ASC Cycle 3 pre-approved defined contribution plans and the DGEM system. 

The following topics are covered during the webcast:

• Overview of the ASC pre-approved Defined Contribution Basic Plan Document used for the Standardized and Nonstandardized Profit Sharing/401(k) and money purchase pension adoption agreements
• Further explanation of the adoption of Cycle 3 trust provisions
• Discussion of the interim amendment requirements 
• Answers to questions raised since the August 20, 2020 webcast
• Discussion of other ASC plans documents, including the Owners-Only Plan, the Governmental Plans, the Church Plans and Employee Stock Ownership Plan (ESOP) 
• DGEM MEP processing
• Answers to questions raised since the September 10, 2020 webcast

Cycle 3 restatement time is here and ASC has everything you need to get the job done! Join Dawn Johnson, Mona Wilkinson, and Randy Bryan for this 1.5 hour webcast as they provide ASC document users with an in-depth discussion on restatements using the DGEM system.

In this webcast, the focus will be on generating Cycle 3 restatements and DGEM system enhancements.

Topics include:

• Creating Cycle 3 Restatements, either individually or in batch
• Generating a complete PPA restatement package
• Delivering the Restatement package
  • E-Sign
  • Email directly to Plan Sponsor
  • Post Directly to Gemini
• Using CATTS and PensionPal to keep track of your restatement progress

The IRS recently approved the ASC pre-approved defined contribution plans for cycle 3 restatements. As a document provider, you need to know the requirements of the pre-approved defined contribution plan program and be comfortable with the plans you provide to your clients.

In this 2-hour free webcast, John Griffin, J.D., LL.M. guides you through important aspects of the IRS pre-approved defined contribution plans program, discuss the new defined contribution plan restatement process and timing requirements and review the newly-approved ASC Cycle 3 pre-approved defined contribution plans. 

The following topics are covered during the webcast:

• General requirements under the IRS pre-approved defined contribution plan program
• Plan restatement timing requirements
• Scope of reliance provided by an IRS Opinion Letter
• Responsibilities of a pre-approved defined contribution plan provider
• Overview of the ASC pre-approved defined contribution plan documents, with emphasis on the Cycle 3 Nonstandardized Profit Sharing/401(k) Plan
  • Important changes from the Cycle 2 (PPA) documents
  • New IRS requirements for discretionary matching contributions
  • New trust adoption requirements
• Fixing plans that were not timely amended

The IRS has identified the use of incorrect compensation as one of the most common qualification errors in plans.

Join John Griffin, J.D., LL.M., for a webcast discussion that will clarify the complex and confusing issues you, the retirement plan administrator, face regarding compensation used in qualified plans.

Among the topics discussed:

• Different definitions of compensation that may apply under a qualified plan
  • Common problems and correction options with respect to plan compensation
  • How the definition of compensation can be used to improve testing results
  • Compensation issues for partnerships and self-employed individuals
  • And much more!

In this 2-hour webcast, John P. Griffin J.D., LL.M. discusses the viability of automatic enrollment plans (including ACAs, EACAs and QACAs) from the perspective of employers and service providers. 

Topics include:

• Pros & Cons of Auto Enrollment
• Which Employers are good candidates for auto enrollment?
• Differences between ACA, EACA and QACA
• Setting up the Plan Document
• Establishing and Administering an Auto Enrollment Plan:
  • New Plans
  • Converting existing 401(k)
  • Determining QDIA
  • Notice Requirements
  • Automatic Increases
  • Rehired Employees
  • Permissive Withdrawals
  • Mid-Year Amendments
  • Removing Auto Enrollment

A multiple employer plan (MEP) is an employee benefit plan that two or more unrelated employers maintain. Current DOL and IRS MEP rules for qualified retirement plans are confusing and sometimes inconsistent. In addition, the SECURE Act expands the MEP rules to include Pooled Employer Plans (PEPs) that many TPAs and others are considering adopting in 2021. With the new interest in MEPs and PEPs, it is imperative to keep up to date on the rules that impact the administration and utilization of these plans.

Join John Griffin, J.D., LL.M., for a webcast discussion concerning the rules and regulations applicable to MEPs and PEPs.

The topics include:

• What is a MEP?
• The special rules applicable to MEPs
• Why employers use the MEP approach
• What is a PEP?
• The special rules applicable to PEPs
• Why service providers may consider becoming a PEP Pooled Plan Provider
• And much more!

The COVID-19 crisis has impacted everyone, including retirement plan sponsors and their service providers. ASC has received hundreds of questions on plan document and plan administration issues related to the COVID-19 crisis. With the enactment of the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (CARES Act), new questions have arisen.

In this 1 hour 45 minute free webcast, John Griffin, J.D., LL.M. discusses many of the COVID-19 plan document and plan administration issues ASC has addressed with its clients.  

• The following topics are covered during the webcast: General discussion of the impact of the COVID-19 crisis on retirement plans
• Summary of the provisions of CARES Act affecting retirement plans, including:
  • Coronavirus-related distributions and loan rules
  • Waiver of 2020 required minimum distributions
  • Defined benefit plan relief
  • Plan amendment deadlines
• ASC's CARES Act Operational Checklist
• Frequently asked questions involving:
  • Termination of employment
  • Restatement deadlines
  • Safe harbor plans
  • Hardship distributions
  • Interim valuations
  • Plan termination
  • And more!

In this webcast, John P. Griffin J.D., LL.M. will discuss the nondiscrimination testing rules that apply to qualified plans, with a focus on options available for correcting failed coverage and nondiscrimination tests.

Topics include:

• Calculating corrective refunds under ADP/ACP test, including use of catch-up contributions
• Correcting coverage failures, including the use of cross-testing to correct average benefit test failures
• Improper coverage of employees (e.g., early entrance)
• Failure to use correct compensation under Plan
• Correcting improper ADP refunds
• Ineligible catch-up contributions permitted
• Failure of related employer to properly sign a participation agreement
• Correcting late deposits

The Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act (USERRA) grants certain re-employment and benefits rights to an employee who leaves his/her job due to performing duty in uniformed military service. Employers maintaining qualified retirement plans and their advisers must understand the importance of ensuring compliance with the applicable requirements.

In this 2-hour CE webcast, John Griffin J.D., LL.M. discusses important USERRA requirements, including:

• Eligibility for USERRA rights
• Employee notices
• "Make-up" contributions for returning veterans
• Special "compensation" and differential pay rules
• And plan document provisions.

When a qualified plan participant dies, plan administrators are often faced with a wide range of issues. Understanding how a plan's provisions apply usually will answer most of these issues. Still, complications often arise.

In this 2-hour webcast, John Griffin, J.D., LL.M. will discuss many of the important issues plan administrators must confront when a plan participant dies.

Topics include:

• Important plan provisions dealing with a participant's death
• Beneficiary designation issues
• Satisfaction of the required minimum distribution rules
• Spousal rights
• Missing participants
• QDRO issues
• And more!

The hardship rules can vary greatly, depending on the type of plan you are dealing with. It is important that administrators understand these differences!

In this webcast John Griffin, J.D., LL.M. covers the following topics:

• The rules for making hardship distributions from a 401(k) plan, including:
  • Restrictions on distributions from 401(k) deferral accounts
  • Distributions from employer contribution accounts, QNEC accounts, matching contribution accounts, QMAC accounts and safe harbor contribution accounts
  • Permissible hardship distribution events
  • Required substantiation /documentation for hardship distributions
  • Plan document design

[Note, we will cover the rules as they exist as of the date of the webcast. Some of the hardship distribution rules are affected by proposed IRS regulations issued in 2018. If the IRS has issued the final regulations prior to the webcast, we will incorporate them into the webcast.]

• The rules for making hardship distributions from 403(b) plans
  • Similarities and differences from the 401(k) hardship distribution rules
  • The differences applicable to 403(b) annuity contracts, 403(b) custodial accounts and retirement income accounts.
• The rules for making unforeseeable emergency distributions from 457(b) plans
• The differences between hardship withdrawals from 401(k), 403(b) and 457(b) plans
•  And much more!

Churches, church-related organizations and government entities may adopt qualified retirement plans. However, because these plans generally are exempt from Title I of ERISA and certain qualification rules, the plan documentation and administration for such plans can be significantly different from a plan of a for-profit employer.

In this 2-hour CE webcast, John Griffin, J.D., LL.M. discusses the many special exemptions and requirement applicable to these special types of employers.

The webcast topics include:

• Exemptions from Title I coverage
• Special application of the Code's qualification rules to church plans
• Issues relating to the definition of a church plan
• Special application of the Code's qualification rules to governmental plans
• Issues relating to the definition of governmental plan
•  Other unique issues for church plans and governmental plans
  • Plan document issues
  • Nondiscrimination testing
  •  Related employer determination
  • And more!

Designing a qualified retirement plan for an employer that is a member of a "controlled group" presents unique challenges, including compliance testing issues.

In this 2-hour CE webcast, John Griffin, J.D., LL.M. discusses many of the most important plan design considerations and compliance mistakes.

The webcast topics include:

• Basic controlled group rules for qualified plans*
• Qualification rules impacted by controlled group status
• Plan design application for specific qualification requirements, including:
  • Crediting service for eligibility and vesting purposes
  • HCE determination
  • Coverage issues
  • Nondiscrimination testing issues
  • Top-heavy plan concerns
  • Spousal attribution problems
• Other special issues to consider
  • Plan documents
  • Using the Code §410(b)(6)(C) rules
  • Consequences of really being a multiple employer plans

* The webcast includes a general discussion of the controlled group rules, but will not get into the many nuances of controlled group and related employer determinations.

Not all 403(b) plans are created the same! Different regulatory rules apply to different types of 403(b) plans and the entities that maintain these plans. It is important that 403(b) plan practitioners know the many distinctions between the rules and their application. 

In this 2-hour webcast, John Griffin, J.D., LL.M. discusses the differences between 403(b) plans subject to Title I of ERISA and those that are not. Other important distinctions also will be discussed. 

Webcast topics include:

• 403(b) plans that are subject to Title I of ERISA (e.g., plans sponsored by 501(c)(3) organizations)
• 403(b) plans that are not subject to Title I of ERISA (e.g., church and governmental entities)
•  If applicable, what are the Title I rules?
  • Document requirements
  • Fiduciary rules
  • Reporting and disclosure requirements (e.g., Form 5500)
  • Vesting
  • Spousal rights
• Title I exemption for salary reduction only 403(b) plans
• Other important distinctions, including application of the Code's nondiscrimination rules

The IRS recently issued proposed regulations applicable to hardship distributions from 401(k) plans. These proposed regulations have a major impact on 401(k) plan compliance and operation.

In this one-hour webcast, John Griffin will review the important aspects of the regulations that every practitioner should know.

Topics include:

• New hardship distribution events
• Elimination of the 6-month suspension and loan requirements
• New participant self-certification for hardship distributions
• Plan amendments and operational checklists
• Impact on 403(b) plans
• Transitional effective date rules
• Outstanding questions and issues