The Daily Brief for Benefits Professionals
BenefitsWire
Retirement Plans · June 14, 2026
Expert Analysis
New Guidance on Expanded IRC Section 4960 Excise Tax: Proposed Regulations Coming Soon
“On June 5, 2026, the Treasury Department and IRS issued IRS Notice 2026-36 (the “Notice”), announcing that proposed regulations under IRC Section 4960 are imminent.”
Groom Law Group
Beltway Buzz, June 12, 2026
“On June 8, 2026, the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts vacated President Trump's $100,000 H-1B proclamation in a legal challenge filed by twenty state attorneys general. The court found that while the Immigration and Nationality Act provides the president with "broad discretion to suspend the entry of aliens into the United States," it does not confer upon him the authority to impose taxes, as the proclamation does.”
Ogletree Deakins
Center for Scientific Review; Notice of Closed Meetings
“This site displays a prototype of a “Web 2.0” version of the daily Federal Register. It is not an official legal edition of the Federal Register, and does not replace the official print version or the official electronic version on GPO’s govinfo.”
Federal Register
Guiding Plans Through Private Market Decisions
“The panelists urged sponsors to evaluate private assets through the same fiduciary lens applied to any investment: performance, diversification, fees, liquidity, valuation and complexity. They also said sponsors should document discussions even if they decide not to act.”
PLANADVISER
Fixed Income, Private Assets, TDFs, Among Top Innovations for DC Plan Sponsors
“Plan consultants are noticing high interest in non-core fixed income options, multi-asset inflation, and private credit in asset allocation solutions.”
401(k) Specialist
Alternative Assets in 401(k) Plans: An ERISA Centered Perspective
“When alternatives are part of that discussion, the process typically becomes more involved, given the distinct features of these investments. The proposed regulations offer a safe harbor that applies not only to alternative investments but also to the overall plan investment selection process.”
Bricker Graydon
Designing Executive Loan Programs in the Context of Incentive Equity: Key Considerations and Practices
“If an executive loan program is structured improperly, the loan can be deemed disguised compensation by the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) and subject to taxation as income, resulting in a heavy tax burden for the executive. To avoid this, a loan must be structured as a "bona fide loan" and be treated as such by the company.”
Morgan Lewis (ML BeneBits)
Regulatory Action and Guidance
District Court Vacates IRS Notice 2025-42, Restoring Five Percent Safe Harbor Option for Beginning of Construction
“On June 6, 2026, the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia vacated Notice 2025-42 (the Notice) in Oregon Environmental Council v. IRS, No. CV-25-4400. The Notice had eliminated the long-standing Five Percent Safe Harbor for establishing the beginning of construction date for wind and large solar projects ... The court held that the Notice was arbitrary and capricious under the Administrative Procedure Act (APA).”
Troutman Pepper Locke
U.S. Department of Labor Issues New FLSA Opinion Letters on Exempt Work, Bonus Calculations, Meal Periods, and Rounding Practices
“Download PDF Introduction On May 30, 2026, the U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division (WHD) released four new opinion letters addressing important Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) compliance issues.”
Pierson Ferdinand
ERISA Litigation
When a Phone Call Beats the Plan’s Writing Requirement: A Louisiana Court Applies Substantial Compliance to Uphold a Telephonic ERISA Beneficiary Change
“The court agreed the Insured did not technically comply with the Certificate's written-form requirement ... Despite the technical noncompliance, the court applied the federal common law doctrine of substantial compliance, under which an attempted beneficiary change is effective when the insured evidences intent to make the change and takes positive action substantially similar to what the plan requires.”
Roberts Disability Law
Employer Groups Urge 8th Circuit to Review ERISA Case Class Certification
“Large employer groups are urging a federal appeals court to reverse a class certification ruling in a lawsuit against Compass Group USA, arguing that the decision could have sweeping consequences for employer-sponsored health plans and wellness programs nationwide.”
PLANSPONSOR
Supreme Court Unanimously Upholds SEC Disgorgement Powers in Sripetch v. SEC
“On June 4, 2026, the United States Supreme Court handed down a 9-0 decision in Sripetch v. Securities and Exchange Commission, No. 25-466, affirming that proof of pecuniary loss to victims of securities law violations is not a prerequisite for the U.”
Foley & Lardner
What Employers Need to Know About Pension Fund Withdrawal Liability After M & K Employee Solutions v. Trustees of the IAM National Pension Fund
“On May 21, 2026, the U.S. Supreme Court held that when an employer withdraws from an underfunded multiemployer pension fund, the fund's actuary is not required to use assumptions that were already in place on the "measurement date" (i.e., the last day of the fund's year preceding the employer's withdrawal). The measurement date fixes facts, but not the actuary's assumptions.”
Littler
Judge trims $83M from record-breaking age bias penalty imposed on Liberty Mutual
“He noted that the jury heard extensive evidence of an on-site supervisor's bias against older, long-tenured employees, as well as how the supervisor persistently treated younger workers more favorably than their older peers. Additionally, "multiple witnesses corroborated [the supervisor's] pattern and practice of age discrimination," and the jury's award of noneconomic damages for emotional distress was not "so grossly disproportionate" as to be prejudicial, the judge held.”
HR Dive
New Phoenix/LPL Litigation Strengthens the Case Against Fixed Annuities in 401(k) Plans
“The collapse of PHL Variable Insurance Company and the new litigation against LPL Financial provide one of the clearest modern examples of why insurer-issued annuity products represent a growing and poorly understood danger inside retirement plans.”
The Commonsense 401(k) Project
Proposed Rule Promotes Fertility Benefits | Segal
“Limited excepted fertility benefits would include benefits substantially all of which are for the diagnosis, mitigation or treatment of infertility or infertility-related reproductive health conditions and are provided by medical professionals and subject to a total lifetime dollar limit per participant, together with their eligible beneficiaries, of $120,000 (adjusted for inflation).”
Segal
Retirement Plan Administration
New workers are missing out on 401(k) savings, and employers can help
“According to Vanguard's 2025 How America Saves report, participation rates were lowest in 2024 among employees younger than 25, with 54% contributing to their employer-sponsored retirement plan. By comparison, more than eight in 10 employees between the ages of 35 and 64 participated in their employer's plan.”
Employee Benefit News
Press Releases
This Week From the Hill (June 8 – 12, 2026)
“Some Congressional Republicans are continuing to call for action on a third budget reconciliation bill this year to include various health and other affordability issues. Earlier this year the House Republican Study Committee, the largest House Republican caucus, released a framework for a reconciliation bill focused on healthcare (e.g., allowing ACA subsidies to be contributed directly to individual health accounts), energy and housing reforms.”
Groom Law Group