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Retirement

Audit past leave credits when crafting early retirement plan

06/01/2007

If your organization is considering early retirement as an incentive to move out highly compensated employees, do your homework first. To properly calculate seniority, you’ll need to check how unpaid leave was handled years ago …

Discriminatory gap in pension law creates lawsuits

06/01/2007

The Centerport Fire District will pay over $350,000 to settle an EEOC age-discrimination lawsuit filed on behalf of 22 volunteer firefighters who were denied pension credit for service after age 65 …

Pension law makes it OK to help employees choose investments

04/01/2007

No matter how highly educated your employees are, they’re probably not professional investment experts. Yet it’s likely your organization has shifted responsibility for retirement savings to those employees. But now the Pension Protection Act of 2006 makes it safe for employers to arrange for employees to receive personalized, specific advice on investments …

Add some investment advice to 401(k) statements

03/01/2007

t’s not a good idea for employees to invest too big a proportion of their retirement dollars in a single stock—even if it’s your organization’s stock. And the IRS says you have to point that risk out to employees four times a year on quarterly plan statements …

Forcing retirement at age 65 lands AFCO in legal hot water

03/01/2007

Chambersburg-based Alex C. Fergusson Inc. (AFCO) must pay $50,000 to a salesman after forcing him into retirement at age 65 …

Before reorganization, draw up a staff contingency plan

03/01/2007

Are you planning to use an early-retirement incentive to help reduce the size of your work force? If so, it’s wise to prepare contingency plans for the remaining open positions and carefully document them …

Citigroup’s Cash-Balance Plan Fails the Smell Test, Judge Says

03/01/2007

A U.S. District Court judge has called Citigroup’s cash-balance pension plan “a bold and exploitative contortion” of the fractional rule, which guarantees that pensions accrue uniformly over an employee’s career …

Employer takes pricey gamble playing with pension funds

02/01/2007

The owner of a Hollywood, Fla., insurance agency who siphoned money from the company’s pension fund has been found in contempt of court for failing to restore $107,938 to the plan …

Court rejects Continental worker’s claim of benefit miscalculation

02/01/2007

A federal judge in Texas recently dismissed a lawsuit brought by an employee who sued his former employer under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA), alleging that the company had breached its fiduciary duties …

Beware age discrimination risk when offering promotions

01/01/2007

If you don’t ensure that clearly qualified, post age-40 employees aren’t seriously considered for promotions, you could be risking an expensive lawsuit under the federal Age Discrimination in Employment Act …