Summer Blues? Will an Internal Plan Audit Add Zest to Your Doldrums?

Benefit plans with more than 100 participants as of the beginning of any plan year require a financial statement audit of the plan’s financial statements (with a transition exception).  Auditors should be gaining clues about the successfulness of the plan’s internal controls and other factors to assess the reasonableness, not only of the financial statements but, through sampling of plan document compliance, adherence to eligibility and plan entry provisions, participant loan rules, and more, that may poke holes in plan administration. Is it time to look further?

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Related Content 

• EPCRS Program Eligibility Flowchart 
  Refer to this flowchart to determine if a retirement plan sponsor may use the IRS Employee Plans Compliance Resolution System (EPCRS) to correct a failure to comply with the qualification requirements for the plan's tax-favored status and to determine which EPCRS program is available to correct the failure: Self-Correction Program (SCP), Voluntary Correction Program (VCP), or Audit Closing Agreement Program (Audit CAP). 

• EPCRS Plan Correction Checklist 
  Use this checklist when using EPCRS to correct certain operational or documentation noncompliance issues in retirement plans.

• EPCRS Correction Rules and Procedures 
  Reference this practice note summarizing the programs available to correct retirement plan errors under EPCRS, after being updated by IRS Revenue Procedure 2021-30.

Practical Guidance Updates
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• Employee Benefits & Executive Compensation Key Legal Developments Tracker
  Stay informed on new developments.
  • ERISA Litigation. Third Circuit affirms class certification in ERISA excessive fee action, holding that three named plaintiffs had Article III standing and satisfied the typicality requirement of Rule 23(a) of the FRCP despite having invested only in seven of the plan's 37 investment options. Boley v. Universal Health Servs., 36 F.4th 124 (3d Cir. 2022).
  • Health and Welfare Plans. By upholding a Mississippi abortion ban and overturning precedent that established a constitutional right to abortion, the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health allowed states to impose restrictions or bans on abortion and upended established precedent in Roe v. Wade. This creates new liabilities for employers related to workers' health, discrimination protections, privacy, and speech. Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health, __ S. Ct. ___ (2022); Employer Travel Benefits Options for Abortion Care Post-Roe.
    
    HHS provides a chart that summarizes when, under the No Surprises Act, a state or other independent dispute resolution (IDR) process applies rather than the federal process. See Chart for Determining the Applicability for the Federal Independent Dispute Resolution (IDR) Process.
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