ERISA and Employee Benefits

The Law Office of Martha L. Hutzelman provides advice to clients regarding the drafting, operation and compliance of employee retirement plans, health and welfare benefit programs, and executive compensation plans.

The firm counsels clients on all matters affecting pension, profit sharing, 401(k), 403(b) and 457 retirement plans. The firm assists clients in designing and drafting plan documents, summary plan descriptions and employee notices; helps clients develop retirement plan administrative and fiduciary procedures; and advises clients on the correction of plan document and operational defects.

For all types of health and welfare plans, including cafeteria plans, flexible spending accounts (FSAs), health savings accounts (HSAs) and health reimbursement arrangements (HRAs), the firm advises clients on the establishment and implementation of the programs and provides plan documents and employee communications, as needed. Ms. Hutzelman assists clients in complying with requirements under the Affordable Care Act (ACA) and in developing administrative procedures to ensure that the employer satisfies ongoing responsibilities for its employee health and welfare benefit plans, including the obligation to provide regular employee notices under the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA), Newborns' and Mothers' Health Protection Act, Women's Health and Cancer Rights Act (WHCRA), Medicare Part D prescription drug coverage program and Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act (COBRA).

Ms. Hutzelman advises clients on the design and implementation of executive compensation plans, such as non-qualified deferred compensation plans, supplemental executive retirement plans (SERPs) and 457(f) plans for tax-exempt and governmental employers. This advice includes counsel on compliance with Internal Revenue Code section 409A.

For all types of plans, the firm counsels clients on matters including, but not limited to, plan design options, self-audits, operational compliance, issues encountered in independent qualified public accountant audits of benefit plans and fiduciary requirements. The firm assists clients in correcting employee benefit plan errors and filing delinquent employee benefit plan annual Form 5500 reports using Internal Revenue Service (IRS) and U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) correction programs. In addition to drafting plans and advising clients regarding the proper operation and administration of employee benefit plans, the firm represents clients in IRS, DOL and Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC) audits.

Areas of practice