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PDFCher has extensive experience designing, implementing and maintaining complex employee benefits programs, including retirement, health and welfare, equity and executive and deferred compensation programs, and executive employment and severance plans and agreements, including analysis of the impact of Code Sections 409A, 457(f), 280G and 162(m). She regularly negotiates with the IRS, DOL and PBGC to find favorable solutions for clients. She also regularly counsels clients on complicated ERISA issues related to mergers, acquisitions, defined benefit pension plans, cash balance plans, collective bargaining agreements and retiree health plans. She advises clients on many facets of the Affordable Care Act, wellness programming, HIPAA and HITECH requirements relating to employer health and welfare plans. She regularly advises Retirement Plan and Compensation Committees on ERISA fiduciary and IRS intermediate sanction issues. Cher’s clients include for-profit, tax-exempt entities, large health systems and governmental entities. Cher is the leader the firm’s Employee Benefits and Executive Compensation practice.
Practice Areas
Experience
- Represents four of the region’s largest nonprofit healthcare/health-related systems with respect to their executive compensation, employment agreements, retirement plans and health and welfare plans.
- Represented a publicly traded financial institution and a large manufacturer in connection with complex acquisitions. In the course of those engagements designed and negotiated a substantial number of change in control, executive employment and separation agreements which triggered application of Code Section 280G, designed a cash incentive program, and handled the merger and integration of several union and nonunion tax-qualified retirement programs.
- Designed and implemented a new safe harbor Code Section 401(k) program for a large retail client to replace and terminate a costly and complex defined benefit plan, which included transitioning the plan to a new investment recordkeeping provider and ERISA (3)(21) investment advisor.
- Restructured various health and welfare benefit plans/programs for a large non-profit client to streamline Internal Revenue Service and Department of Labor reporting requirements and to comply with the Affordable Care Act; negotiated several administrative service agreements with health, welfare and retirement services vendors.
- Regularly assists for profit and charitable organizations in designing and negotiating executive employment agreements, severance agreements, deferred compensation plans and supplemental retirement programs, as well as amending such programs to comply with the restrictions of Internal Revenue Code Sections 457(b), 409A and 457(f).
- Counseled a governmental entity with respect to the merger of the retirement plan of one of its instrumentalities with and into its retirement plans, negotiation of a SERP benefit for incoming executives and compliance with plan administration of its 457(b) plan.
- Regularly assists clients and negotiates with the IRS and DOL in audit proceedings and voluntary compliance filings.
- Provides HIPAA/HITECH training, business associate agreements and related policy manuals to various clients.