Legal Decisions Affecting Pension Plans. Mitzner, Ira R. Employee Benefits Journal v25 no2 pp 45-54 Jun 2000 Several important court rulings will impact pension plans. Some of the most significant involved plan amendments, surplus plan assets, fiduciaries and their duties, collecting delinquent contributions, attorney-client privilege, investments, and withdrawal liability and termination. Other important pensions areas addressed by the courts are standards of review, preemption, and federal common law. The Future of Flexible Benefit Plans.
Employers can attract and retain qualified employees by offering flexible benefit plans.
These plans allow companies to meet the needs of an increasingly diverse labor pool. Flexible benefit plans also permit employers to take more control over benefit costs. By creating and maintaining flexible benefit arrangements, employers can keep their workers in step with a future system that is likely to provide them with choices of many benefit options over the Internet. The trends identified in the development of flexible benefit plans center on the areas of choice, equal treatment of employees, cost control, and enrollment and communication. Employers can take a functional approach in implementing flexible benefit plans.