Compliance November 16, 2004

Global Crossing Settlement Gets Court OK

November 16, 2004 (PLANSPONSOR.com) - A federal district court in New York City has approved a final settlement of $79 million for the benefit of workers and retirees of the Global Crossing retirement plan.
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>In addition to the restitution that was recovered in the private litigation, the settlement, originally announced in July (see  DOL Strikes Global Crossing Deal ), prohibits the company’s executives from acting as fiduciaries to ERISA-covered benefit plans for five years unless the Department of Labor gives prior approval.  

>The settlement covers the two former inside directors of Global Crossing, Thomas Casey (former chief executive officer) and Gary Winnick (former chairman of the board), as well as the three former members of the Employee Benefits Committee, Dan J. Cohrs, Joseph Perrone, and John Comparin.   The Secretary of Labor entered into the settlement with Global Crossing’s former officers and directors in connection with the private class action lawsuit filed on behalf of the plan participants.

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>In announcing the approval, Secretary of Labor Elaine Chao said, “The court’s approval of this settlement restoring millions to pay retirement benefits is a victory for workers, retirees, and their families who are covered by the Global Crossing 401(k) plan.   This year, the Administration achieved monetary results totaling $3.1 billion for retirement, 401(k), health, and other programs.”

Global Crossing workers in March 2002 claimed the plan was still accumulating Global stock at a time when the company was coping with financial p lems and the shares’ value was plummeting.  The suit, filed in March 2002, alleged that company officials breached their fiduciary duty by not properly disclosing the firm’s true financial p lems and by not warning participants about the potential risks of overaccumulating company stock (see  Global Crossing Workers File Company Stock Suit ).  Another employee suit was filed in February of that year (see  Participants Bring Another Company Stock Complaint ).

>The settlement resolves the Labor Department’s investigation of the Global Crossing Retirement Savings Plan.   The department’s EBSA regional office in Los Angeles and the Office of the Solicitor conducted a comprehensive investigation of Global Crossing’s ERISA plans.   The investigation was coordinated through President Bush’s Corporate Fraud Task Force.

Benefits November 15, 2004

Survey: College Hiring Up – Particularly Among Engineering Grads

November 15, 2004 (PLANSPONSOR.com) - New college graduates with business, engineering, and computer-related degrees have the most promising job outlook this year, according to a new survey.
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A news release said the Job Outlook 2005 survey by the National Association of Colleges and Employers (NACE) found that accounting, electrical engineering, mechanical engineering, business administration, economics/finance, and computer science top the list of majors employers plan to hire at the bachelor’s degree level. An earlier NACE survey found that employers expect to increase their college hiring in 2004-05 by 13.1% over 2003-04.

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“We’re seeing a number of positive indications that the job market for new college graduates is improving,” Marilyn Mackes, NACE executive director, said in the news release.

In addition, employers reported plans to reassess their hiring needs more frequently, another indication that they may view the college job market as more robust, according to the news release. The largest group (33.3%) say they will reassess their hiring needs on a quarterly basis. In contrast, last year at this time the largest group, 27.4%, said they would reassess on an annual basis.

Additional survey highlights include:

  • Seven out of 10 respondents expect to increase starting salary offers to new college graduates at the bachelor’s degree level. The average projected increase is 3.7%.
  • At the master’s degree level, responding employers are most interested in business, engineering, and computer-related degrees. At the doctoral level, engineering and computer-related degrees are of most interest to respondents.
  • Just 22.2% of respondents said they expect to hire international students this year. Those with degrees in electrical engineering, computer science, and mechanical engineering have the best chance of attracting an employer’s attention.
  • More than 40% of responding employers have firm plans in place to visit college campuses in Spring 2005 to interview and hire new graduates. In addition, nearly 18% say they won’t make those campus visits in the Spring – they expect to complete their hiring in Fall 2004.

According to NACE, the top 10 degrees in demand at the Bachelor’s Degree level are:

  • Accounting
  • Electrical engineering
  • Mechanical engineering
  • Business administration/management
  • Economics/finance
  • Computer science
  • Computer engineering
  • Marketing/marketing management
  • Chemical engineering
  • Information sciences and systems.

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