Compliance May 23, 2006

IRS Unveils 403(b) Guides

May 23, 2006 (PLANSPONSOR.com) - The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) has released two publications designed to help 403(b) participants and their plan sponsors better navigate through the laws and rules regarding their retirement savings programs.
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The new IRS offerings include:

  • A Guide for Participants in a 403(b) Tax-Sheltered Annuity Plan , a 6-page document that features a discussion about contribution limits, distributions and rollovers, loan limitations and requirements for hardship withdrawals. The booklet includes a summary of 403(b) plan rules as well as a list of other relevant IRS publications.“As a 403(b) plan participant, you need to pay attention to the operation of your 403(b) tax-sheltered annuity so that you can: be compliant with the law, maximize your retirement benefits, and avoid additional taxes and penalties,” the IRS said in the booklet.
  • A Guide for Sponsors to the 403(b) Tax-Sheltered Annuity Plan , a 6-page book aimed at plan sponsors. Among other items, the IRS offering includes a discussion of common sponsor mistakes such as failure to limit employee elective deferrals as well as failure to carry out a timely return of excess elective deferrals and earnings.“It is important to know the tax rules applicable to a 403(b) plan to: 1) help you comply with the tax law; and 2) help you ensure that your employees get the maximum benefit out of your 403(b) plans.”

The participant book is here .

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The plan sponsor book is here .

Benefits May 22, 2006

Report: Reprimanded Boston Health Exec Admits to More Sex Harassment

May 22, 2006 (PLANSPONSOR.com) - The president of a Boston-based health care provider has admitted to sexually harassing more women than in the four cases for which he was reprimanded last week.
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An attorney for the Boston Archdiocese told the Boston Globe that not only has Dr. Robert Haddad, the Caritas Christi Health Care system president, admitted to more instances of sexual harassment, but witnesses have also indicated there were more victims.

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David Mandel, an employment law specialist working for the archdiocese, told the Globe that the archdiocese has kicked off a further probe of Haddad following reports that he ”leered and winked” at one of the four victims on May 10, after the archdiocesan investigation was all but concluded.

If the inquiry finds that the reports were accurate, the Caritas board of governors that agreed to the ”stern reprimand” would have to consider possible further sanctions against Haddad, Mandel told the newspaper.

According to Mandel, the board was told Thursday that there were more than the four women involved before they endorsed Cardinal Sean O’Malley’s recommendation that Haddad be reprimanded and receive instruction in sexual harassment guidelines.

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