Compliance September 15, 2005

Posthumous QDRO Found to Still be Valid

September 15, 2005 (PLANSPONSOR.com) - A West Virginia federal judge has awarded a dead participant's ex-wife benefits even though the couple's qualified domestic relations order (QDRO) was not approved by a state judge until after the participant passed away.
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US District Judge Irene Keeley of the US District Court for the Northern District of West Virginia issued the decision in a case involving Forrest Ferrell, a former employee of the National City Bank, and his ex-wife Barbara, according to a BNA report. As part of the couple’s January 2002 divorce, a state judge awarded Barbara Ferrell 100% of Ferrell’s assets in the company’s pension plan. Ms.Ferrell died in July 2003.

In her ruling, Keeley turned aside arguments from the company that a posthumous QDRO can’t be enforced, asserting that the court noted that the QDRO at issue was created long before the participant died and was “only being enforced posthumously.”

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She noted that the Ferrell case was the first time the issue has come up in the area covered by the US 4 th Circuit Court of Appeals (Maryland, North Carolina, South Carolina, Virginia, and West Virginia), but appellate courts in the 8 th , 9 th and 10 th Circuits have ruled that such court orders were enforceable even if they were posthumous.

According to Keeley, the sponsor was required to give “full faith and credit” to the QDRO because, although it was not approved until after the participant’s death, it merely restated the rights granted to the ex-wife in the couple’s divorce agreement.

The case is National City Corp. Non-Contributory Retirement Plan v.Ferrell, N.D. W.Va., No. 1:03CV259, 8/31/05.

Benefits September 14, 2005

Worker Tenure is More Than Comp Issues

September 14, 2005 (PLANSPONSOR.com) - Compensation may be important in the workplace, but workers are more likely to head for the door if they're having problems with career advancement, the relationship with their manager, and training.
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Among workers who consider career advancement opportunities to be very important yet believe their employers are doing a poor job of meeting that need, 41% are actively seeking a new job. Only 5% of the workers in this category would not consider another job offer.

The next most likely areas to generate turnover are the relationship with managers and the training area. When individuals rank these factors as very important but feel their employer is doing a poor job at providing them, 37% and 36% are actively looking, respectively. That compares with 34% of workers who highly value salary but work for a company that does a poor job are actively seeking a new position, and 31% of those who feel the same about benefits are looking.

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Nearly all of the workforce (96%) rated a fair salary as very or somewhat important and 93% said the same for benefits.

“While monetary considerations continue to be key elements in retaining talent, other, often intangible, factors can play a significant role in an employee’s decision to stay with or leave an organization,” Robert Morgan, COO, Hudson Human Capital Solutions, said in the news release. “As employers confront issues of continually rising health care costs and restricted salary budgets, they should consider implementing programs such as flexible working arrangements and manager training initiatives as ways to reduce turnover.”

Highlighting the need for a sound retention strategy is the decreasing job tenure within the workforce, as a significant portion (50%) expects to change companies within the next five years and more than one-third (36%) within less than three years. Additionally, one-third (32%) is actively job searching or has an updated resume and would consider job offers, while just one-quarter (25%) would not even consider changing jobs.

Other key findings include:

  • While there is virtually no difference between managers and non-managers when it comes to current job search efforts, managers were more likely to believe that top talent stays at their company (49% compared to 35%) and also more likely to recommend their employer to others (70% compared to 57%).
  • Workers are torn about retention among the top performers in their organization – 40% report that they stay and move up within the organization, while another 40% think they leave the firm to find better jobs somewhere else.
  • A majority of US workers (62%) would recommend their company as a good place to work.
  • Only 36% of the respondents reported that their organizations conduct internal surveys to gather feedback from their employee base. Of those, nearly three-quarters (72%) always participate.
  • Three in ten (30%) accounting workers would not consider another job offer, while just one-fifth (19%) of human resource and manufacturing workers feel that way.

The survey is based on a national poll of 10,000 US workers and was compiled by Rasmussen Reports, LLC, an independent research firm.

The survey report is here .

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