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Employers can unknowingly incur large penalties and involve their legal departments in costly federal lawsuits when they fail to recognize that their employee benefit plans fall under The Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (“ERISA”). In this course, employee benefits practice attorneys Kelly Pointer and Richard Schwartz explain what makes an employee benefit plan subject to ERISA and how to avoid many of ERISA’s pitfalls. They discuss how to differentiate between a pension benefit plan, a welfare benefit plan, and a severance plan.  They also cover ERISA’s documentation requirements and helpful strategies on how to implement an effective plan documentation structure. This program will be extremely valuable for attorneys seeking to help their employer clients navigate through ERISA's complex and difficult provisions.

Learning Objectives:
I.       Understand The Statutory and Regulatory Framework of ERISA
II.      Understand what makes an Employee Benefit Plan Subject to ERISA
III.     Differentiate between the types of Employee Benefit Plans (Pension and Welfare)
IV.     Comprehend Documentation Requirements (Plan Documentation and SPD)
V.      Suggested Approaches to Documentation Structure

Instruction Method: Self-Study