Employee Benefits & Executive Compensation

Attorneys | Publications

Post & Schell’s national Employee Benefits & Executive Compensation Group is dedicated to assisting employers with the design, implementation, monitoring/maintenance and regulatory compliance issues associated with all ERISA and non-ERISA employee benefits and executive compensation programs. In the area of regulatory compliance, the Group counsels clients concerning fiduciary structure of plan administration, as well as responses to audits and other inquiries by governmental agencies. The Group also assists in conducting self-audits to ensure compliance with “best practices”. Our Group provides its corporate clients nationally with sophisticated expertise and judgment in the following areas:

  • Defined Contribution Plans/401(k) Plans
  • Defined Benefit/Cash Balance Plans
  • Executive and Equity Compensation
  • Deferred/Nonqualified Compensation Plans
  • Fiduciary and other Department of Labor Matters
  • Multi-employer Plans
  • Transactional Matters
  • Welfare Benefit Plans

Among its pension and retirement related services, the Group assists clients with the design and implementation of all forms of qualified retirement programs, ranging from traditional to hybrid, featuring:

  • Cash Balance
  • Pension Equity
  • 403(b)
  • 401(k), including a variety of innovative designs

The Group also structures nonqualified retirement and other executive and deferred compensation models including:

  • Supplemental Retirement
  • Equity Compensation
  • 457(f)
  • Golden parachute and other change-in-control programs

These programs also use various funding vehicles to secure executive benefits, such as rabbi trusts and, occasionally, secular trusts. Our Group has extensive experience in representing both employers and their executives in negotiating employment and change-in-control agreements.

They also assist clients in establishing and administering innovative welfare benefits arrangements, including cafeteria plans, health reimbursement arrangements, health savings accounts and VEBAs.

Our Employee Benefits & Executive Compensation Group has extensive experience and has been lead Employee Benefits and Executive Compensation counsel for national and multi-national employers, privately and publically held, union and non-union – including those in:

  • Financial Services
  • Healthcare, Medical Devices and Pharmaceuticals
  • Manufacturing and Construction Materials
  • Energy
  • Defense
  • Higher Education
  • Professional Services
  • Professional and Trade Associations

The wealth of experience in this department complements the firm’s business lawyers as they assist clients with the employee benefits aspect of mergers, acquisitions, sales, downsizings and other restructurings. The Group’s expertise includes the design of a variety of early retirement and severance incentive programs. The sophisticated background of the members of our Group with technically complex ERISA matters, including retirement plan investment in employer securities and other fiduciary issues, also provides a valuable resource for our ERISA trial attorneys.