Julie Stich, CEBS, Author at Word on Benefits

Top 5 Employee Benefit Trends to Watch in Canada

Julie Stich, CEBS

02 Sep 201502 Sep 2015

Offering group benefits and retirement plans to employees takes financial, administrative and time commitment from employers. To get the most bang for their buck, employers need to make sure their benefit plans work efficiently and are used effectively. Here are five benefit […]

Affordable Care Act (ACA) Cadillac Tax Employee Benefits Health Care

Six Things You Need to Know Now About the ACA Cadillac Tax

Julie Stich, CEBS

11 Aug 201517 Dec 2015

Possibly one of the most closely watched and anxiously anticipated provisions of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) is the Cadillac tax. The tax implementation date of 2018 seemed like a distant future when ACA was signed into law in March 2010, but as […]

Defined Benefit (DB) Plans Employee Benefits Multiemployer Pensions Retirement

MPRA Guidance—What Does It Mean?

Julie Stich, CEBS

13 Jul 201515 Jul 2015

In mid-June, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) and Pension Benefit Guaranty Corp. (PBGC) released their first round of guidance relating to the Multiemployer Pension Reform Act (MPRA) provisions on benefit suspensions (reductions) and pension partitions. MPRA is a complex law, and the […]

Employee Benefits

How Will the Supreme Court Decision on Same-Sex Marriage Impact Employers and Plan Sponsors?

Julie Stich, CEBS

26 Jun 201528 Jul 2017

Julie Stich, CEBS Director, Research at the International Foundation On June 26, 2015, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that states cannot refuse to license same-sex marriages or refuse to recognize those performed in other states. The case, Obergefell v. Hodges, a composite of […]

Employee Benefits ERISA Multiemployer Regulatory Retirement

The No. 1 Reason Multiemployer Plans Fail a DOL Audit

Julie Stich, CEBS

21 May 2015

Last fall I had the opportunity, along with a few Foundation members, to meet with Ian Dingwall, Chief Accountant for the Department of Labor’s Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA). Mr. Dingwall’s team is responsible for making sure employee benefit plans are operating […]

401(k) Plans Defined Benefit (DB) Plans Defined Contribution (DC) Plans Employee Benefits Financial Education Financial Wellness Pensions

Retirement Plans Increase Security

Julie Stich, CEBS

22 Apr 201523 Apr 2015

Workers and retirees in the United States are saying they’re a bit more confident about their prospects in retirement—the confidence numbers are up in 2015 since hitting lows between 2009 and 2013—even though there aren’t many signs that they’re taking steps to […]

DOL Employee Benefits FMLA Regulatory

FMLA’s Same-Sex Spousal Leave Rights Expanded

Julie Stich, CEBS

12 Mar 2015

Two friends of mine, both men, have been in a loving and committed relationship for several years. But until they got in their car and drove across the border to Iowa last October to get married, they weren’t afforded the spousal rights […]

Employee Benefits Multiemployer Pensions Regulatory Retirement

What the Cromnibus Law Means for Multiemployer Pension Plans

Julie Stich, CEBS

15 Dec 201411 Mar 2015

By: Julie Stich, CEBS On December 13, 2014, Congress passed the Multiemployer Pension Reform Act of 2014 (MPRA) as part of the federal spending “cromnibus” bill, the Consolidated and Further Continuing Appropriations Act, 2015. The multiemployer defined benefit pension reform provisions were introduced […]

Canada Employee Benefits Health Care Mental Health Wellness

Is Mental Illness the “Last Taboo”?

Julie Stich, CEBS

06 Nov 201416 Jun 2016

I had the opportunity to meet with many of our Canadian members during the 47th Annual Canadian Employee Benefits Conference in Calgary this past August. I wanted to find out how organizations are dealing with mental health issues among the workforce. The consensus—There has […]

Employee Benefits Health Care Mental Health Wellness

Easing Workers’ Back-to-School Stress

Julie Stich, CEBS

06 Aug 201430 Jan 2017

By Julie Stich, CEBS Ah, summer. Flipflops. Coconut-scented suntan lotion. Popsicles. Summer can mean vacation, an escape from “real life.” Even when we’re working, summer can seem a little more relaxed. There can be stresses, of course. Who’s going to watch the […]