lllinois Chamber of Commerce HR Illinois Blog

Jeffrey A. Risch and Rebecca L. Dobbs, SmithAmundsen LLC

The attack targeting 401(k) Plan fees began back in 2005 when the Department of Labor issued guidance instructing plan fiduciaries to be aware when selecting pension consultants.  Subsequent to that, the Department of Labor announced that it would propose changes to the regulations pertaining to arrangements between plans and their service providers focusing on clear disclosure of fee structures.  With it, the Department of Labor proposed changes to Form 5500 indicating that the Form did not meet the Department of Labor’s objectives as it did not require reporting or disclosure of indirect fees, including revenue sharing payments, on the plan’s annual report.

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Peter A. Steinmeyer, Esq., Epstein Becker & Green, P.C.

States vary widely in their willingness to enforce noncompetition agreements. Some states, such as California, are openly hostile and will not enforce them, while others will do so-so, subject to varying degrees of judicial scrutiny.

Illinois, for example, will enforce a noncompetition agreement, but only after fairly rigorous judicial scrutiny. Notwithstanding such scrutiny, Illinois employers can draft enforceable noncompetition agreements. Here is some practical guidance on how to do so, from my article published on an EBG blog.