EBSA and IRS Host Voluntary Corrections Workshop

The Chicago Regional Office of the Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA) and the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) announced a Voluntary Fiduciary Correction Programs Workshop.

EBSA’s VFC Program is designed to encourage employers and plan fiduciaries to voluntarily comply with the regulations under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA).  The Program is available to plan sponsors, officers, trustees, plan administrators, parties-in-interest or other persons who may be liable for certain fiduciary breaches under the ERISA.    

Under the Program, plan officials can identify and fully correct nineteen types of ERISA violations, such as delinquent and untimely participant contributions and loan repayments, prohibited purchases, sales and exchanges, improper loans, and improper payment of plan expenses.  The Program also now incorporates a method for a plan to remove an illiquid asset.    

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The workshop will be in the CRO Conference Room on the 21st floor of the Kluczynski Federal Building at 230 S. Dearborn Street, Chicago, Illinois, on Tuesday, August 16, 2011, 9:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. Persons interested in attending the Workshop, should contact us at Katherine Lacy-Wilson at 312-886-0585, by fax at 312-353-1023, or by e-mail to Wilson.Katherine@dol.gov.

Bringing Pop Culture to Brokers’ Social Media Usage

benefitsCONNECT announced that it has partnered with BackBone Inc., a health and technology communications firm, to provide brokers with a social media-driven user-engagement program.

The partnership will enable brokers and their customers to communicate using a combination of popular culture and social media with health and wellness information.

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benefitsCONNECT is offering a weekly email and integrated Twitter feed known as PULSE! Connect. The emails and Twitter account combine hot topics (i.e., celebrities, athletes, movies) with health and wellness stories. The company says “the combination of an engaging, attractive, easy-to-read email (one that embeds “actionable” links), and a dynamic, integrated Twitter page, sustains provider-to-user communications, while increasing awareness and utilization of company-sponsored tools and resources. Compared to traditional communications materials–brochures, newsletters, etc.–PULSE! Connect reduces costs and improves outcomes by deepening engagement and creating a more proactive health-conscious user community.”    

“In today’s benefits landscape, brokers increasingly need to find ways to broaden and deepen their client relationships,” said Ja’nene Kane, president and COO of benefitsCONNECT. “We have an ongoing commitment to partnering with innovative vendors to provide brokers with tools that add value for their clients while also boosting their book of business. We are pleased to be working with BackBone and adding PULSE! Connect(TM) to our trusted list of preferred products and services.”

BackBone’s editorial team develops content and manages delivery of PULSE! Connect to employee groups via a secure communications platform that requires little maintenance or Web site management on the broker’s part. The program is scalable, can be customized to meet the needs of large employer groups, and provides in-depth usage and trend reporting.

For additional information, visit www.benefitsCONNECT.net, or contact Sales at 916-421-4000 or sales@benefitsCONNECT.net.

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