Automatic Enrollment in 401(k) Plans	Back to entire listing
	The Pension Protection Act of 2006 contained a number of provisions designed to encourage employers to "automatically enroll" their employees in salary deferral plans, such as those maintained under Section 401(k) or 403(b) of the Tax Code. Aside from creating a host of new acronyms (QDIAs, ACAs, QACAs, and EACAs), IRS and Department of Labor regulations have thrown up a number of stumbling blocks to reliance on these new provisions. With the downturn in the economy, employers are also rethinking the wisdom of taking deductions from employees' paychecks without their explicit consent. In this webinar, we'll take stock of the current climate for automatic enrollment, in time for employers to pursue this option for the 2010 plan year.
	"The use of this seal is not an endorsement by the HR Certification Institute of the quality of the program. It means that this program has met the HR Certification Institute's criteria to be pre-approved for recertification credit."
	Presenters:
	Kenneth A. Mason, Partner - Spencer Fane Britt & Browne LLP Ken, a partner with the firm, heads the Employee Benefits Group. He concentrates on ERISA and other aspects of employee benefits law, including both tax and fiduciary issues, substantial involvement with retirement and welfare plans, executive deferred compensation, federal employment discrimination statutes, and issues unique to governmental and other tax-exempt employers. He clerked for U.S. District Judge Earl E. O'Connor before joining Spencer Fane. Ken is a Past-Chair of both the Employee Benefits Committee of the Kansas City Metropolitan Bar Association and the Employee Benefits Institute of Kansas City. He has been on the faculty of the American Bankers Association National Retirement Trust School and is listed in The Best Lawyers in America. Ken's lecture subjects have included executive deferred compensation, 401(k) nondiscrimination testing, COBRA compliance, benefit plan aspects of the Americans with Disabilities Act, employee leave-sharing programs, and long-term care insurance.
	Robert A. Browning, Partner - Spencer Fane Britt & Browne LLP Robert joined Spencer Fane in January 2008 as a Partner in the Employee Benefits Group. Robert received his juris doctor at the University of Houston Law Center where he was Associate Editor of the Houston Law Review and a member of the Order of the Coif and Order of the Barons. Prior to joining Spencer Fane, Robert was a Shareholder in the Employee Benefits and Executive Compensation Group at Polsinelli Shalton Flanigan Suelthaus PC in Kansas City, Missouri. Prior to 1999, Robert was Senior Counsel in the Law Division of The Variable Annuity Life Insurance Company (VALIC) in Houston, Texas. He began his legal career in 1990 with the law firm of Liddell, Sapp, Zively, Hill & LaBoon in Houston, Texas.