William S. Carter

Overview

Bill Carter helps employers in the design, implementation, and administration of employee benefits and executive compensation plans needed to attract and retain talent. Offering competitive benefits in a cost-effective manner can be challenging in the heavily regulated sphere of employee benefits and executive compensation. Bill recognizes the complex regulations may prove a trap for even the most diligent of employers, and he takes great satisfaction in helping employers arrive at benefit solutions that fit their needs within the existing regulatory scheme.

Bill has over five years of experience representing employers of all sizes, governmental, public, and private, in a variety of circumstances, including qualified, nonqualified, and welfare benefit plan drafting; preparing amendments and employee communications; and identifying correcting potential issues in an employers’ benefit plans. He has assisted employers in resolving potential issues in their non-qualified deferred compensation plans under sections 457 and 409A of the Internal Revenue Code and routinely represents employers before the Internal Revenue Service and Department of Labor. Recognizing that an ounce of prevention is often worth a pound of the cure, he also assists employers in implementing processes for proper administration of their plans, including fiduciary processes and Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) privacy policies, procedures, and training.

Representative Matters

• Develop HIPAA training modules for use at an educational institution that is subject as a provider to both the Family Education Rights and Privacy Act and HIPAA privacy.
• Represent employers before the IRS in matters involving tax-qualified plans, including determination letter requests, top hat plan filings, Qualified Separate Lines of Business (QSLOB) notices, Employee Plans Compliance Resolution System (EPCRS) corrections, and plan audits.
• Advises and assists employers in meeting their employee benefit plan compliance obligations, including Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) implementation, HIPAA privacy and security, COBRA obligations, Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) fiduciary duties, nondiscrimination testing, and qualification requirements for 140(a), 401(k), and 403(b) plans.
• Advises and assists employers in executive compensation matters, including the drafting of 409A-compliant nonqualified deferred compensation arrangements.
• Consults with clients on income tax and payroll tax reporting and withholding obligations in connection with employee benefit plans and fringe benefits.