Benefits — North Carolina

Employers have much discretion in the types of compensation offered to employees. Employee benefits are forms of compensation that generally take one of two forms: deferred compensation or goods and services other than deferred compensation.

• Deferred compensation is compensation that is paid after the otherwise applicable pay date, usually a later tax year and sometimes conditioned on an event that will occur later such as retirement. Examples of deferred compensation include pension, profit-sharing plans (401(k) plans) and stock bonus plans.

• Goods and services other than deferred compensation include insurance coverage for sickness, disability, death (whether provided by a third party or funded by the employer), bonuses and tuition assistance.

In all cases, employers must comply with all federal and state laws that apply to the benefits in question.

Employee benefits primarily are governed by the federal Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) and certain provisions of the Internal Revenue Code (IRC), the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) and the Affordable Care Act (ACA) along with certain provisions of the discrimination laws discussed earlier.

Employee...

To read the full chapter, Subscribe here or Sign In
Please call us at (312) 960-9400 if this is an error or if you have any questions.