Emily D. Zimmer

Emily counsels clients on a wide range of employee benefit and executive compensation issues, including issues related to corporate mergers and acquisitions. She routinely advises on the design, implementation, and administration of qualified and nonqualified retirement plans and welfare benefit programs, including wellness programs, health care accounts such as HRAs, Health FSAs and HSAs, adoption reimbursement programs, and educational assistance programs. Emily also provides compliance advice, including with respect to reporting and disclosure requirements, ACA compliance obligations, COBRA benefit continuation rights, and HIPAA portability, nondiscrimination, privacy, and security issues.

Emily assists clients across diverse industries with a particular emphasis on financial services, energy, higher education, and health care. Her work with higher education institutions has included assisting clients with unique issues presented under the ACA’s employer mandate, including with respect to student employees. Emily also helps clients in the health care industry navigate complex benefit plan issues arising due to the client’s status as both an employer and a provider, including unique provider/plan contracting and fiduciary duty issues and HIPAA privacy and security considerations given HIPAA’s impacts on both the client and the client’s group health plans as different types of covered entities.

• Represented Renna Partners, LLC in its acquisition by a private equity-backed technology advisory services firm.
• Advised a health care industry client with cutting-edge wellness questions and HIPAA privacy and security considerations in cases where providers are seeking to use their own plan data in research and population health initiatives.
• Drafted wrap plan document restatement, wrap SPD, and cafeteria plan document restatement to ensure current compliance with ERISA and Internal Revenue Code requirements applicable to health and welfare plans.
• Reviewed IRS Forms 1094-C and 1095-C to verify accuracy of codes used to satisfy ACA reporting obligations of applicable large employers and employers with self-insured health plans.
• Conducted a large-scale internal benefits compliance audit of client’s 401(k) plan and health and welfare plans, resulting in final report describing how to fill compliance gaps and identifying necessary improvements in compliance protocols.
• Counseled client with respect to the interpretation, amendment and administration of qualified retirement plans, including completion of IRS determination letter applications.
• Identified and assisted in correction of plan administration errors and prepared related application under the IRS voluntary correction program for tax-qualified plans (Employee Plans Compliance Resolution System).
• Advised client regarding the applicability of deferred compensation requirements under Section 409A of the Internal Revenue Code as to various nonqualified deferred compensation arrangements.
• Assisted city department of public works in establishment of a Voluntary Employees’ Beneficiary Association to fund retiree medical costs.
• Reviewed participant communications as part of annual open enrollment for client’s nonqualified deferred compensation plan.

• Legal 500 United States: Labor and Employment: Employee Benefits, Executive Compensation and Retirement Plans: Design (2024)
• Chambers USA: Employee Benefits and Executive Compensation, North Carolina (2021-2025)
• Best Lawyers in America®: Employee Benefits (ERISA) Law (2023-2026)