July 2, 2019
Board Approval of Erisa-Governed Severance Plans?
– Broc Romanek
Recently, a member asked this in our “Q&A Forum” on TheCorporateCounsel.net (#9860):
Are ERISA-governed severance plans typically approved by a company’s full board or the compensation committee or both? Our compensation committee charter does not specifically address authority relating to benefits plans.
John noted:
I think practice for broad-based ERISA plans varies & there’s not a one-size-fits-all approach. Take a look at Section C of this Wachtell Lipton memo. Even if your committee charter does not expressly extend to ERISA plans, it seems that the full board could opt to delegate those responsibilities to the committee if it desired to do so.