Industries with large work forces, such as retail, are particularly well-suited to employee disaster and hardship relief funds. These employers typically have a high proportion of employees with incomes or otherwise earning wages that make them vulnerable to the financial impact of unexpected disasters or hardships. Knowledge […]
Emergency Assistance Foundation, Inc. Blog -
Prepare for Hurricane Season with Employee Emergency Fund
Employers who face regular disasters such as hurricanes should consider what steps they can take to mitigate the impact on employees. The 2012 Atlantic hurricane season, for example, got off to an early start, as the Associated Press reported. Although these tropical storms and hurricanes mainly effect the […]
Employee Relief Funds Cannot Benefit Employers
The IRS scrutinizes whether employee disaster and hardship relief funds impermissibly serve the private interests of sponsoring employers. The prohibition on serving the sponsoring employer’s needs practically means that eligibility for the relief fund cannot be an employee benefit. Those benefits aid employers by making their workplaces […]
Charitable Class is a Core Concept for Relief Funds
A core legal concept for relief funds is likely the charitable class requirement. The Internal Revenue Service states that “[a] charitable organization or trust must be set up for the benefit on indefinite class of individuals, not for specific persons” (emphasis added). This requirement
means that employer-sponsored […]
Charitable Class is a Core Concept for Relief Funds
A core legal concept for relief funds is likely the charitable class requirement. The Internal
Revenue Service states that “[a] charitable organization or trust must be set up for the benefit of
an indefinite class of individuals, not for specific persons” (emphasis added). This requirement
means that employer […]
Unconditional Donations Preserve an Employee Relief Fund’s Charitable Purpose
A core tenet of charitable tax law is that gifts must be unconditional. Since tax-efficient employee disaster and hardship relief funds are typically maintained by independent, 501(c)(3) nonprofit organizations, this means that donations in support of a relief fund must also be unconditional. This framework […]
Relief Fund Alternatives: Public Non-Profit or Contracted Vendor
When establishing a Disaster and Employee Hardship Relief Fund there are regulatory and administrative best practices which fund sponsors should follow. From time to time, a company may desire a program that would not comply with regulations, and so may choose a taxable alternative with fewer regulatory restrictions […]