Partner

Sarah Bassler Millar is a partner in the Employee Benefits & Executive Compensation Practice Group. She counsels clients on a range of employee benefits and executive compensation matters, including tax-qualified retirement plans, health and welfare benefits, and nonqualified plans. Sarah’s clients include public and private companies as well as nonprofit entities. She routinely counsels clients regarding the design, implementation and administration of benefit plans to ensure consistency with plan terms and tax code and ERISA requirements. Sarah frequently assists clients in developing strategies related to the impact of health care reform, including retaining or relinquishing grandfathered plan status, assessing the impact of employer shared responsibility provisions, and overall administrative compliance, documentation and implementation. She also advises clients on ERISA’s fiduciary requirements, including current best practices, the impact of new fee disclosure rules, and the application of the plan asset regulations and the scope of the prohibited transaction rules. Sarah has extensive experience assisting clients with the proper classification of contingent workers as independent contractors or employees.

In addition to providing clients with ongoing advice and support for new and continuing benefit plan arrangements, some of Sarah’s representative matters have included:

• Counseled clients regarding the employee benefit implications of mergers, acquisitions, spin-offs, and other corporate transactions and drafted related documentation, including corporate and committee resolutions, retirement and severance plans, and retention arrangements;
• Obtained an individual prohibited transaction exemption on behalf of a retirement plan sponsor;
• Reviewed retirement plan operational errors and assisted in their correction, including through the Employee Plans Compliance Resolution System (EPCRS);
• Conducted training sessions for HR managers and supervisors, as well as business associates, regarding the HIPAA Privacy and Security Rules;
• Assisted a Fortune 500 company with preparations for an IRS audit of their retirement plan; and
• Audited a Fortune 500 company’s classification of contingent workers and prepared related compliance and training materials for managers, supervisors and staff.

In General. Sarah received her law degree from the University of Notre Dame in 2001 where she was an articles editor for the Notre Dame Journal of Law, Ethics, and Public Policy and a White Scholar. Sarah graduated from the University of Notre Dame in 1997 with degrees in the Program of Liberal Studies (PLS) and government and international relations. Sarah is admitted to practice law in Illinois. Sarah has been a member of the board of directors of the Notre Dame Club of Chicago for several years and is currently the second vice president of the club.