Contracting Thoughts from the Unconflicted Employer Side: How to Protect Yourself—and Stay Protected— when Negotiating with Vendors

Employers often assume that their third-party vendors act in their plans’ best interests when contracting for services. In reality, benefit plan vendors increasingly take great pains to limit their liability and transfer risk to plan sponsors, in-house fiduciaries and plan participants (referenced together as “Plans”). In our latest alert, we explain how Plans can and should push back against these efforts, with specific and actionable suggestions, such as timing original negotiations and properly setting up renewals and future changes. This is the first of several planned alerts on benefits contracting.