To further assist employees affected by Hurricane Sandy, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) has announced that it is easing procedural and administrative rules to allow 401(k)s and similar employer-sponsored retirement plans to more readily make loans and hardship distributions to employees and their family members who live or work in a designated disaster area. Ordinarily, laws regarding qualified employer plans impose a number of restrictions on providing loans and distributions from those plans. For example, a pension plan hardship distribution is generally included in an employee’s gross income and subject to a 10% early withdrawal tax. As more fully discussed in IRS Announcement 2012-44, (pdf) the agency is relaxing these rules in order to make emergency funds more accessible to storm victims. Continue reading this entry at Littler's Employee Benefits Counsel.