Overview
When it comes to navigating employee benefits compliance, Rebecca transforms complex regulatory challenges into practical business solutions. She understands the everyday challenges employers face when managing benefit programs and provides counsel that balances legal requirements with business realities.
Chair of the firm's Employee Benefits, Executive Compensation & Tax Service Group, Rebecca brings valuable perspective from her experience as in-house counsel for employee benefits technology companies. She has worked directly with plan sponsors across multiple industries including technology, financial services, healthcare, construction, retail, and manufacturing.
Rebecca counsels employers on health and welfare plans, retirement plans, executive compensation arrangements, deferred compensation plans, equity compensation structures, health reimbursement arrangements (HRAs), flexible spending arrangements (FSAs), health savings accounts (HSAs), and cafeteria plans. She advises on ERISA compliance, ACA requirements, HIPAA privacy issues, and tax implications of benefit offerings.
Rebecca's experience overseeing human resources functions at a technology company gives her insight into the operational challenges employers face with benefit administration, workforce management across multiple states, and employee communications. This background enables her to provide counsel that addresses both legal requirements and practical implementation concerns.
She represents employers during government audits by the IRS, state taxing authorities, and U.S. Department of Labor and assists with benefit and compensation considerations in mergers and acquisitions.
Experience
Employee Benefit Plan Design and Compliance
- Designed unique structure for specialty HRA and lifestyle account products that increased client sales revenue by 20 percent
- Counseled Fortune 500 companies and enterprise-level clients across financial services, technology, healthcare, retail, and manufacturing industries on complex employee benefit plan design and compliance matters
- Developed compliant employee benefit plan designs for medical travel assistance following the U.S. Supreme Court Dobbs decision, working directly with Fortune 500 companies and major enterprise clients across technology, retail, financial services, and professional services sectors
- Led employee benefit product design strategy that increased contribution margins by 700 percent through compliance redesign, minimizing disruption to employer and employee relationships while maintaining regulatory requirements
Government Audit Defense and Compliance
- Successfully represented clients in numerous U.S. Department of Labor and IRS audits involving employee benefit plan compliance and tax matters
- Procured favorable resolutions in multiemployer pension and welfare fund audits and related litigation proceedings
- Defended employers in state and federal agency proceedings involving wage and hour compliance, unemployment taxes, and employee classification issues
Executive Compensation and Equity Arrangements
- Designed and administered complex equity compensation arrangements for technology companies with 100 percent remote workforce spanning 38 states and international locations
- Counseled employers on complex executive compensation structures, including equity-based compensation arrangements, change in control provisions, golden parachute payments, severance agreements, and deferred compensation plans across multi-state and international workforce environments
- Advised plan sponsors on ERISA prohibited transaction issues involving equity compensation plans, including exemption analysis, party-in-interest determinations, and structuring transactions to avoid fiduciary conflicts in employee stock ownership and benefit plan investments
- Provided comprehensive stock option plan administration guidance, including plan design, grant management, vesting schedules, exercise procedures, and regulatory compliance with federal and state securities laws for public and private companies
Fintech and Payment System Compliance
- Collaborated with engineering teams from Google, CashApp, Square, Uber, Tesla, and Hulu to develop software code logic complying with ERISA-prohibited transaction rules and payment system regulations
- Worked directly with company founders and heads of engineering to design compliance frameworks for closed-loop payment systems serving as third-party administrators
- Developed compliance strategies for corporate credit card structures intersecting with health debit card regulations and IIAS payment systems
Employment Law and Workforce Management
- Oversaw compliance for reduction in force proceedings involving sophisticated equity compensation and multi-state employment law considerations
- Managed employment law compliance for 100 percent remote workforce across 38 states plus international employees in Canada and the UAE
- Procured dismissal of class action lawsuit with zero settlement after establishing plaintiff's breach of employment agreement
- Successfully defended non-compete litigation in federal court by demonstrating agreement violations of Wisconsin Uniform Trade Secrets Act
Membership & Involvement
- Co-chair: Amundsen Davis Committee for Diversity, Equity & Inclusion
- Member: Illinois State Bar Association; State Bar of Wisconsin; National Society of Human Resource Management; Employers Council on Flexible Compensation
- Past President: Illinois Fox Valley Society of Human Resource
Honors
- Selected to the Illinois Super Lawyers list of “Rising Stars”: 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017
Resources & Insights
Alerts
Speaking Engagements
Published Works
Blog Posts
Education on Demand
This webcast will provide a high-level overview of traditional and non-traditional ways to structure bonus awards, equity compensation, and other benefits. Rebecca Bush & Kelly Haab-Tallitsch will cover practical considerations on how these structures can be executed in a way to minimize tax burdens as well as key compliance concerns to keep in mind during the design process.
Join Rebecca Bush and Kelly Haab-Tallitsch as they discuss the latest trends in employee benefits and executive compensation and how to properly structure benefit plans for your employees.
Join us as we present a timely webcast for employers, discussing the rising cost of healthcare benefits. We will share ideas about what you can do to manage costs, stay competitive, and keep compliant. We also have tips and reminders for open enrollment season.
The Biden Administration’s tax policy and proposed revisions will impose dramatic changes on how we manage compensation and individual taxes.
Firm News
- Rebecca Bush Joins Amundsen Davis as Lead of Employee Benefits, Executive Compensation & Tax Service Group
Rebecca Bush Joins Amundsen Davis as Lead of Employee Benefits, Executive Compensation & Tax Service GroupWe are excited to announce that Rebecca Bush has joined us as a partner and leader of the firm’s new Employee Benefits, Executive Compensation & Tax Service Group in our Milwaukee office.
- Breakfast Briefing Series - Today’s Remote Workforce: Offering Remote Work and Managing Multi-State Remote Workers
Breakfast Briefing Series - Today’s Remote Workforce: Offering Remote Work and Managing Multi-State Remote WorkersRemote work has become a permanent feature of the modern workplace, expanding workforces beyond physical office locations and increasing workday flexibility for teams in most industries. Despite the benefits, remote work complicates management and legal compliance, especially when employees span multiple states, each with its own set of labor and employment laws and regulations.
Join Labor, Employment, & Immigration Partners Rebecca Bush and Peter Hansen for a timely discussion on managing today's remote workforce, including multi-state team members, while staying compliant with national and state law.
- Breakfast Briefing Series - Beyond Sweat Equity: Modern Compensation Strategies for Enhanced Engagement & Retention
Breakfast Briefing Series - Beyond Sweat Equity: Modern Compensation Strategies for Enhanced Engagement & RetentionWebcast: Beyond Sweat Equity: Modern Compensation Strategies for Enhanced Engagement & Retention
Wednesday, Apr 16, 2025 at 08:30 AM
- Amundsen Davis's Tenth Annual Labor & Employment Fall Seminar
Amundsen Davis's Tenth Annual Labor & Employment Fall SeminarJoin us Wednesday, September 4 for our Tenth Annual Labor & Employment Fall Seminar. This event will be livestreamed from our Chicago office.
Education
Northern Illinois University College of Law, J.D., 2006, magna cum laude
Northern Illinois University, B.S., 2000
Admissions
- Illinois
- Wisconsin