DE Under 3: New WIR Reporter; Nomination for New EEOC General Counsel; ODEP “Disability & the Digital Divide” Report
PODCAST: Williams Mullen's Benefits Companion - Missing Plan Participants
by Becky Achten New guidance from the Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA) affirms that both sides—retirement plans and welfare plans—must take steps to secure participant data from cybercrime. In 2021 the...more
A little more than three years ago, the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) posted cybersecurity guidance on its website for ERISA plan fiduciaries. That guidance extended only to ERISA-covered retirement plans, despite health and...more
Sponsors of defined-benefit pension plans contemplating taking steps to de-risk their plans should consider recent guidance from the U.S. Department of Labor’s (DOL) Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA) on pension...more
All qualified retirement plans are subject to a myriad of requirements of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974, as amended (ERISA). The United States Department of Labor (DOL) is charged with enforcing the...more
Since their establishment in 1974, Employee Stock Ownership Plans (“ESOPs”) have become a popular and effective mechanism for private companies (both C corporations and S corporations) to provide employees an opportunity to...more
The U.S. Department of Labor (DOL)’s Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA) has issued a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking that would rescind a 2018 DOL rule entitled “Definition of Employee – Association Health Plans,”...more
The U.S. Department of Labor (“DOL”) recently entered into a settlement agreement with a New York-based insurer and third-party administrator (“Company”) of employer group health plans governed by the Employee Retirement...more
It looks like we may see a new fiduciary proposal this August, said the Department of Labor (DOL) in its Spring Regulatory Agenda. As Yogi Berra would say: “It’s de ja vu all over again.”...more
Today marks the end of the COVID-19 public health emergency that first began on March 13, 2020. The end of the public health emergency has a wide range of implications for employer sponsored benefit plans. This alert...more
On January 30, President Biden announced his intention to end the COVID-19 National Emergency (NE) and Public Health Emergency (PHE) effective May 11, 2023. Both emergency declarations resulted in various forms of relief for...more
The Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA) of the US Department of Labor (DOL) has continued to be active in civil and criminal enforcement investigations of ERISA’s fiduciary duties. This blog post details two...more
On November 21, 2022, the US Department of Labor’s (DOL) Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA) released a proposed amendment and restatement of the Voluntary Fiduciary Correction Program (VFCP), along with a...more
The Department of Labor’s Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA) proposed updates to their Voluntary Fiduciary Compliance Program (VFCP), which would allow a self-correction component. The EBSA proposal includes a...more
Parties involved in a Department of Labor (“DOL”) Employee Benefits Security Administration (“EBSA”) investigation often ask a simple question: how much information am I obligated to provide the DOL in response to an...more
In the movie Casino, Robert DeNiro as Sam Rothstein wanted to take on the Nevada Gaming Board after they denied his request for his license. Andy Stone, a Teamster controlled by the Mafia and played by Alan King told him it...more
Fidelity Investments recently announced it is making a Bitcoin account available as an investment option for 401(k) plans, fueling a debate about cryptocurrencies and fiduciary responsibilities under ERISA. In what might...more
A recent release by the DOL raising concerns about plan sponsors allowing cryptocurrency investments in 401(k) plans has gotten the attention of both sides of the Congressional aisle as well as industry groups. Some of the...more
Among the many phrases of ERISA, one that is familiar to investment fiduciaries is the requirement to choose investments with the care, skill, prudence, and diligence that a prudent person who is familiar with such matters...more
While some employees and retirees have been asking to have cryptocurrencies included in their 401(k) retirement plans, federal authorities recently issued a strong and direct warning that such a plan might run afoul of...more
The Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA) of the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) on Feb. 14, 2022, issued a Request for Information (RFI) to gather input regarding the protection of pensions and retirement savings...more
Section 202 of Title II of Division BB of the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021 (“CAA”) added new ERISA Section 408(b)(2)(B) to be effective as of December 27, 2021. The new section requires persons who provide...more
At the end of each fiscal year, the US Department of Labor’s (DOL’s) Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA) compiles the monetary results it obtained through various initiatives meant to ensure compliance with the...more
Shortly after the U.S. Department of Labor’s (DOL) Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA) issued its cybersecurity guidance for employee retirement plans and updated its audit inquiries to include compliance with...more
On October 13, 2021, the Department of Labor (DOL) released a new proposed regulation under ERISA that would replace the previous administration’s “pecuniary factors” rule – which is widely viewed as discouraging the use of...more
Some birds aren’t mean to be caged (a line from The Shawshank Redemption) and some attorneys weren’t meant to be law firm associates. 3 years working for two law firms was 3 years too long....more