On June 2, 2025, the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) announced a significant expansion of its compliance assistance tools by launching an Opinion Letter Program across five key enforcement agencies, including the Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA). This initiative aims to provide employers, plan sponsors, and other stakeholders with clear, tailored guidance on complex issues
DOL Expands Fiduciary Obligations for Cybersecurity to Health and Welfare Plans
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 welfare plans facing similar risks to participant data.
Last Friday, the DOL’s Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA) issued Compliance Assistance Release
Crypto, SDBAs, and Your 401(k) Plan: What Now?
Just over a month ago, we wrote about the Department of Labor’s guidance on cryptocurrency as a 401(k) investment option, and the landscape has already shifted multiple times.
Fidelity Investments made news on April 26 when it announced its new cryptocurrency-based investment option for 401(k) plans and other investment vehicles. If elected by a plan
DOL Issues Cybersecurity Best Practices for ERISA Covered Retirement Plans
Today, the U.S. Department of Labor’s Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA) issued much anticipated cybersecurity guidance for employee retirement plans. This comes more than four and a half years after the ERISA Advisory Council, a 15-member body appointed by the Secretary of Labor to provide guidance on employee benefit plans, shared with the federal
New Model COBRA Notices and Emergency Extensions to COBRA Deadlines Require Employers to Take Action
The Department of Labor (DOL) and other federal regulators released updates and clarifications related to employee benefits, including updates to model COBRA notices and an extension of certain statutory deadlines intended to minimize the possibility of participants and beneficiaries losing benefits during the COVID-19 pandemic. This article highlights the DOL’s recent changes and updates relating
The Final Regulations For 401(k)/403(b) Hardship Distributions
On September 23, 2019, the Treasury Department and IRS published final regulations for hardship distributions from both 401(k) and 403(b) plans (the “Final Regulations”). Essentially the hardship distributions changes relax the hardship distribution requirements (i.e., making it easier for participants to obtain hardship distributions) and eliminate many burdens following a hardship distribution (i.e., allowing participants
Required Minimum Distributions
The aging of the baby boomer generation has increased the level of scrutiny with which the Department of Labor, Employee Benefits Security Administration (“EBSA”) will review the efforts of pension plans to locate missing plan participants who did not receive reported benefits. The focus of the EBSA which began with a review of the efforts
Changes to Employee Benefit Plans May Create Unforeseen Disclosure Deadlines
Believe it or not, it may be time to distribute a new Summary Plan Description (SPD) to include all changes made since the last issuance or a Summary of Material Modifications (SMM) for any amendments adopted during the 2018 plan year.
The Rules: The Department of Labor (DOL) regulations and Employee Retirement Income Security Act
You’ve Discovered A Mistake in Your Plan Administration – Now What?
Occasionally qualified plan administrators discover that their plans have incurred an operational error. The Internal Revenue Service (“IRS”) recognizes that it needs the help of plan administrators to police the administration of qualified plans and has correspondingly published guidance to help plan administrators take appropriate corrective action where necessary.
IRS Correction Alternatives
The New ERISA Claims and Appeals Regulations for Disability Benefits
The Employee Benefits Security Administration of the U.S. Department of Labor recently published final regulations governing the ERISA claims and appeals process that will apply to all claims for disability benefits filed on or after January 1, 2018. These regulations add procedural safeguards to the claims and appeals process for disability benefits, and largely track