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Archived News Release--Caution:
information may be out of date.
For more information call: (202) 219-8921
The Pension and Welfare Benefits Administration's ERISA
Enforcement Outreach Program team has received Vice President
Gore's prestigious Hammer Award for reinventing government.
The team's efforts have improved pension plan
administrators' compliance with the reporting and disclosure
requirements of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act
(ERISA). Its efforts also have resulted in reduced penalties paid
by businesses, saving millions of dollars in compliance costs.
"This is the way government should work--preventing problems
before they occur," said PWBA Assistant Secretary Olena Berg,
thanking the team for its efforts and Vice President Gore's
National Performance Review (NPR) for the honor. "This
outstanding educational effort has been well received by plan
sponsors and exemplifies government willingness to help its
customers."
The PWBA Chief Accountant's Office created the innovative
program to educate the employee benefit plan community,
especially professionals servicing small benefit plans, about
ERISA requirements. In partnership with the International
Foundation of Employee Benefit Plans, the team designed and
delivered a series of outreach conferences around the country
that gave pension plan administrators the information they needed
to more readily comply with the law. To date they have
participated in 15 conferences, and all educational sessions have
been widely attended.
The team's efforts have resulted in the following specific
improvements and savings to the government:
-- a decrease of 50 percent in the rate of deficient
filings, at a time when the number of filings has increased by 10
percent;
-- a decrease in the number of filings resulting in monetary
civil penalties; and
-- creation of a permanent delinquent filer Voluntary
Compliance Program to replace PWBA's grace period program.
In the past, the agency used its resources to target,
identify and penalize plan administrators who failed to comply
with ERISA's annual reporting and disclosure requirements.
Given its limited resources and the large number of plans,
the Chief Accountant's Office aimed its education and awareness
program at small benefit and pension plan professionals, the
group that most often filed deficient reports. The team has
encouraged early and accurate compliance with the law through
outreach efforts at the grassroots level and the two programs to
encourage voluntary compliance.
The Hammer Award, a framed $6 hammer with a red, white and
blue ribbon, is the Vice President's answer to the $600 hammer
that once symbolized government bloat. "This one represents
what's right with government," said Mike Urquhart, acting
director of reinvention in the Department of Labor. He added:
"PWBA's efforts have made a major contribution toward creating
common sense government that works better and costs less." It is
the second Hammer Award received by the agency.
PWBA is an agency of 600 employees and is responsible for
enforcement of Title I of ERISA, which protects the integrity of
benefit plans for over 200 million Americans.
Archived News Release--Caution:
information may be out of date.
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