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The Department of Labor's Pension and Welfare Benefits Administration (PWBA) today announced the appointment of Daniel J. Maguire as director of the newly created Office of Health Plan Standards and Compliance Assistance.

Archived News Release — Caution: Information may be out of date.

The U.S. Department of Labor has obtained a settlement with officials of the Rolling Meadows, Ill. accounting and auditing firm of Whitfield and Reninger, Ltd., requiring them to restore $20,406 in principal and interest to two profit sharing plan participants and to pay $4,081 in civil monetary penalties.

Archived News Release — Caution: Information may be out of date.

The Labor Department’s Pension and Welfare Benefits Administration today published a notice of proposed rulemaking to improve the security of more than $300 billion in assets held in private-sector pension plans maintained by small businesses.

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The U. S. Department of Labor’s Pension and Welfare Benefits Administration (PWBA) today proposed an amendment to an existing class exemption which would allow plans to receive interest free loans and extensions of credit from related parties to pay for unanticipated Y2K computer problems. Since 1998, PWBA has been providing guidance to the plan community in an effort to help them prepare for their Y2K contingency planning.

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The U.S. Labor Department has obtained a partial settlement in its case involving an Anniston, Ala. non-profit corporation’s 401(k) profit sharing plan.

The action will result in $9,000 being recouped for the plan and will resolve a restitution issue concerning employee contributions of $8,331.82 not remitted to the plan for the period of April 30, 1997 to June 30, 1997, as well as interest which would have accrued.

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The U. S. Department of Labor has sued the trustees of the John E. Healy & Sons Pension Plan of New Castle, Del. for making over $450,000 in improper loans with plan money.

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An executive of Columbus, Ohio-based Buckeye Technical Services, Inc. pleaded guilty to one count of embezzling $3,241 from the company’s 401(k) plan, according to documents filed in federal court today.

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The U.S. Department of Labor has sued a Florida pension plan official for deducting but not forwarding $84,521 from employees’ paychecks to the company-sponsored 401(k) savings and investment plan.

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Today the U.S. Department of Labor is proposing rules that would implement provisions of the Child Support Performance and Incentive Act of 1998 that are intended to help children gain access to coverage under their noncustodial parents’ employer-based group health plans.

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The U.S. Department of Labor’s Pension and Welfare Benefits Administration and Internal Revenue Service today extended the deadline for filing annual returns/reports (Form 5500 series) due to Hurricanes Floyd and Irene.

The extension applies to employee benefit plans, banks and insurance companies located in the counties designated by the Federal Emergency Management Agency as federal disaster areas because of the hurricanes.

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The U. S. Department of Labor has obtained a consent order requiring the Seafarers International Union of Puerto Rico, the Carribbean and Latin America to repay $374,729, plus interest, to its welfare plan as repayment for improperly retained employer contributions owed to the welfare plan.

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The U. S. Department of Labor’s ERISA Section 3(40) Negotiated Rulemaking Advisory Committee will hold public meetings on November 16 and 17 to continue discussions on developing a proposed rule on whether an employee benefit plan is established or maintained under a collective bargaining agreement.

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The U. S. Department of Labor has sued Albuquerque, N.M.-based Reams Communications, Inc. doing business as ValuLine Long Distance, and its officials for a series of prohibited transactions that have reduced the value of the company-sponsored employee stock ownership plan (ESOP).

The ESOP was established by Reams Communications in January 1, 1992. It had 102 participants and $1,093,631 in assets as of Dec. 31, 1995.

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A New Mexico State Court ordered Albuquerque-based R.B. French Fire & Sound, Inc. to pay restitution of employee contributions which the company failed to remit to the company’s 401(k) account and serve 18 months probation.

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Thomas Buchanan, William Buchanan, and John Buchanan, trustees of the Northern-Minnesota Wisconsin Area Health Care Retirement Plans for union and non-union employees of Donjer, Inc. and Buchanan Nursing Home, Inc. (BNH) in Duluth, Minn., were ordered to terminate the plans and make distribution of plan assets to plan participants under a consent order and judgment reached with the U.S. Department of Labor.

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The owners of Team Tooling, Inc. in Fond du Lac, Wis., were ordered to make restitution to the plan for failure to remit voluntary employee contributions to the company’s retirement plan and were permanently barred from serving in positions of trust to any plan governed by federal pension law, as part of a consent order and judgment obtained by the U.S. Department of Labor.

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Archived News Release — Caution: Information may be out of date.

Georgian Art Lighting Designs, Inc. of Lawrenceville, Ga., and its owner have been sued by the U. S. Department of Labor for failing to deposit $48,988 of employee contributions into the company’s 401(k) plans and medical plan accounts.

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The Secretary of Labor’s Advisory Committee on Employee Welfare and Pension Benefit Plans will hold meetings for its three working groups on Oct. 5 and 6. All sessions will be held in Room N3437 A-B at the Department of Labor’s Frances Perkins Building at 200 Constitution Avenue NW, Washington, DC.

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The U. S. Department of Labor’s ERISA Section 3(40) Negotiated Rulemaking Advisory Committee will hold public meetings on October 13 and 14 to continue its discussion of the process and criteria to be used in developing a proposed rule on whether an employee benefit plan is established or maintained under a collective bargaining agreement.