WASHINGTON, DC – The U.S. Departments of Labor, Health and Human Services, and Treasury today announced a final rule that amends the requirements for grandfathered group health plans and grandfathered group health insurance coverage to preserve their grandfather status.

MINNEAPOLIS, MN – After an investigation by the Department of Labor’s Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA), the U.S. District Court for the District of Minnesota issued a consent order and judgment requiring the fiduciaries of Minneapolis, Minnesota-based The Sartell Group Inc. to restore $13,193 to The Sartell Group 401(k) employee retirement benefit plan.

WASHINGTON, DC – The U.S. Department of Labor’s Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA), the IRS and the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC) today released advance informational copies of the 2020 Form 5500 Annual Return/Report and related instructions – including the Form 5500-SF and the IRS released Form 5500-EZ, which now also appears on the EBSA website.

LOS ANGELES, CA – After an investigation by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA) and its Office of Inspector General, the U.S.

WASHINGTON, DC – The U.S. Department of Labor today announced a final rule establishing registration requirements for pooled plan providers. The rule implements the registration requirements for pooled plan providers pursuant to the Setting Every Community Up for Retirement Enhancement Act of 2019 (SECURE Act).

WASHINGTON, DC – The U.S. Department of Labor today announced a final rule that updates and clarifies the Department’s investment duties regulation in 29 CFR 2550.404a-1.

WASHINGTON, DC – Today, the U.S. Department of Labor’s Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA) issued its fiscal year (FY) 2020 enforcement fact sheet highlighting the Agency’s recovery of over $3.1 billion in direct payments to plans, participants and beneficiaries in FY 2020.

ATLANTA, GA – After an investigation by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA), the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Georgia has sentenced Carrie N. Harris – former Chief Financial Officer, Treasurer and Plan Administrator for the Southern Pan Services Employee Stock Ownership Plan (ESOP) – after she made more than $1 million in fraudulent withdrawals from the company’s bank accounts to pay charges to Harris’ and her husband’s personal and business credit cards.

WASHINGTON, DC – The U.S. Department of Labor’s Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA) has released an updated tool to help employers comply with the Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act (MHPAEA) and related requirements under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA).

LOUISVILLE, KY – After an investigation by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA), the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Kentucky has sentenced Candi Fluhr, a former controller in Bullitt County, Kentucky, to 94 months in prison, 36 months of supervised release, and ordered her to pay $838,804 in restitution.

LEXINGTON, KY – After a joint investigation by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA) and the IRS, U.S. District Court Judge Karen K. Caldwell sentenced two Kentucky healthcare companies’ executives to prison and ordered them to pay $1,595,725 in restitution.

NEW YORK, NY – The U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York has ordered the trustees of four benefit plans for United Derrickmen & Riggers Association, Local Union 197, in Long Island City, New York, to restore $475,000 to the plans, pay a $95,000 penalty to the U.S. Department of Labor and take other corrective actions to resolve violations of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA).

LOUISVILLE, KY – After an investigation by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA), the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Kentucky entered a consent order and judgment against the Kentucky Bankers Association (KBA), Participating Employer Committee (PEC), Association Healthcare Consortium Inc., and the current and former trustees of the Kentucky Bankers Association Health and Welfare Benefit Program and the KBA Benefits Trust holding them jointly and severally liable to pay $1,561,818 in losses to the Trust.

CLEVELAND, OH – The U.S. Department of Labor has obtained a consent order and judgment requiring the International Association of Sheet Metal, Air, Rail and Transportation Workers (SMART) Union and the current trustees of the SMART Group Voluntary Short Term Disability Plan (SMART VSTD Plan) to restore $6,545,454 to the Plan.

LEXINGTON, KY – After an investigation by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA), the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Kentucky has sentenced Aaron Jamison – founder, owner and president of Micah Group LLC and Micah Group Environmental Contractors Inc.

WASHINGTON, DC – The U.S. Department of Labor today made available a proposed rule that would address the application of the prudence and exclusive purpose duties under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) with respect to proxy voting and exercises of other shareholder rights. The proposed rule amends the Department’s longstanding “Investment duties” regulation at 29 CFR 2550.404a-1.

LOS ANGELES, CA – The U.S. District Court for the Central District of California has sentenced Mahyar David Yadidi – a San Pedro, California, chiropractor – to prison and ordered him to make restitution for defrauding the International Longshore and Warehouse Union-Pacific Maritime Association (ILWU-PMA) Welfare Plan. The court’s action follows an investigation by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA) and Office of Inspector General (OIG).

COLUMBUS, OH – The U.S. Department of Labor has obtained a default judgment requiring Robert Walton, Jr. – CEO of Hadsell Chemical Processing – to restore $65,842 to the Hadsell Chemical Processing Simple IRA Plan after the Department’s Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA) found that Walton, as plan fiduciary, violated the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA).

HARTFORD, CT – The U.S. District Court for the District of Connecticut has approved a consent order and judgment requiring fiduciaries Executive Printing of Darien LLC, Chapin Packaging LLC and John Trask Pfeifle to restore $17,352.83 to the Darien, Connecticut, companies’ 401(k) retirement benefits plan.

WASHINGTON, DC – The U.S. Department of Labor today announced a notice of proposed rulemaking on pooled plan provider registration requirements. The proposal seeks to implement the registration requirements for “pooled plan providers” pursuant to the Setting Every Community Up for Retirement Enhancement (SECURE) Act of 2019.