WASHINGTON, DC – The U.S. Department of Labor’s Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA) today announced an interim final rule that will help workers determine their ability to retire by allowing them to estimate how their current savings in a 401(k)-type plan might translate into lifetime monthly payments.

The rule implements section 203 of the Setting Every Community Up for Retirement Enhancement (SECURE) Act of 2019.

SAN FRANCISCO, CA – The U.S. District Court of Nevada has ordered Sin City Investment Group Inc. – operating as American Leak Detection of Southern Nevada – and its president Leland Keith Ozawa to pay $51,434 for missing employee contributions and associated lost interest owed to non-fiduciary participants of the American Leak Detection SIMPLE IRA Plan.

NEW YORK, NY – The U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York has sentenced John Ulrich – former vice president of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, Local 812 and former trustee of the Local 812 Health Fund – to 18 months in jail for soliciting bribe payments in violation of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA).

MCLEAN, VA – The U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia has approved a default judgment that requires Mahan Consulting Group LLC and its president and owner Shaun Marzett to restore $21,880 to the 401(k), health and welfare benefit plans of the now defunct consulting company in McLean, Virginia.

BRIDGEPORT, CT – The U.S. District Court for the District of Connecticut has approved a consent judgment and order requiring Bridgeport Health Care Center Inc. (BHCC) – the operating entity of two former Bridgeport nursing homes – and former officer Chaim Stern, to pay a total of $3,366,957 to BHCC’s health and retirement plans to resolve violations of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA).

CLEVELAND, OH – The U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Ohio has issued a preliminary injunction enjoining the Fleet Owners Insurance Fund from paying or advancing attorneys’ fees to any of the defendants in a U.S. Department of Labor Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA) enforcement case.

WASHINGTON, DC – The U.S. Department of Labor today announced the appointment of five members and leadership for the 2020 Advisory Council on Employee Welfare and Pension Benefit Plans, also known as the ERISA Advisory Council. The 15-member council provides advice on policies and regulations affecting employee benefit plans governed by the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA).

WASHINGON, DC – The U.S. Departments of Labor, Health and Human Services, and the Treasury today issued a proposed rule to amend the requirements for grandfathered group health plans and grandfathered group health insurance coverage to preserve their grandfather status.

WASHINGTON, DC – The U.S. Department of Labor today announced that it is proposing a new exemption for investment advice fiduciaries. The Department’s actions today will benefit American workers and retirees by delivering more choices for their financial future with clear standards to be upheld by investment advice providers. The proposed exemption will be published in the Federal Register for notice and comment in the near future. 

WASHINGTON, DC – The U.S. Department of Labor today announced a proposed rule that would update and clarify the Department of Labor’s investment duties regulation. The rule is intended to provide clear regulatory guideposts for plan fiduciaries in light of recent trends involving environmental, social and governance (ESG) investing.

WASHINGON, DC – The U.S. Department of Labor’s Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA) today released a proposed Self-Compliance Tool intended to help improve compliance with the Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act (MHPAEA) and additional related requirements under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA).

WASHINGTON, DC – The U.S. Department of Labor has announced a Request for Information (RFI) on Prohibited Transactions involving Pooled Employer Plans (PEPs) under the Setting Every Community Up for Retirement Enhancement (SECURE) Act and other multiple employer plans.

SAN FRANCISCO, CA – The U.S. District Court for the District of Nevada has approved a default judgment against the now-defunct company Kizzang LLC and its president Robert Alexander, that requires them to pay $99,807 to former employees and their beneficiaries for violations of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) related to their employee health and welfare plan. 

WASHINGTON, DC – The U.S. Department of Labor today issued an Information Letter under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) concerning private equity investments as a component of a professionally managed asset allocation fund offered as an investment option for participants in defined contribution plans. 

BRAZIL, IN – After an investigation by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA), Clay County, Indiana, Circuit Court Judge Robert Pell has sentenced Larry Morse – the owner of Western Indiana Logistics Inc. in Brazil, Indiana – to a suspended term of 180 days incarceration and 180 days probation.

Morse pleaded guilty to one misdemeanor count of deception.

DES MOINES, IA – The U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Iowa has issued a consent order and judgment requiring the fiduciaries of the Shinn 401(k) Retirement Plan to restore $35,032 to the Eddyville, Iowa-based Ben Shinn Trucking Inc.’s employee benefit plan.

SPARKS, MD – The U.S. Department of Labor has reached a settlement agreement with the board of trustees of the Food Employers Labor Relations Association (FELRA) and United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW) Voluntary Employees’ Beneficiary Association (VEBA) Fund, a multi-employer welfare benefit fund. The agreement requires the trustees of the Sparks, Maryland-based fund to pay $431,818 in previously denied severance benefits to 32 former employees of SuperFresh grocery stores. 

WASHINGTON, DC –The U.S. Department of Labor today announced publication of a final rule that expands the ability of private sector employers to communicate retirement plan information online or by email. The rule allows employers to deliver disclosures to plan participants primarily electronically, which will reduce printing, mailing, and related plan costs by an estimated $3.2 billion over the next decade.

ATLANTA, GA – The U.S. Department of Labor has filed suit against Advance Benefits Management Systems USA Inc. (ABMS), its founder and CEO C. Kenneth Johnson, and company President Randy Wright. In the suit, filed in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Georgia, the department asks the court to appoint an independent fiduciary to employee healthcare plans previously administered by ABMS, direct the independent fiduciary to marshal the plans’ assets, obtain insurance reimbursement and pay over $7,000,000 in unpaid claims.

WASHINGTON, DC – The U.S. Department of Labor’s Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA) today issued Frequently Asked Questions under the Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act (COBRA) and revised COBRA model notices.