MILTON, WV – The U.S. Department of Labor obtained a consent judgment and order in federal court requiring the trustees of coal producer Blackjewel LLC’s 401(k) plan to pay $637,014 in equitable restitution after an investigation found they violated fiduciary duties under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974.

WASHINGTON – The U.S. Department of Labor’s Employee Benefits Security Administration today announced that it is amending its Procedures Governing the Filing and Processing of Prohibited Transaction Exemption Applications. 

WASHINGTON – The U.S. Department of Labor announced today that its Employee Benefits Security Administration, the Department of the Treasury, the IRS and the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corp.

WASHINGTON – The U.S. Department of Labor announced today that its Employee Benefits Security Administration released a proposed regulation on automatic portability transactions under SECURE 2.0 Act of 2022. The goal of automatic portability transactions is to help workers keep track of their retirement savings accounts and improve retirement security by reducing cash-outs when they change jobs.

WASHINGTON – The U.S. Department of Labor announced today that its Employee Benefits Security Administration has issued guidance to improve retirement security through pension-linked emergency savings accounts, part of the implementation of the SECURE 2.0 Act of 2022.

Date of Action:          January 8, 2024

Type of Action:         Complaint

Company:                  iProcess Online Inc. and Chief Operating Officer and Human Resources Director Michelle Leach-Bard 

Date of Action:          Jan. 8, 2024

Type of Action:         Complaint

Defendants:               Jones Dykstra and Associates Inc.

WASHINGTON – The U.S.

WASHINGTON – The U.S. Department of Labor today announced a proposal by its Employee Benefits Security Administration intended to support critical health care protections for consumers by rescinding its 2018 rule, “Definition of Employer – Association Health Plans.” 

WASHINGTON – The U.S.

WASHINGTON – The U.S. Department of Labor’s Employee Benefits Security Administration, the IRS and the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corp. today released informational copies of the 2023 Form 5500, Form 5500-SF, IRS Form 5500-EZ, IRS Form 5558 and their related instructions online. 

WASHINGTON – The U.S. Department of Labor announced today that its Employee Benefits Security Administration will hold an online hearing beginning Dec. 12 on the agency’s Notice of Proposed Rulemaking, “Retirement Security Rule: Definition of an Investment Advice Fiduciary,” and related proposed prohibited transaction exemption amendments, published in the Federal Register on Nov. 3, 2023.

Date of Action:          Nov. 1, 2023

Type of Action:         Employee Retirement Income Security Act default judgment

Company/Owners:    Claddagh Development Group LLC, operating as Claddagh Irish Pubs

Claddagh Development Group LLC Employee Savings Trust

WASHINGTON – The U.S. Department of Labor today announced that its Employee Benefits Security Administration has proposed a retirement security rule updating the definition of an investment advice fiduciary under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act.

Date of Action:          Oct. 26, 2023

 Type of Action:         Employee Retirement Income Security Act default judgment

Company/Owners:    Associated Community Services Inc. 

NEW YORK – The U.S. Department of Labor has entered into a settlement agreement with EmblemHealth Inc., a New York-based insurer and third-party administrator of employment-based group health plans governed by the Employee Retirement Income Security Act, resolving claims that Emblem breached its fiduciary duties under federal law by engaging in a practice known as “cross-plan offsetting.”

WASHINGTON – The U.S. Department of Labor today announced a settlement with United of Omaha Life Insurance Co. that requires the company to revise how it administers its requirement that participants in employer-sponsored life insurance plans provide proof of good health — referred to as evidence of insurability — before obtaining coverage in certain instances. 

Date of action: September 28, 2023

Type of action: Employee Retirement Income Security Act consent order and judgment 

Names of defendants:           Sypris Solutions Inc. and

CHICAGO – A Chicago food service provider for major airlines has agreed to reimburse $134,222 to participants in the company’s employee health plan after federal investigators found the employer improperly charged employees deductibles for certain diagnostic tests and wrongly imposed tobacco surcharges.

PHOENIX – The U.S. Department of Labor has recovered $22.5 million from an employee stock ownership plan’s former trustee, Reliance Trust Company for the plan’s overpayment for a recreational vehicle rental company’s stock, after obtaining approval of a consent judgment in the U.S. District Court for Arizona on Aug. 30, 2023.