Archived News Release — Caution: Information may be out of date.

St. Louis, Missouri - The U.S. Department of Labor will host a free employer workshop called “Understanding Your Responsibilities under ERISA and USERRA” on November 29 at the Robert A. Young Federal Building, 1222 Spruce Street, Room 2.206 (Auditorium) in St. Louis.

Archived News Release — Caution: Information may be out of date.

Washington - The U.S. Department of Labor's Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA) today released Field Assistance Bulletin (FAB) 2006-02 that provides guidance to field investigators on recurring questions about the guidance in FAB 2004-1 and evolving practices regarding the offering of health savings accounts (HSAs) in the workplace.

Archived News Release — Caution: Information may be out of date.

Chicago, Illinois - The U.S. Department of Labor has obtained a settlement requiring restoration of assets to the BGB Network Inc. Safe Harbor 401(k) Profit Sharing Plan and permanently barring former trustees of the plan, based in Broadview, Illinois, from service to employee benefit plans governed by the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) in the future.

Archived News Release — Caution: Information may be out of date.

San Francisco, California - The U.S. Department of Labor has filed suit in federal district court in San Francisco seeking the appointment of an independent trustee to manage the abandoned retirement plan of NetActive Corp., formerly of San Francisco. The trustee would terminate the plan and distribute its assets to eligible participants.

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Akron, Ohio - The U.S. Department of Labor has sued the owner of Truax Restoration Services, located in Akron, Ohio, for failing to forward employees’ voluntary contributions to the company’s 401(k) plan and to segregate the plan contributions from the company’s general assets.

Archived News Release — Caution: Information may be out of date.

New York, New York - The U.S. Department of Labor has sued the fiduciaries of the Agway Inc. 401(k) plan, in DeWitt, New York, for imprudently investing approximately $50 million of the plan’s assets in the securities of the company, valuing the stock at prices higher than market value, and giving participants false information about the investment.

Archived News Release — Caution: Information may be out of date.

Washington, DC - The U.S. Department of Labor’s Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA) today advised plan practitioners affected by Hurricane Katrina who require additional time to file 2005 Form 5500 series annual returns/reports that they may request an extension of two and one-half months (to December 31, 2006).

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

Cincinnati, Ohio - The U.S. Department of Labor has sued Strategic Decisions Inc. Cincinnati, for failing to administer and terminate the company’s 401(k) plan so that assets could be distributed to plan participants.

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Detroit, Michigan - The U.S. Department of Labor has obtained a default judgment removing the former president of now-defunct Application Technology Group Inc. (ATG), Oakland County, Michigan, as a fiduciary to the ATG 401(k) plan, and permanently barring Kenneth A. Poulos from serving as a plan fiduciary to any Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA)-covered employee benefit plan.

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

Washington, DC - The U.S. Department of Labor’s Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA) today announced the launch of a new interactive Web site to serve as a resource for employers in complying with the various federal health benefit laws. The Health Benefits Advisor is designed to help employers and other plan officials understand their responsibilities in operating group health plans.

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

San Francisco, California - A U.S. District Court judge has approved a default judgment against the trustees of the 401(k) plan of Promatis Corp., a defunct San Ramon, California-based company. The judgment clears the way for distribution of the plan’s assets to four eligible participants.

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

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania - The U.S. Department of Labor has sued now-defunct E.R. Caldwell Land Clearing Contractors Inc. (ERC), Ligonier, Pennsylvania, for alleged misappropriation of funds from the company’s 401(k) profit sharing plan and violations of the federal law that protects private retirement, health and other benefit plans.

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Washington, DC - The three working groups of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act

(ERISA) Advisory Council on Employee Welfare and Pension Benefit Plans will convene by teleconference October 20 to discuss reports and recommendations to be submitted to the Secretary of Labor.

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

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

Boston, Massachusetts - A Stoughton, Massachusetts dentist has restored more than $118,000 in misused assets to the profit sharing plan of the dental practice’s employees, according to a consent judgment and order obtained by the U.S. Department of Labor for alleged violations of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA).

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

Kalamazoo, Michigan - The U.S. Department of Labor has sued M. Jack Fleming and Carol Fleming, trustees of the Merchants Publishing Co. Inc., for failing to forward employee contributions to the company’s 401(k) profit sharing plan, co-mingling plan contributions with the general operating assets of the company, and other violations of federal employee benefits law.

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

Detroit, Michigan - The U.S. Department of Labor has filed a lawsuit in federal district court in Detroit to appoint an independent trustee for the abandoned savings and investment plan of Michigan Pumping Service Inc., Trenton, Michigan. The company ceased doing business in 2003 after being sold to a new owner.

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

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

Washington, DC - U.S. Secretary of Labor Elaine L. Chao today announced a proposed rule to make it easier for fiduciaries of 401(k) plans and other participant-directed defined-contribution plans to adopt automatic enrollment design features. The proposed rule is the first major regulation resulting from the Pension Protection Act signed into law by President Bush on August 17, 2006.

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

Duluth, Minnesota - The U.S. Department of Labor has sued the president of Arrowhead Equipment Company, Duluth, Minnesota, for failing to administer and terminate the company’s employee stock ownership plan so that assets could be distributed to plan participants.