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Washington, DC - The U.S. Department of Labor today expanded and simplified its Voluntary Fiduciary Correction Program (VFCP) that helps employers and their professional advisors voluntarily correct violations of the law for employee benefit plans. The new program is effective immediately and will be available during the comment period.

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Bronx, New York - The U.S. Department of Labor has obtained a consent judgment requiring that the United Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners of America Local 2682, Bronx, New York, pay $431,000 to the local’s benefit plans. The department sued the plan trustees for using plan assets to pay unreasonable expenses for services allegedly provided to the plans.

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Coeur D'Alene, Idaho - The U.S. Department of Labor has filed an adversary complaint in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Idaho here to recover over $94,000 owed to the employee stock ownership plan and trust of defunct Alpha Health Services Inc., Post Falls.

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Archived News Release — Caution: Information may be out of date.

Whitefield, New Hampshire - "Healthy, Wealthy and Wise?," a free half-day conference to help northern New Hampshire women identify and secure their health, pension and workplace rights, will be held Wednesday, May 18 from 8:30 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. at the Mountain View Grand Resort, Mountain View Rd., Whitefield, New Hampshire.

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Atlanta, Georgia - The U.S. Department of Labor has sued defunct Omegasys Inc., Tucker, Georgia, and its CEO for failing to forward and timely remit to the company’s 401(k) plan $79,407.80 in contributions withheld from workers’ paychecks.

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Cincinnati, Ohio - The U.S. Department of Labor has obtained a settlement requiring that $3,050,520 in pension assets be distributed to 702 participants of a 401(k) plan abandoned by Forest City Auto Parts Company, Solon, Ohio.

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Scranton, Pennsylvania - The U.S. Department of Labor sued the trustee of the Kingston, Pennsylvania-based Penn Patio 401(k) Profit Sharing Plan for imprudently investing a substantial portion of the plan’s assets in speculative stock.

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Atlanta, Georgia - The U. S. Department of Labor has filed suit against H&H Doors and Hardware Inc., Dothan, Alabama, and its former vice president, for misusing $1,216,232 in assets from the company retirement plan.

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Washington, DC - The U.S. Department of Labor has obtained settlement agreements providing for restitution of $4,312,063 to 10 pension and health plans in Arizona, Colorado, Minnesota and Ohio that invested plan assets in risky private placement schemes with Capital Consultants, LLC. The consent orders also require payment of $862,413 in civil penalties to the government.

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Seattle, Washington - The U.S. Department of Labor will hold a workshop April 18 at the Henry Jackson Federal Building to help employers and pension plan administrators comply with federal pension law.

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New York, New York - The U.S. Department of Labor has sued to obtain court appointment of an independent fiduciary to manage the abandoned 401(k) plan of Maksteel Inc. The suit also asks to distribute $44,020 to eligible participants and to terminate the plan.

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San Francisco, California - The U.S. Department of Labor has sued Corona-based WesTech Solutions Corp. and its president, Donald Cantral, to restore employee contributions not remitted to the company’s 401(k) plan.

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Portland, Oregon - The Department of Labor has obtained a consent judgment restoring nearly $48,000 to the 401(k) profit sharing plan of now-closed Moore Communications, Beaverton, Oregon.

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WASHINGTON - Secretary of Labor Elaine L. Chao today released the following statement upon passage of Association Health Plan legislation in the House of Representatives:

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San Francisco, California - Francis Clisham has been named regional director of the San Francisco Office of the Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA), the U.S. Department of Labor announced today.

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Washington, DC - Today Secretary of Labor Elaine L. Chao announced the appointment of five new members for the 2005 Advisory Council on Employee Welfare and Pension Benefit Plans. The new members will serve three-year terms.

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Washington, DC - Each year approximately 1,650 401(k) plans holding $868 million in assets and covering 33,000 workers are abandoned. Today, the U.S. Department of Labor announced proposed rules to allow financial institutions to take responsibility for these plans and distribute the plans’ assets to workers and their families.

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