WASHINGTON – As part of the Biden-Harris administration’s effort to ensure more than 150 million people with private health coverage have greater access to mental health and substance use disorder care, the departments of Labor, Health and Human Services and the Treasury took significant action today by issuing final rules to clarify and strengthen protections to expand equitable access to these benefits as compared to medical and surgical benefits and reduce barriers to accessing these services. 

WASHINGTON – The Department of Labor will hold its next meeting of the Advisory Council on Employee Welfare and Pension Benefit Plans, also known as the ERISA Advisory Council, Sept. 10-12 at the department’s headquarters in Washington.

The meeting is open to the public and accessible online and via teleconference.

WASHINGTON – In its continuing effort to protect U.S. workers’ retirement and health benefits, the U.S. Department of Labor today updated current cybersecurity guidance confirming that it applies to all types of plans governed by the Employee Retirement Income Security Act, including health and welfare plans, and all employee retirement benefit plans.

WASHINGTON – As the nation begins Labor Rights Week, the U.S. Department of Labor and the Republic of Colombia today announced the South American country has joined the Consular Partnership Program to raise awareness among Colombians working in the U.S. about regulations protecting them in America’s workplaces. 

WASHINGTON – U.S. Department of Labor officials and representatives from the Mexican Embassy and other diplomatic missions joined today to mark Labor Rights Week 2024 with an event promoting migrant workers’ rights and how the department is safeguarding these rights. 

Date of Action:          July 19, 2024                                                                                                                                          

WASHINGTON – The Department of Labor today announced its Employee Benefits Security Administration has launched an online system to help qualified termination administrators more efficiently submit information required by the department’s Abandoned Plan Program.

WASHINGTON – The U.S. Department of Labor announced its Employee Benefits Security Administration is soliciting nominations to fill five, three-year vacancies on the Advisory Council on Employee Welfare and Pension Benefit Plans, known as the ERISA Advisory Council. The deadline to submit nominations is Aug. 26, 2024.

WASHINGTON – The Department of Labor will hold a meeting of the Advisory Council on Employee Welfare and Pension Benefit Plans, also known as the ERISA Advisory Council from July 8-10 in the department’s Francis Perkins Building in Washington. Open to the public, the meeting will be in-person and accessible online and via teleconference.

WASHINGTON – The Department of Labor announced its Employee Benefits Security Administration today issued a report to Congress on an interpretive bulletin related to fiduciary standards when selecting an annuity provider for a defined benefit pension plan.

GREENBELT, MD – The U.S. Department of Labor has obtained a consent judgment requiring a health and welfare benefits administration firm, its owner and others to restore more than $4.4 million in fringe benefits owed to people employed by government service contractors across the U.S.

RADNOR, PA ‒ The U.S. Department of Labor announced a settlement with the Lincoln National Life Insurance Co. that requires the company to change its evidence of insurability requirement – commonly known as proof of good health –for participants in job-based life insurance plans.

BOSTON – The U.S. Department of Labor today announced a settlement with Unum Life Insurance Co. of America that requires the Portland, Maine-based insurer to change how it administers its proof of good health requirement — referred to as evidence of insurability — for participants in job-based life insurance plans.  

WASHINGTON –The Department of Labor today announced its Employee Benefits Security Administration will publish interim final rules and an amendment to a prohibited transaction class exemption that better protect workers’ hard-earned retirement savings by making it easier for Chapter 7 bankruptcy trustees to distribute assets from bankrupt companies’ retirement plans. 

CHICAGO –The U.S. Department of Labor has obtained a federal consent order and judgment requiring three service providers of the United Employee Benefit Fund a Chicago-based multiple employer welfare arrangement, to restore $883,333 to the fund and pay $176,666 in penalties for violations of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act.

WASHINGTON – The Department of Labor today announced that its Employee Benefits Security Administration issued a final rule that will reinforce critical healthcare protections for consumers in plans offered by small employers or available for purchase on the individual market.

WASHINGTON – The Biden-Harris administration announced today that the U.S. Department of Labor has finalized its Retirement Security Rule to protect the millions of workers who are saving for retirement diligently and rely on advice from trusted professionals on how to invest their savings.

Date of action:           April 15, 2024

Type of action:          Consent judgment and order  

WASHINGTON – The U.S. Department of Labor today announced today that its Employee Benefits Security Administration is proposing to collect information from plan administrators on a voluntarily basis to establish an online search tool to help America’s workers locate lost retirement savings they earned. 

WASHINGTON – The U.S. Department of Labor announced that its Employee Benefits Security Administration, the Department of the Treasury, IRS and Pension Benefit Guaranty Corp. have jointly extended the comment period soliciting public input on existing reporting and disclosure requirements for retirement plans.