WASHINGTON – The U.S. Department of Labor announced today that its Employee Benefits Security Administration has released a final amendment to Class Prohibited Transaction Exemption 84-14, also known as the Qualified Professional Asset Manager Exemption, which permits various parties related to employee benefit plans and individual retirement accounts to engage in transactions involving plan and IRA assets.

Date of action:           Feb. 1, 2024

WASHINGTON – The U.S. Department of Labor today announced the appointment of five members and leadership for the 2024 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.

Date of Action:          Feb. 28, 2024

Type of Action:         Employee Retirement Income Security Act default judgment

Company/Owners:    Elmhurst Academy of Early Learning Inc.

Date of action:           Feb. 7, 2024

Type of action:          Motion for default judgment granted  by the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey. The action follows a complaint and motion filed by the U.S. Department of Labor on June 15, 2023.

Date of action:           Feb. 8, 2024

Type of action:          Motion for default judgment issued by the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania. The action follows a complaint and motion filed by the U.S. Department of Labor in November 2022.

GREENBELT, MD – The U.S. Department of Labor today filed suit in the U.S. District Court for the Southern Division of the District of Maryland against a company that allegedly mismanaged fringe benefits owed to employees working for at least 54 government service contractors across the United States. 

WASHINGTON – The U.S. Department of Labor’s Employee Benefits Security Administration today published an overview of its enforcement activities in fiscal year 2023 in a new fact sheet. 

Date of action: February 5, 2024

Type of action: An emergency temporary restraining order issued by the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The action follows a complaint and motion filed by the U.S. Department of Labor on January 26, 2024.

SAN FRANCISCO – The U.S. Department of Labor has obtained a default judgment against Paul G. Fillet DMD Inc. and Dr. Paul G. Fillet for having unlawfully withdrawn more than $85,000 of employees’ retirement money from an employer-sponsored plan and abandoned the plan, preventing two participants from accessing roughly $160,000 in retirement savings.

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.

MILTON, WV – The U.S. Department of Labor’s Employee Benefits Security Administration has entered into a settlement agreement to resolve more than $1.2 million in unpaid medical claims by the Revelation Energy LLC health care plan based in Milton.

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.”