Archived News Release — Caution: Information may be out of date.

San Francisco – The U.S. Department of Labor’s Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA) will hold two free workshops June 9 and 19 in Southern California to help employers, benefit professionals and others comply with federal employee benefits law.

The June 9 workshop will be held from 8:30 to 10:30 a.m. PDT at the Marriott Courtyard Foothill Ranch Irvine Spectrum, 27492 Portola Parkway in Foothill Ranch.

Archived News Release — Caution: Information may be out of date.

Cleveland – The U.S. Department of Labor today obtained consent orders requiring trustees of the Cleveland-based Sheet Metal Workers Local 33 Pension Plan to restore $625,000 to the plan, pay a $125,000 civil penalty, and institute controls and reforms over future investments made by the plan. The court order resolves a lawsuit involving risky investments authorized by the trustees with Capital Consultants LLC of Portland, Oregon.

Revisions designed to better protect union members right-to-know

WASHINGTON — The U.S. Department of Labor will issue a notice of proposed rulemaking on May 12 to enhance union financial transparency. The proposed rule, issued under the authority of the Labor-Management Reporting and Disclosure Act of 1959 (LMRDA), protects the rights of labor union members to have meaningful information about union finances and expenditures.

WASHINGTON — The U.S. Department of Labor will hold a public hearing on May 28 at 10:30 a.m. EDT to collect information on the use of child labor and forced labor worldwide in the production of goods. The hearing will take place at the department's headquarters at 200 Constitution Ave. N.W. in Washington. The department is accepting requests to attend from all interested parties.

Archived News Release — Caution: Information may be out of date.

Xenia, Ohio – The U.S. Department of Labor’s Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA) today announced that a Greene County grand jury in Xenia has indicted Julie Anders on two counts of theft of employee benefit assets from the retirement plan of the local company Quality Caulking Inc.

WASHINGTON — The U.S. Department of Labor today announced that it has added to its Web site information about occupational diseases associated with toxic substances found at facilities covered under Part E of the Energy Employees Occupational Illness Compensation Program Act (EEOICPA).

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

Boston – David M. Hirsch, owner and president of Adventure World Inc. in Shirley, Massachusetts, has agreed to restore $5,856 to the company’s 401(k) plan to settle a lawsuit filed by the U.S. Department of Labor alleging he violated his duty as a trustee under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA).

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

Denver – The U.S. Department of Labor’s Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA) will sponsor “Getting It Right – Know Your Fiduciary Responsibilities,” a free compliance assistance seminar, on June 10 at the Embassy Suites Denver Southeast.

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

Washington – The U.S. Department of Labor’s Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA) is the first place winner of the General Services Administration’s annual citizen service award in recognition of its exceptional customer service to the American public. The award was announced recently during the Interagency Resources Management Conference.

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

Washington – The U.S. Department of Labor’s Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA) will host a free web cast May 8 to help employers and plan administrators understand and comply with the Form 5500 Series reporting requirements under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA).

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

Atlanta – The U.S. Department of Labor has obtained a judgment permanently barring a District of Columbia lawyer from providing advice or services to any benefit plan covered by the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA).

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

Washington – The U.S. Department of Labor’s Employee Benefits Security Administration today announced publication of technical corrections to the final regulation on qualified default investment alternatives along with guidance to clarify the scope and meaning of the final rule.

BOSTON — Following an investigation by the U.S. Department of Labor, New Jersey-based Quest Diagnostics Inc. has agreed to pay 238 employees across the country a total of $688,772 in overtime back wages due under the federal Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA).

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

Arlington, Virginia – A free health law compliance assistance seminar for employers, plan fiduciaries and plan service providers, sponsored by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA) and the Virginia Department of Insurance, will take place May 14 and 15 at the Doubletree Hotel Crystal City, 300 Army Navy Drive in Arlington, Virginia.

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

Atlanta – The U.S. Department of Labor has obtained a second order of civil contempt against Gary Hochberg after a federal district court in Miami found that he failed to pay $75,000 to the Gary M. Hochberg CLU Insurance Agency Inc. Assumed Benefit Plan. The court ordered the defendant to be incarcerated until he complies with the order to pay $75,000. The next hearing is April 29.

DENVER — The U.S. Department of Labor has filed a lawsuit to recover $1,094,486 in back wages for 302 Denver-area employees of Aggregate Industries, WRE Inc., a subsidiary of Bardon US Corp. The suit, filed in the U.S. District Court in Denver, resulted from an investigation by the department's Wage and Hour Division that found violations of the federal Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA).

OLMS exceeds 900 indictments since 2001

WASHINGTON — The U.S. Department of Labor's Office of Labor-Management Standards (OLMS) today announced its criminal enforcement data for March 2008. During the month, OLMS obtained four convictions, five indictments and court orders of restitution totaling $279,202. The office's totals for fiscal year 2008 (which began on Oct. 1, 2007) now stand at 52 convictions and 64 indictments. The bulk of the cases involved the embezzlement of union funds.

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

Hartford, Connecticut – The U.S. Department of Labor has succeeded in obtaining a federal court order prohibiting the third party administrators to the retirement plans of Wasley Products Inc. in Plainville, Connecticut, from serving as fiduciaries to any employee benefit plan governed by the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) in the future.

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

Fenton, Michigan – The U.S. Department of Labor has sued the owner and 401(k) plan fiduciary of Control Pak International Inc. in Fenton for improperly using 401(k) assets withheld from employees’ pay to benefit the company in violation of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA).

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

Troy, Michigan – The U.S. Department of Labor has obtained a judgment in federal district court in Detroit ordering the appointment of an independent fiduciary to terminate the 401(k) plan of Troy-based Q.E.D. Inc. and distribute its assets to participants.