March 14, 2008

U.S. Labor Department obtains court judgment to distribute funds from Plymouth, Minnesota-based 401(k) plan

Archived News Release — Caution: Information may be out of date.

Plymouth, Minnesota – The U.S. Department of Labor has obtained a consent judgment appointing an independent fiduciary to terminate the Allstate Home Mortgage 401(k) Plan and Trust and distribute $90,507 in plan assets to six plan participants.

March 14, 2008

U.S. Labor Department sues to appoint independent fiduciary for 401(k) plan abandoned by Glendale, New York company

Archived News Release — Caution: Information may be out of date.

New York – The U.S. Department of Labor has filed a lawsuit asking the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York to appoint an independent fiduciary to oversee the abandoned 401(k) plan of NCC Sportswear Corp. of Glendale, New York.

March 13, 2008

Hewitt and Enron to restore $11.2 million to Enron litigation settlement fund

Archived News Release — Caution: Information may be out of date.

Washington – Hewitt Associates LLC and the Enron Creditors Recovery Corp. have agreed to restore $11.2 million to the court-supervised settlement fund for Enron participants, the U.S. Department of Labor announced today. The settlement resolves a contempt motion filed by the secretary of labor against Hewitt for having misallocated court-supervised settlement funds owed to Enron employees.

March 12, 2008

White Plains, New York employer and company president ordered to restore $1.5 million to retirement plan to resolve U.S. Labor Department lawsuit

Archived News Release — Caution: Information may be out of date.

New York – The marketing and communications company Guild Concepts Ltd., White Plains, New York, and its president have been ordered to repay $1.5 million to the company’s pension plan under a consent judgment resolving a U.S. Department of Labor lawsuit alleging violations of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA).

March 10, 2008

U.S. Labor Department to sponsor free workshop in Phoenix on complying with employee benefits law

Archived News Release — Caution: Information may be out of date.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 a free workshop in Phoenix on April 3 from 8 to 10 a.m. MST to help employers, the employee benefit community and others better comply with federal employee benefits law. The workshop will take place at the Arizona Small Business Administration Entrepreneurial Center, 4130 E. Van Buren Street, Suite 140.

March 10, 2008

U.S. Labor Department re-schedules hearing on service provider compensation and plan fee disclosure

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

Washington — The U.S. Department of Labor’s Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA) has re-scheduled its public hearing to March 31, and April 1 (if necessary), to hear testimony about its regulatory proposal on the disclosure of service provider compensation and conflicts of interest information to employers. The hearing will take place at the Labor Department in Room S-4215 A-C, 200 Constitution Avenue, NW in Washington, DC.

March 4, 2008

U.S. Labor Department sues owner of South Bend company to recover more than $40,000 in 401(k) and health plan funds

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

South Bend, Indiana – The U.S. Department of Labor has sued the owner and fiduciary of 401(k) and health care plans for employees of Allegra Print & Imaging Inc. in South Bend for improperly using assets for the benefit of the company in violation of the federal Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA).

March 3, 2008

Former head of defunct Waitsfield, Vermont company to restore delinquent employee contributions to company SIMPLE IRA to resolve U.S. Labor Department lawsuit

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

Boston – The former head of defunct Third Sector Systems Inc., Waitsfield, Vermont, has agreed to restore nearly $7,000 in delinquent employee contributions owed to participants of the company’s retirement plan under a consent judgment obtained by the U.S. Department of Labor.

February 28, 2008

U.S. Department of Labor to offer free health law seminar March 19 and 20 in Newton, Massachusetts

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

Boston – 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 Massachusetts Department of Insurance, will take place March 19 and 20 at the Sheraton Newton Hotel, 320 Washington Street, in Newton, Massachusetts.

February 28, 2008

U.S. Department of Labor proposes safe harbor rule for employee contributions to small pension and welfare plans

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

Washington – The U.S. Department of Labor today announced a proposed rule to provide greater protection for employee contributions deposited to pension and welfare benefit plans with fewer than 100 participants by proposing a safe harbor period of seven business days following receipt or withholding by employers.

February 26, 2008

U.S. Department of Labor sues Knoxville College and former college president for breach of fiduciary responsibilities

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

Atlanta – The U.S. Department of Labor has sued Knoxville College and its former president, Dr. Barbara Hatton, to recover employee contributions of $14,725 which were allegedly diverted from the participants’ individual retirement savings plans in violation of the federal Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA).

February 26, 2008

U.S. Labor Department to hold hearing on service provider compensation and plan fee disclosure

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

Washington — The U.S. Department of Labor’s Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA) will hold a public hearing March 20-21, to hear testimony about its regulatory proposal on the disclosure of service provider compensation and conflicts of interest information to employers. The hearing will take place at the department in Room S-4215 A-C, 200 Constitution Avenue, NW in Washington, DC.

February 25, 2008

Exeter, New Hampshire, employer restores almost $33,000 to employee 401(k) plan to resolve U.S. Labor Department lawsuit

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

Boston – A.J. DesJardins Roofing Co. Inc. of Exeter, New Hampshire, and its owner have repaid $32,700.83 to the company’s 401(k) plan to resolve a lawsuit filed by the U.S. Department of Labor for failure to timely deposit employee contributions owed to the plan and file reports required under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA).

February 21, 2008

U.S. Labor Department enforcement agency announces
eight criminal convictions for January 2008

WASHINGTON — The U.S. Department of Labor today announced that it has paid more than $1 billion to 8,926 individuals under Part E of the Energy Employees Occupational Illness Compensation Program Act (EEOICPA). Part E of the act was created as an amendment to the EEOICPA in October 2004 to alleviate the delay claimants were experiencing under the old Part D program administered by the U.S. Department of Energy. The Labor Department was charged with implementation of Part E.

February 21, 2008

U.S. Labor Department unveils online resource to help Americans chart retirement finances

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

February 20, 2008

U.S. Labor Department enforcement agency announces
eight criminal convictions for January 2008

WASHINGTON —In January 2008, the U.S. Department of Labor's Office of Labor-Management Standards (OLMS) marked its 5,000th indictment since recordkeeping began in 1964. During January, OLMS obtained eight convictions, nine indictments and court orders of restitution totaling $121,867. The office's totals for fiscal year 2008 (which began on Oct. 1, 2007), including previously unreported indictments and convictions from prior months, now stand at 36 convictions, 47 indictments and court-ordered restitution of $877,212.

February 20, 2008

U.S. Labor Department sues to appoint independent fiduciary for 401(k) plan abandoned by Overland Park, Kansas, technology consulting company

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

Kansas City, Missouri – The U.S. Department of Labor filed a lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the District of Kansas to appoint an independent fiduciary to oversee the abandoned 401(k) plan of defunct Professional Resources Inc., a technology consulting company in Overland Park, Kansas.

February 14, 2008

Employee Benefits Security Administration issues guidance on wellness program rules under HIPAA

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 a Field Assistance Bulletin (FAB) 2008-02, which provides guidance to the agency’s national and regional offices on the department’s final wellness program rules.

February 13, 2008

U.S. Labor Department seeks distribution of 401(k) assets from Preferred Mortgage Group Inc. in Bedford, Ohio

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

Bedford, Ohio – The U.S. Department of Labor has filed suit in federal district court in Cleveland, asking the court to appoint an independent fiduciary to terminate the Preferred Mortgage Group 401(k) plan so that assets can be distributed to plan participants.

February 12, 2008

U.S. Labor Department increases claim assistance for energy workers

Resource centers offer new services to energy workers