News & Analysis as of

Department of Labor (DOL) Employee Benefits

Carlton Fields

Plan Sponsor and Asset Manager Considerations Under 401(k) Alternatives Executive Order

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On August 7, 2025, President Trump signed an executive order titled “Democratizing Access to Alternative Assets for 401(k) Investors,” designed to open the use of alternative investments, including private equity and actively...more

Haynes Boone

DOL Approves the Use of Forfeitures to Offset Employer Contributions

Haynes Boone on

In a lawsuit currently under appeal at the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, the court has been asked to decide whether the plan administrator violated its fiduciary duties of prudence and loyalty under ERISA when...more

Haynes Boone

Compliance Reminder for Executive Top Hat Plans

Haynes Boone on

Plan sponsors of nonqualified deferred compensation plans (often referred to as “top hat” plans) maintain such plans because they provide tax and economic benefits to covered executives without being subject to many of...more

Ary Rosenbaum - The Rosenbaum Law Firm P.C.

The Forfeiture Fiasco: Why the DOL and Common Sense are on the Right Side of the HP Case

It’s not often you see the U.S. Department of Labor jumping into the legal ring to back plan sponsors, but when they do, you know something bigger is at stake than just one plan participant’s gripe. That’s exactly what...more

PilieroMazza PLLC

Weekly Update for Government Contractors and Commercial Businesses – August 2025

PilieroMazza PLLC on

Government Accountability Office (GAO) Report: Whistleblowers, VA Should Assess Data and Monitor Settlement Agreements to Better Ensure Protections - On July 31, GAO released a report reviewing the characteristics of VA...more

Ary Rosenbaum - The Rosenbaum Law Firm P.C.

Bitcoin Over $120K? That Doesn’t Mean It Belongs in Your 401(k)

Bitcoin has blown past $120,000 and, predictably, the buzz is back. Advisors are getting questions. Participants are curious. And yes, some plan sponsors are starting to wonder if it’s time to add crypto to their 401(k)...more

Ice Miller

The U.S. Department of Labor Confirms to Employers That a Little Self-Reflection is a Good Thing

Ice Miller on

On July 24, 2025, the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) issued a news release describing several programs available to employers, unions, and benefit plan administrators designed to strengthen protections for employees, while...more

Fisher Phillips

Workplace Law Update: 10 Essential Items on Your August 2025 To-Do List

Fisher Phillips on

Here are the top ten items you should tackle in August, based on the latest workplace law developments and upcoming critical compliance dates...more

Parker Poe Adams & Bernstein LLP

Department of Labor Launches New and Expanded Self-Audit Programs Related to Labor Law Compliance

On July 24, the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) announced several self-audit and voluntary compliance programs across six of its agencies aimed at what the agency describes as helping employers, unions, and benefit plan...more

Ary Rosenbaum - The Rosenbaum Law Firm P.C.

Quick Tips for Plan Sponsors Who Want to Stay Out of Trouble

If you’re a 401(k) plan sponsor, you don’t need to be an ERISA expert—you just need to avoid doing dumb things. Here are a few quick tips to help you stay on the right side of your fiduciary duties and keep your participants...more

Ropes & Gray LLP

DOL Sheds Light on the Fiduciary Responsibilities That Arise with Pooled Employer Plans PEPs

Ropes & Gray LLP on

On July 28, 2025, the U.S. Department of Labor (“DOL”) issued some new interpretive guidance as part of a request for information (“RFI”) about pooled employer plans (“PEPs”) and an employer’s fiduciary responsibilities that...more

Ary Rosenbaum - The Rosenbaum Law Firm P.C.

Cleaning Out the ERISA Attic: DOL Retires Obsolete Interpretive Bulletins

The Department of Labor’s Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA) just did what many plan sponsors wish they could do, clear out old, confusing clutter that no longer serves a purpose....more

Groom Law Group, Chartered

This Week From the Hill (July 27 – August 2, 2025)

Each week while Congress is in session, our Policy team delivers a key update to highlight a topical benefits, health, or retirement news item from the Hill, such as a newly introduced bill, a summary of a committee hearing,...more

Ary Rosenbaum - The Rosenbaum Law Firm P.C.

I Love PEPs, But Some Guidance Would Be Great

While all the attention in the retirement plan world last week was on the One Big Beautiful Bill, cue the overly dramatic headlines and LinkedIn humblebrags—there was another important development flying under the radar. On...more

Ballard Spahr LLP

U.S. Department of Labor Self-Audit PAID Program Returns, Allowing Employers to Identify and Resolve FLSA and FMLA Violations

Ballard Spahr LLP on

The U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) announced several self-audit programs to assist employers, unions, and benefit plan officials with voluntarily assessing and correcting their compliance with federal labor laws. One of those...more

Kelley Drye & Warren LLP

Simplified Option for Correcting Certain Retirement Plan Failures

Earlier this year, the U.S. Department of Labor (“DOL”) amended its Voluntary Fiduciary Compliance Program (“VFCP”) to provide retirement plan sponsors with a simplified option for correcting certain specified prohibited...more

Bricker Graydon LLP

The Uncashed Check Conundrum - What Employers Need to Do

Bricker Graydon LLP on

A terminated employee moves and doesn’t tell you and the check for the small benefit forced out of your retirement plan gets returned. A participant requests a distribution and the check gets delivered, but it is never...more

Ary Rosenbaum - The Rosenbaum Law Firm P.C.

M&A &401(k): Where Fiduciary Oversight Often Goes to Die

I n the world of corporate mergers and acquisitions, attention is lavished on financial statements, contracts, intellectual property, real estate, and executive compensation. Armies of lawyers and accountants pore over every...more

Seyfarth Shaw LLP

So, How Can Participants Invest Their Retirement Money?

Seyfarth Shaw LLP on

Under the current administration, the Department of Labor has once again changed course on its view of permissible investing strategies for retirement plans, warming to crypto and private equity, and confirming their distrust...more

Snell & Wilmer

A Return to Form: Department of Labor Walks Back Crypto Warning for 401(k) Plans

Snell & Wilmer on

In Compliance Assistance Release 2025-01 (the “Release”), the Department of Labor (the “Department”) rescinded its prior guidance that cautioned fiduciaries against offering cryptocurrency investments in their retirement...more

McNees Wallace & Nurick LLC

Pennsylvania’s veterans’ benefits and services workplace posting act – what employers need to know

Pennsylvania House Bill 799 – which mandates new workplace posting requirements related to veterans’ benefits and services – passed on June 30, 2025, and was signed into law by Governor Shapiro on July 7, 2025. The Bill and...more

Bond Schoeneck & King PLLC

401(k) Forfeiture Litigation: Implications for Plan Sponsors

Background - In a wave of class-action litigation beginning around 2023, plaintiffs have alleged violations of fiduciary duties under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) and prohibited transaction rules in...more

Morris, Manning & Martin, LLP

A Friendly DOL Amicus Brief on Forfeitures

On July 9th, the Secretary of Labor filed an amicus brief with the Ninth Circuit relating to the appeal of Hutchins v. HP, Inc. In that case, a participant claimed that forfeitures should have been used to offset plan...more

Jackson Lewis P.C.

Federal OBBBA Round-Up: What Employers Need to Know Now

Jackson Lewis P.C. on

President Donald Trump signed H.R. 1, “One Big Beautiful Bill Act” (OBBBA), on July 4. The OBBBA affects a wide range of workplace issues, including immigration, benefits, and employment tax liabilities. Below is only a brief...more

Verrill

Do We Have to Make It a Top Hat Plan?

Verrill on

Employers and their compensation advisors often assume that an arrangement to pay employees in the future for work done over time will be subject to the rules for ERISA pension plans unless it is limited to a “select group of...more

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