News & Analysis as of

Department of Labor (DOL) Employee Benefits Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA)

Mayer Brown

US Department of Labor Solicits Feedback and Provides Guidance to Smaller Employers on Pooled Employer Plans

Mayer Brown on

On July 28, 2025, the US Department of Labor (DOL) issued a Request for Information (RFI) regarding the current usage and operations of pooled employer plans (PEPs), as well as obstacles that are discouraging smaller...more

Carlton Fields

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

Carlton Fields on

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Carlton Fields

Unsafe Harbor? Deregulation and the Limit of the Secure Act Safe Harbor for Selection of Lifetime Income Provider

Carlton Fields on

On January 31, 2025, President Trump signed Executive Order 14192, titled“ Unleashing Prosperity Through Deregulation.” Its stated purpose was to encourage the reduction of private expenditure required to comply with federal...more

Fisher Phillips

Wave of Deregulation Hits DOL: What Employers Need to Know About the 60+ Rules on the Chopping Block

Fisher Phillips on

The U.S. Department of Labor just quietly launched one of the most sweeping deregulatory efforts in recent memory, advancing over 60 proposals that could reshape workplace rules across industries. From overtime and minimum...more

Husch Blackwell LLP

ESOPs for Cannabis Companies

Husch Blackwell LLP on

Employee stock ownership plans (ESOPs) have been used as a business succession strategy by employers across many industries. In the cannabis industry, ESOPs have come and gone and come again as a trendy topic promising to fix...more

Ary Rosenbaum - The Rosenbaum Law Firm P.C.

DOL Walks Back Crypto Chill: A Return to Fiduciary Neutrality

The Department of Labor’s Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA) released Compliance Assistance Release No. 2025-01. For those of us keeping track at home, this new guidance effectively rescinds the now infamous...more

Holland & Hart - The Benefits Dial

How Do You Like Me Now… Plan Fiduciary Considerations Following New DOL Crypto Guidance

The Department of Labor recently issued Compliance Assistance Release No. 2025-01 rescinding Compliance Assistance Release No. 2022-01 that directed 401(k) plan fiduciaries to exercise “extreme care” before adding...more

Polsinelli

DOL Rescinds 2022 Guidance Concerning Cryptocurrency Investments in 401(k) Plans

Polsinelli on

On May 28, 2025, the Department of Labor (DOL) rescinded its 2022 guidance that cautioned retirement plan fiduciaries to exercise “extreme care” in permitting cryptocurrency and other digital asset investments in retirement...more

Seward & Kissel LLP

401(k) Plan Investments in Digital Assets

Seward & Kissel LLP on

The Department of Labor (“DOL”) recently issued Compliance Assistance Release No. 2025-01 (the “Release”), reversing previous guidance that cautioned plan fiduciaries offering investments in digital assets in...more

Epstein Becker & Green

Hot Topics in Employee Benefits: A Primer for In-House Lawyers

“ERISA, you’ll need a lawyer for that.” Our practice group’s tagline is meant to be a shorthand for the alphabet soup of laws that apply to employee benefits, including the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA)....more

Jackson Lewis P.C.

New DOL/EBSA Opinion Letter Program Offers A Path to Clarity for Plan Sponsors

Jackson Lewis P.C. on

On June 2, 2025, the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) announced a significant expansion of its compliance assistance tools by launching an Opinion Letter Program across five key enforcement agencies, including the Employee...more

Parker Poe Adams & Bernstein LLP

Labor Department Shifts Positions on ESG Investments and Cryptocurrencies in 401(k) Plans

As anticipated, the Department of Labor (DOL) recently changed its position with respect to certain investment choices that 401(k) plan fiduciaries sometimes consider or make available to plan participants, including...more

Troutman Pepper Locke

ESG Investing in 401(k) Plans – More Rule Changes on the Way

Troutman Pepper Locke on

In our recent client alert, “Texas Federal Court Allows an ERISA Fiduciary Challenge Against Alleged “ESG Investing” Without Any ESG Funds,” we reported that a Texas district court recently upheld Biden-administration...more

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