COMPLIANCE UPDATE:
U.S. Department of Labor Investigates ERISA Health and
Welfare Benefit Plans
The Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA) is a Federal law which, among other things, deals with Employee Benefit Plans and Welfare Benefit Plans. The goals of ERISA are to provide uniformity and
protections to employees. ERISA imposes certain reporting and
disclosure requirements on employers and failure to comply can result
in enforcement actions, penalties and/or employee lawsuits.
Recently,
regional offices of the U.S. Department of Labor have been issuing a
revised form of document request when investigating ERISA Health and
Welfare Benefit Plans. They have been requesting a broad range of
information including Plan Documents, Summary Plan Descriptions Form
5500 with supporting data and other descriptive information. Information must to be
mailed to the Department of Labor within 10 days of their letter.
Reasonable, but short extensions have been granted.
Click here to learn more.
Please don’t hesitate to contact
me if you have any further questions or need additional help compiling
the broad range of information requested.
Richard H. Miller, Jr., CPA, CFP
President
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