DOL

The Department of Labor (DOL) has extended the transitional relief under Field Assistance Bulletin (FAB) 2018-02 and provided additional temporary non-enforcement guidance related to specific provisions of Prohibited Transaction Exemption (PTE) 2020-02 in FAB 2021-02.

The Department of Labor’s Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA), in conjunction with the IRS and Pension Benefit Guarantee Corporation (PBGC), have released proposed forms revisions modifying requirements for Form 5500, Annual Return/Report of Employee Benefit Plan, reporting. Additionally, the EBSA has issued a proposed rule to amend regulations relating to annual reporting requirements under Title I of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA).

President Biden has nominated Lisa M. Gomez for Assistant Secretary of Labor for the Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA). Ms. Gomez is a partner at the law firm of Cohen, Weiss and Simon and chair of the firm’s management committee. The law firm focuses on labor, employee benefits, union governance practice, and other employment areas. Ms. Gomez has represented Taft-Hartley multiemployer pension and health plans, as well as single employer, supplemental, and federal health plans. She is a graduate of the American Bar Association’s (ABA) Labor and Employment Law’s Leadership Development Program and has held several board or committee positions with the ABA and other organizations.

Senator Patty Murray (D-WA) and Representative Lauren Underwood (D-IL) have introduced the Women’s Retirement Protection Act of 2021 in their respective chambers. The legislation is intended to address what some have identified as a gap between the retirement preparedness of women compared to their male counterparts—a gap seemingly exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic. Key provisions of the legislation are as follows.

The Department of Labor (DOL) has provided FAQs addressing questions about the timing of implementation of pension benefit statement lifetime income illustrations under the Setting Every Community Up for Retirement Enhancement (SECURE) Act. The SECURE Act requires plan sponsors of ERISA-covered plans to disclose annually a projection of a lifetime income stream that could be generated by a participant’s total accrued benefit. Implementation is to be effective for benefit statements provided more than 12 months after the DOL issued guidance.

Last week, President Biden issued an Executive Order on Climate-Related Financial Risk, which includes a directive to the Department of Labor (DOL) Secretary to consider publishing, by September 2021, a proposed rule to suspend, revise, or rescind the Financial Factors in Selecting Plan Investments and Fiduciary Duties Regarding Proxy Voting and Shareholder Rights final rules that were published during the Trump administration regarding environmental, social, and governance (ESG) investments and proxy voting by employee benefit plans.

Senators Rob Portman (R-OH), and Ben Cardin (D-MD), have introduced the Retirement Security and Savings Act of 2021, legislation that was last introduced in 2019. This bill, like the Securing a Strong Retirement Act introduced in the House of Representatives earlier this month, is intended to build on the Setting Every Community Up for Retirement Enhancement Act (SECURE) of 2019. With more than 50 provisions, this bill contains a broad set of retirement reforms under the following categories, highlights of which are enumerated below.

House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Richard Neal (D-MA) and Ranking Member Kevin Brady (R-TX) have introduced the Securing a Strong Retirement Act (SSRA) of 2021, legislation that was first introduced in October 2020. It builds upon the Setting Every Community Up for Retirement Enhancement Act (SECURE) Act of 2019. The House Ways and Means Committee held a markup hearing Wednesday, May 5, and unanimously voted to advance this legislation to the full House of Representatives to vote on the measure.

The Department of Labor (DOL) Wage and Hour Division is withdrawing the independent contractor rule that was scheduled to take effect on May 7, 2021. The rule had previously been delayed from its original effective date of March 7, 2021. The withdrawal of the rule is scheduled to be published in the Federal Register May 6, 2021.

Objective investment advice. Simple concept, right? And most everyone agrees that every saver and retirement investor is entitled to this. But ensuring that individuals have access to objective investment advice is easier said than done. In fact, the Department of Labor (DOL) has been trying to make this happen since the 1970s, when it first released a five-part test to help determine whether investment professionals owed their clients a duty to provide objective advice.