Defined contribution plan

The Department of Labor’s Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA), IRS, and the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC) have released final forms revisions to the Form 5500 Annual Return/Report of Employee Benefit Plan and Form 5500-SF Short Form Annual Return/Report of Employee Benefit Plan, and related instructions, that apply to plan year reports beginning on or after January 1, 2022. A proposed rule was issued last September.

Representative Mark DeSaulnier (D-CA) has introduced HR 7740 – the Employee and Retiree Access to Justice Act. The bill proposes to amend ERISA to provide that any mandatory predispute or coerced postdispute arbitration clause, class action waiver, representation waiver, or discretionary clause with respect to a plan is unenforceable. The bill would also amend ERISA to prohibit any such clause or waiver from being included in a plan document or other agreement with participants. A Senate companion bill was introduced by Senator Tina Smith (D-MN).

Representative DeSaulnier is the Chair of the House Subcommittee on Health, Employment, Labor and Pensions. Senator Smith is a member of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee.

The IRS today issued Notice 2022-27, extending guidance released previously under Notice 2020-42 and extended by Notice 2021-03 and Notice 2021-40. The Notice provides additional temporary relief from the physical presence requirements for certain elections that are made by participants and beneficiaries in qualified retirement plans and other tax-favored retirement arrangements.

The IRS has issued a news release announcing the postponement of certain tax-related deadlines for victims of wildfires and straight-line winds in New Mexico. The tax relief postpones various tax filing deadlines that began April 5, 2022.

May 11, 2022 – Senator John Hickenlooper (D-CO) has introduced two retirement bills in the Senate. The Simplifying Small Business Retirement Savings Act, co-sponsored by Senator Susan Collins (R-ME), would require a group of plans filing a single Form 5500 under the SECURE Act to have an individual audit opinion for each plan that would otherwise be subject to an audit requirement. Additionally, the proposal would allow the designation of a fiduciary (other than an employer) to be responsible for collecting contributions to the plan in a pooled employer plan (PEP). The bill also directs the Secretary of Labor to conduct a study on PEPs.

The Incentivizing Small Business Retirement Savings Act would provide a tax credit for employer contributions of up to $1,000 per non-highly compensated employee, with a 2 percent reduction or phaseout of the credit for each employee that exceeds 50 employees. The credit would equal 100 percent in the first tax year and would be reduced by 25 percent each tax year for years 2-4.

May 10, 2022 – Senator Tommy Tuberville (R-AL) has introduced the Financial Freedom Act, legislation aimed at prohibiting the Department of Labor (DOL) from restricting the types of investments that plan participants can choose through participant directed accounts and self-directed brokerage accounts. The bill is in response to regulatory guidance released by the DOL and announced in March.

May 9, 2022 – The SEC has extended the period to comment on its proposed rule regarding climate-related disclosures initially released in March, and published in the federal register on April 11, 2022. The proposal would require publicly traded companies to include certain climate-related disclosures in registration statements and periodic reports such as the annual Form 10-K. Additional details were previously announced in March. The comment deadline was extended from May 20 2022, to June 17, 2022.

Employers of all types have expressed interest in learning more about multiple employer plans (MEPs). But the unified plan rule, sometimes known as the “one bad apple rule,” has discouraged some employers from pursuing MEP participation.

Senators Patty Murray (D-WA), Tina Smith (D-MN), and Tammy Baldwin (D-WI) reintroduced the Information Needed for Financial Options Risk Mitigation (INFORM) Act of 2022. The proposal would require pension plan sponsors to provide retirees and participants with certain information when being offered a lump-sum buyout from their defined benefit plan.

The Department of Labor (DOL) has kicked off what is to be a series of roundtable discussions on how to improve retirement security for workers. Labor Secretary Marty Walsh and Kathleen Kennedy Townsend, the Secretary’s representative for pensions and retirement, joined several state officials, trade group representatives, educators, and others in New York City to review current retirement security policies.

In the coming months, Kennedy Townsend will host similar discussions around the country to promote retirement security reform and open a dialogue between various stakeholders. Topics of focus will include encouraging automatic enrollment, improving portability of benefits as workers move from job to job, and leveraging affordable lifetime income options.