Retirement plan fiduciaries can get help to locate and distribute retirement benefits to missing plan participants under guidance that the U.S. Department of Labor's Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA) issued on Jan. 12.
The new guidance for complying with the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) consists of three parts:
*** Missing Participants—Best Practices for Pension Plans describes best practices that fiduciaries of defined benefit pension plans or 401(k)-type defined contribution plans can take to ensure that plan articipants receive promised benefits when they reach retirement age.
*** Compliance Assistance Release 2021-01 outlines the general investigative approach that will guide enforcement actions by EBSA's regional offices under the Terminated Vested Participants Project, which can aid voluntary compliance efforts by plan fiduciaries.
*** Field Assistance Bulletin 2021-01 authorizes fiduciaries of terminating 401(k)-type plans to use the Public Benefit Guaranty Corp. (PBGC) Defined Contribution Missing Participants Program to hold missing or nonresponsive participants' account balances, and to help those participants find and receive their benefits.
Read the rest of the article:
EBSA Clarifies Obligations to Missing Retirement Plan Participants
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US DOL Issues Missing Participant Guidance
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