The Labor Department plans to update guidance to pension plan sponsors on soft dollars in early September, said Meredith Miller, deputy assistant secretary in the department's pension office.
Ms. Miller declined to offer specifics, but said the guidance "in large part will restate an earlier technical bulletin."
In addition, the pension office hopes to issue around the end of September the results of an investigation on 401(k) plan fees of 60 employers, insurance companies, banks and other plan providers. The office will then issue guidance to small businesses on 401(k) plan fees, she said.
"We need to understand how employers are meeting their fiduciary duties, so should we find a blatant violation, we will have to move on it," she said.
The pension office also plans to educate participants on thrift savings plans and employee stock ownership plans, she said.
In a related development, Ms. Miller was named to carry out the duties of assistant labor secretary in charge of the pension office, until the administration names a replacement for E. Olena Berg, who left at the end of June. Ms. Miller, deputy assistant secretary for policy in the Labor Department's pension office, will continue to hold that title.
Ms. Miller also recently announced plans to leave the department in six months to a year for personal reasons.
