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April 29, 2020 03:02 PM

EBSA issues relief, guidance for employee benefits plans

Brian Croce
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    Bloomberg
    The Labor Department will give retirement plan officials more time to furnish benefit statements, annual funding notices and other disclosures required by ERISA due to the coronavirus pandemic.

    Retirement plan officials will have more time to furnish benefit statements, annual funding notices, and other notices and disclosures required by ERISA "so long as they make a good-faith effort to furnish the documents as soon as administratively practicable," according to a relief notice filed Wednesday by the Department of Labor's Employee Benefits Security Administration.

    The notice, in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, indicates that "good faith" includes the use of electronic alternative means of communicating with plan participants and beneficiaries who the plan fiduciary reasonably believes have effective access to those types of communication, including email, text messages and continuous-access websites.

    The Labor Department said it recognizes that some employers and service providers might not be able to forward participant payments and withholdings to employee pension benefit plans within prescribed time frames during the coronavirus pandemic. "In such instances, the department will not — solely on the basis of a failure attributable to the COVID-19 outbreak — take enforcement action with respect to a temporary delay in forwarding such payments or contributions to the plan," it stated in the notice. "Employers and service providers must act reasonably, prudently, and in the interest of employees to comply as soon as administratively practicable under the circumstances."

    With respect to loans and distributions, the notice said if an employee pension benefit plan fails to follow procedural requirements imposed by the terms of its plan, the Labor Department will not treat it as a failure if the reasons are "solely attributable to the COVID-19 outbreak; the plan administrator makes a good-faith diligent effort under the circumstances to comply with those requirements; and the plan administrator makes a reasonable attempt to correct any procedural deficiencies, such as assembling any missing documentation, as soon as administratively practicable."

    See more of P&I's coverage of the coronavirus

    The Labor Department said it will continue to monitor the effects of the COVID-19 outbreak and provide additional relief as warranted.

    "EBSA will continue to safeguard the employee benefits of American workers while ensuring that employers and plans have the flexibility they need to continue delivering benefits during this challenging time," said Preston Rutledge, assistant secretary of labor for EBSA, in a statement.

    Separately, the Labor Department issued a set of frequently asked questions about health benefit and retirement benefit issues aimed at helping employee benefit plan participants and beneficiaries, plan sponsors and employers affected by the coronavirus outbreak understand their rights and responsibilities under ERISA.

    Also on Wednesday, the Labor Department, Treasury Department and IRS jointly issued a notice that extends certain time frames affecting participants' rights to health-care coverage, portability and continuation of group health plan coverage under COBRA, and extends the time for plan participants to file or finalize benefit claims or appeals of denied claims.

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