On the to-do list, Gomez said, is issuing a final rule codifying the automatic-portability process so that a worker's 401(k) plan can be automatically rolled over to a new employer when changing jobs. SECURE 2.0, a comprehensive retirement security package Congress passed in December 2022, permitted an auto-portability provider to receive a fee in connection with executing such a transaction.
EBSA in January released a proposal to implement the auto-portability provision, and after getting public comments, Gomez said the agency intends to release a final rule over the next six weeks.
Separately, EBSA in November began accepting data for its retirement plan lost-and-found database before it goes live Dec. 29. SECURE 2.0 requires the department to set up an online searchable lost-and-found database, allowing savers who lost track of their retirement plan to search for their plan administrator’s contact information.
To populate the database, EBSA is asking — on a voluntary basis — retirement plan administrators, record keepers and other service providers to provide the information as a first step toward making the database available to the public, according to its November notice.
“This is something that will be mutually beneficial to the department but mainly to participants and to plan sponsors,” Gomez said.
The database should help reduce the number of missing participants in the retirement ecosystem, Gomez added, noting that missing participants are likely to be a continued enforcement focus under the incoming administration.
“While participating in a lost-and-found program is not a replacement for meeting your fiduciary duties in trying to find participants, it is another way in which plans can try to reach participants and quite frankly, show the department that you’re trying to do everything that you can … to try to connect (participants with their benefits),” Gomez said.
