Employee Benefits Security Administration

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ERISA-covered plans hold millions of dollars or more in assets and maintain a large amount of personal data on participants, therefore, such plans can be tempting targets for cyber-criminals. Recognizing this, the Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA) of the U.S. Department of Labor issued its first-ever cybersecurity guidance concerning employee benefit plans this spring.  Further, in June 2021, just two months after issuing the guidance, government investigators began seeking information from plan sponsors about cybersecurity policies and procedures.  While such requests thus far have been limited to ongoing audits, plan sponsors and fiduciaries would be wise to review EBSA’s guidance and implement its suggestions as appropriate.

The EBSA guidance, which is directed to plan sponsors and fiduciaries as well as recordkeepers and plan participants, is set forth in three separate publications.
Continue Reading Department of Labor Focuses on Cybersecurity for Benefit Plans

On February 26, 2021, the Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA) released Notice 2021-01 (2021 Relief Notice) providing guidance to employers, claim administrators and fiduciaries of ERISA plans on the duration of the COVID-19-related relief set forth in a 2020 Notice that suspended, among other things, certain ERISA (Employee Retirement Income Security Act) claim-related deadlines (referred…

In today’s Federal Register, the Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA) of the U.S. Department of Labor has published its notice delaying, by 90 days, the applicable date of its final rule amending the disability claims procedure requirements applicable to ERISA-covered employee benefit plans (the “Final Rule”). The new claims procedures had initially been set to become applicable on January 1, 2018.  That date has now been delayed to April 1, 2018.

The new claims procedures of the Final Rule apply to all ERISA plans that provide disability benefits, which include not only short-term and long-term disability plans but also other types of ERISA plans with disability provisions, such as many retirement plans. The purpose of the delay is to provide EBSA with time to consider the Final Rule’s impact on the group disability insurance market, in light of President Trump’s Executive Order 13777 directing federal agencies to evaluate regulations (with input from affected entities) with an eye toward reducing regulatory burden and expense.
Continue Reading EBSA Formally Extends Applicability Date of Disability Claims Regulations to April 1, 2018; Time to Comment on the Regulations Ends Soon