The United States Labor Department (DOL) Who Are They,
What Can They Offer You?

The DOL is a cabinet-level department of the U.S. federal government responsible for occupational safety, wage and hour standards which includes overtime, employment discrimination, unemployment insurance benefits, re-employment services, and some economic statistics; many U.S. states also have such departments. The DOL administers and enforces more than 180 federal laws via mandates and regulations. The DOL is made up of 28 major divisions. In our December issue we visited the Occupational Safety & Health Administration (OSHA) and in the January issue we delved into the Wage and Hour Division, today we are exploring the Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA).

The function of the EBSA, formerly known as Pension and Welfare Benefits Administration, is to assure the security of the retirement, health and other workplace related benefits of America's workers and their families. To accomplish this the EBSA develops effective regulations; assists and educates workers, plan sponsors, fiduciaries and service providers; and vigorously enforces the law. The areas that are overseen by the EBSA are:

ACA - The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act adds many protections related to employment-based group health plans for employees and their family.  These include extending dependent coverage up to age 26; prohibiting preexisting condition exclusions (beginning 2014); and requiring easy-to-understand summaries of health plan benefits and coverage.  

Additional protections that may apply to an employee plan include the requirement to provide coverage for certain preventive services (such as blood pressure, diabetes and cholesterol tests, regular well-baby and well-child visits, routine vaccinations and many cancer screenings) without cost-sharing, and coverage of emergency services in an emergency department of a hospital outside the plan's network without prior approval from the health plan.

The ACA also provides coverage options that allow an employee to maintain health coverage for themselves and their family. For information on the protections related to your employment-based health plan or if you are looking for coverage, please click here.  

COBRA - Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act otherwise known as COBRA Continuation Coverage was passed in 1986 and amended the Employee Retirement Income Security Act, the Internal Revenue Code and the Public Health Service Act to provide temporary continuation of group health coverage to workers and their families that otherwise might be discontinued because of a life event. COBRA can be found under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA).

Disaster Relief Information - the EBSA assists and provides relief to employers/plan sponsors and their employees/plan participants affected by national disasters. As an example, the following actions were taken:

• Oklahoma Tornado relief

• Hurricane Sandy Relief

• Form 5500 Filing Extension Information

ERISA- Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) is a federal law that sets minimum standards for pension plans in private industry. ERISA does not require any employer to establish a pension plan. It only requires that those who establish plans must meet certain minimum standards. The law generally does not specify how much money a participant must be paid as a benefit. ERISA requires plans to regularly provide participants with information about the plan including information about plan features and funding; sets minimum standards for participation, vesting, benefit accrual and funding; requires accountability of plan fiduciaries; and gives participants the right to sue for benefits and breaches of fiduciary duty. The EBSA enforces its laws and imposes fines and possible jail time for violations. ERISA also guarantees payment of certain benefits through the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation, a federally chartered corporation, if a defined plan is terminated.

Form 5500 Series and Form M-1 Filings- the EBSA shares responsibilities with the IRS for the annual returns required for employee benefit plans to satisfy annual reporting requirements under ERISA and the Internal Revenue Code.

HIPPA - Heath Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 is administered by EBSA in conjunction with the Office for Civil Rights (which handles enforcement). The HIPPA Privacy Rule protects the privacy of individuals' identifiable health information, while the HIPAA Security Rule sets national standards for the security of electronic protected health information. EBSA also administers the HIPAA Breach Notification Rule which requires covered entities and business associates to provide notification following a breach of unsecured protected health information and the confidentiality provisions of the Patient Safety Rule, which protect identifiable information being used to analyze patient safety events and improve patient safety.  

MHPAEA- The Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act of 2008 (MHPAEA) requires group health plans and health insurance issuers to ensure that financial requirements (such as co-pays, deductibles) and treatment limitations (such as visit limits) applicable to mental health or substance use disorder (MH/SUD) benefits are no more restrictive than the predominant requirements or limitations applied to substantially all medical/surgical benefits. MHPAEA supplements prior provisions under the Mental Health Parity Act of 1996 (MHPA), which required parity with respect to aggregate lifetime and annual dollar limits for mental health benefits.

Multiemployer Plan is an employee benefit plan jointly run by employers and unions and funded through a collective bargaining agreement. These plans help small businesses lower costs and allow workers to keep their benefits as they move from one employer to another.

Reservists Called to Active Duty - The EBSA protects the rights of reservists with respect to the retirement and health benefits provided by their private-sector employers while deployed.

Orphan Plan Project - an enforcement project, initiated in 2000, to locate pension plans, particularly 401(k) plans, which have been abandoned by fiduciaries through death, neglect, bankruptcy, or incarceration and to determine if a fiduciary could be located.

Qualified Domestic Relations Order (QDRO): The EBSA shares responsibility with the PBGC and the IRS for the administration of QDROs. Often used as part of a divorce settlement, QDROs typically establishes a former spouse's right to receive a designated amount of his or her spouse's individual retirement account balance or pension benefit payment.

PPA - Pension Protection Act of 2006 - EBSA is responsible for enforcing the requirements of the PPA. PPA's primary purpose is to provide additional protections for the nation's employee pension system and encourage more employees to prepare for retirement by participating in employer sponsored retirement programs. PPA is designed to ensure, through the use of additional reporting and disclosure requirements, such as, the Annual Funding Notice, that defined benefit plans remain strong and solvent.  

The PPA also addresses defined contribution plans and has made it easier for employers to attract employees to save for retirement.

Retirement and Health Care Coverage - most retirement and group health plans sponsored by employers must comply with ERISA, a Federal law that sets standards to protect employee benefits. Dislocated workers may have rights to certain retirement protections and health benefits under ERISA even if they lose their job. If a company provided a group health plan, the dislocated worker may be entitled to continued health benefits for a period of time if they cannot find a job immediately. When they find a new job, they may have fewer barriers to health care coverage. And with a change in employment, dislocated workers should understand how retirement benefits are affected. Knowing their rights can help a dislocated worker protect their family until they are working full time again.

VEVRAA - Vietnam Era Veterans' Readjustment Assistance Act - requires covered federal government contractors and subcontractors to take affirmative action to employ and advance in employment specified categories of veterans protected by the Act and prohibits discrimination against such veterans. In addition, VEVRAA requires contractors and subcontractors to list their employment openings with the appropriate employment service delivery system, and that covered veterans receive priority in referral to such openings. Further, VEVRAA requires federal contractors and subcontractors to compile and submit annually a report on the number of current employees who are covered veterans. The affirmative action and mandatory job-listing provisions of VEVRAA are enforced by the Employment Standards Administration's Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP) within the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL).

Automatic Approval for Change in Funding Method for Takeover Single-Employer Defined Benefit Plans 

Single-employer DB plans subject to Internal Revenue Code Section 430 (§430) may be eligible for automatic approval of a change in funding method due to a change in the plan's enrolled actuary and the business organization that provides actuarial services (takeover plans). This automatic approval is available for plan years beginning on or after January 1, 2013, for plans that meet the conditions outlined below (which are contained in IRS Announcement 2015-3):

Automatic Approval for Takeover Plans

For a plan subject to the requirements of §430, automatic approval is granted for a change in funding method that results from a change in enrolled actuary if all of the conditions set forth in paragraphs (1) through (4) below are satisfied:  

Alternatively, the comparisons of the funding target, target normal cost, and actuarial value of assets described in paragraphs (2) through (4) can be made on the basis of the current plan year, provided that the prior enrolled actuary has issued an actuarial report that includes those results (or has provided a signed Form 5500 Schedule SB to the new enrolled actuary for the current plan year, if revision of the Form 5500 Schedule SB is permitted).

For purposes of IRS Announcement 2015-3, an actuarial report must be signed by the enrolled actuary for the plan and must meet the applicable standards of performance under regulations issued by the Joint Board for the Enrollment of Actuaries. Also, current plan year means the first plan year for which a Schedule SB is signed by the new enrolled actuary and prior plan year means the plan year that immediately precedes the current plan year.

If the automatic approval granted pursuant to IRS Announcement 2015-3 for a change in the plan's funding method that results from a change in the plan's enrolled actuary applies, the new enrolled actuary is permitted to use new actuarial assumptions and a new funding method for the current plan year only if those changes are permitted under the generally applicable requirements of §430(h) and §412(d)(1). Pursuant to Regulation §1.430(d)-1(f)(1)(ii), once the Form 5500 Schedule SB has been filed for a plan year, the assumptions and methods generally cannot be changed for that plan year. However, the enrolled actuary can use new assumptions and methods, to the extent the change is permitted under guidance issued by the Commissioner, including IRS Announcement 2015-3. For example, see Section III.B of Notice 2014-53, Guidance on Pension Funding Stabilization under the Highway and Transportation Funding Act of 2014 (HATFA).

Taken From:

IRS Employee Plans News

Issue 2015-3; March 25, 2015