News

DOL Missing Participants Guidance Explained Further

January 27, 2021 Media Mentions

In January, the U.S. Department of Labor's (DOL) Employee Benefits Security Administration issued guidance on missing retirement plan participants. PLANSPONSOR published an article, "Sponsors Should Understand How to Use DOL Guidance on Missing Participants," describing this guidance and how there are still some unanswered questions. A snippet from employee benefits attorney Kim Couch's blog post on the topic was mentioned in the article:

"Although plan fiduciaries may delegate recordkeeping, participant communication and missing participant searches to third-party administrators [TPAs], plan fiduciaries must ensure that the delegate has established and is following sound procedures. Plan fiduciaries are ultimately responsible for ensuring benefits are paid accurately and timely under the retirement plan."

Click here for the full PLANSPONSOR article here.

For Kim Couch's two blog posts on the topics on our Benefits Law Update blog, see below:

DOL Guidance on Missing Pension Plan Participants

DOL Guidance on Missing Pension Plan Participants - Part II