On May 21, 2020, the U.S. Department of Labor (\u201cDOL\u201d) announced a final rule allowing employers to post retirement plan disclosures online or furnish them to workers via email.\u00a0 The rule is aimed at reducing administrative expenses for employers and making information more readily available to workers.<\/p>\n
ERISA-covered retirement plans must furnish multiple disclosures each year to participants and beneficiaries. The exact number of disclosures per year depends on the specific type of retirement plan, its features, and in some cases the plan\u2019s funding status.\u00a0 To deliver these disclosures electronically, plan administrators were previously required to comply with the regulatory safe harbor established in 2002 under 29 CFR 2520.104b-1(c), which required that disclosures be reasonably calculated to ensure that workers actually received the information, including confirmation that the transmitted information was actually received (e.g., using return-receipt or notice of undelivered electronic mail features, conducting periodic reviews or surveys to confirm receipt of the transmitted information).<\/p>\n
On August 31, 2018, Executive Order 13847, entitled\u00a0Strengthening Retirement Security in America<\/em>, was issued. The Order directed the DOL to review whether regulatory or other actions could be taken to make retirement plan disclosures more understandable for participants and beneficiaries and to focus on reducing the production and distribution costs that retirement plan disclosures impose on employers.\u00a0 In October 2019, the Department published a proposed regulation with a solicitation for public comment.\u00a0 In response to the commentary received, a final rule creating a new voluntary safe harbor was established.\u00a0 The new safe harbor permits the following two optional methods for electronic delivery:<\/p>\n