Retirement plans have received their fair share of attention since the great recession of 2008. The crisis in the public sector pension plans have contributed to this attention. Remember the 401(k) plan was originally designed as a supplement ot a pension plan they have now become the sole source of retirement for more and more Americans.

The Department of Labor’s Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA) has significantly raised its enforcement efforts against plan advisers and sponsors. In 2011 the EBSA closed 3,472 civil cases that brought in nearly $1.39 billion. It also closed 302 criminal cases that resulted in 129 individuals being indicted, and 75 cases closed with guilty pleas and/or convictions. This year the DoL is increasing its enforcement personnel from 913 to 1,003.Those numbers indicate that there is a lot of noncompliance with Employee Retirement Income Security Act fiduciary duties. According to the DoL, that is because many advisers are surprisingly still unaware that the DoL has jurisdiction over them, and many plan sponsors are unaware of their responsibilities as ERISA fiduciaries.

The Department of labor DOL is becoming more and more diligent in enforcing fiduciary compliance for retirement plans for employers of all sizes. With the proper professional fiduciary assistance plan sponsors need not be concerned.

Please comment aor call to dicusss how this might you and your company.