I work in retirement plans every day, so when a letter from the Employee Benefits Security Agency (EBSA) of the Department of Labor (DOL), shows up on my desk I take notice. Thankfully, the DOL was writing to ask my help. They were asking me to help clients identify and correct ERISA violations.
We counsel clients to do as the Department says. Consistent with that philosophy, this is my effort to highlight one of the more successful programs in allowing retirement plan sponsors to both identify and correct 19 categories of fiduciary violations. While nearly every plan seeks perfect compliance with DOL guidelines, even the best of plan sponsors periodically makes an error and the DOL’s Voluntary Fiduciary Correction Program (VFCP) allows plan sponsors to correct these routine fiduciary violations.
In an effort to get the word out about VFCP, the DOL will be hosting VFCP workshops across the country:
The DOL also has a summary of the VFCP program available:
http://www.dol.gov/ebsa/newsroom/fs2006vfcp.html
The DOL and IRS have worked to create more opportunities for sponsors to correct routine errors in the administration of their plan. Please review these programs. If you sponsor a plan long enough, you’re bound to need it.