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Free DOL Webcast on Benefit Plan Reporting

May 6th, 2008 Posted by Amelia

Here’s a great resource for HR professionals and employers struggling with the annual reporting demands for pension, healthcare and other benefit plans under federal regulations.

The U.S. Department of Labor will host a free May 8 webcast on federal benefit reporting requirements, including form 5500 reporting requirements.

The U.S. Department of Labor’s Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA) is sponsoring the event.

This second in a series of EBSA webcasts will help employers and plan administrators meet their obligations under ERISA to file timely and accurate financial reports on the operations of pension, health and other benefit plans.

According to sources at the EBSA, the webcast will address ways to avoid common filing errors, how to select the accountant best qualified to audit your plan, what to be aware of when reporting alternative investments, and rules on “blackout notices.”

In addition, the webcast will also provide important information to 403(b) plan sponsors to help them prepare for expanded filing requirements, and preparing for an audit of the plan. The Internal Revenue Service will participate in the event to discuss its late and stop-filer program.

The series is being offered as part of EBSA compliance assistance program entitled Getting It Right - Know Your Fiduciary Responsibilities, to help employers and plan administrators meet their fiduciary responsibilities and avoid potential civil penalties under the law.

The webcast is open to employers, HR professionals and benefit plan administrators.

Although the webcast is free, participation is limited and registration is required.

For more information, visit the EBSA online at www.dol.govebsa or call 202-693-8660.

The free webcast will take place on Thursday May 8 from noon to 2 pm Eastern Standard Time. Register live on the internet by clicking here, or click on “Plan Filing Update” under “Compliance Workshops” at www.dol.gov/ebsa/.

The Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) requires plan administrators — the people who run plans — to give plan participants in writing the most important facts they need to know about their retirement and health benefit plans including plan rules, financial information, and documents on the operation and management of the plan.

Some of these facts must be provided to participants regularly and automatically by the plan administrator. Others are available upon request, free-of-charge or for copying fees. The request should be made in writing.

One of the most important documents participants are entitled to receive automatically when becoming a participant of an ERISA-covered retirement or health benefit plan or a beneficiary receiving benefits under such a plan, is a summary of the plan, called the summary plan description or SPD. The plan administrator is legally obligated to provide to participants, free of charge, the SPD.

The summary plan description is an important document that tells participants what the plan provides and how it operates. It provides information on when an employee can begin to participate in the plan, how service and benefits are calculated, when benefits are vested, when and in what form benefits are paid, and how to file a claim for benefits. If a plan is changed, participants must be informed, either through a revised summary plan description, or in a separate document, called a summary of material modifications, which also must be given to participants free of charge.