Resources

The Department of Labor (DOL) has issued Field Assistance Bulletin 2026-02 (Bulletin), addressing inquiries regarding compliance with the paper statement requirements under Section 338 of SECURE 2.0. DOL recognizes that final regulations addressing the 2002 and 2020 electronic delivery safe harbors have not been issued (proposed regulations were released in February), and that defined contribution plans operating on a calendar-year basis must furnish a quarterly pension benefit for the calendar-year quarter that ended on March 31, 2026, no later than May 15, 2026.

The Department of Labor's Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA) has issued Field Assistance Bulletin (FAB) 2026-01, a memorandum to EBSA staff from Assistant Secretary Daniel Aronowitz providing guiding principles for EBSA's enforcement priorities. The guidance notes that these priorities and principles are designed to ensure that EBSA’s enforcement is fair, even-handed, responsive, and focused.

The Department of Labor announced that it has issued Technical Release 2026-01, guidance reaffirming that proxy advisors that regularly engage in exercising control over shareholder rights attributable to ERISA plan assets, or provide advice for a fee about how ERISA plans should exercise proxy voting rights, must meet ERISA’s functional fiduciary requirements. The guidance follows an executive order, Protecting American Investors from Foreign-Owned and Politically-Motivated Proxy Advisors issued in December by President Trump spotlighting two large foreign-owned proxy advisors.

The Department of Labor has released a proposed rule, “Fiduciary Duties In Selecting Designated Investment Alternatives”. According to a news release, the rule explains the steps that managers of 401(k) plans should take when considering alternative assets as a component in their investment lineups and establishes a set of process-based safe harbors for plan fiduciaries to use when selecting designated investment alternatives. The proposal follows President Trump’s Executive Order, “Democratizing Access to Alternative Assets for 401(k) Investors".

The U.S. Department of Labor’s Employee Benefits Security Administration has removed the Biden-era 2024 final rule, “Retirement Security Rule: Definition of an Investment Advice Fiduciary,” from the Code of Federal Regulations, responding to final judgments entered in the Northern and Eastern Districts of Texas vacating the rule.

Representatives Glenn Grothman (R-WI) and Don Norcross (D-NJ) have introduced H.R. 7362, the Form 5500 Simplification Act. The Form 5500 is used to provide information to the Internal Revenue Service, the Department of Labor (DOL), and the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC).

The Department of Labor (DOL) has released a proposed rule intending to update the requirements for employers to determine employee or independent contractor status under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). This determination is critical to assessing whether a worker is eligible to participate in—or sponsor—a retirement plan.

The Department of Labor (DOL) has released a proposed rule making amendments to electronic disclosure safe harbors pursuant to the implementation of Section 338 of SECURE 2.0. SECURE 2.0 requires that employers provide retirement plan benefit statements in paper form once annually for defined contribution plans and once every three years for defined benefit plans.