The Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA) of the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) has announced that it is collecting voluntary data from retirement plan administrators to populate its new Retirement Savings Lost and Found database. Section 303 of the SECURE 2.0 Act directs DOL to consult with the Department of Treasury to establish this database by December 29, 2024. The database will consist of an online search tool for workers and beneficiaries to locate administrators for job-based retirement plans that may owe them benefits.
To that end, EBSA is asking retirement plan administrators to voluntarily submit certain data to EBSA for inclusion in the database. Administrators of retirement plans subject to the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) can provide the data directly or authorize their third-party administrators or recordkeepers to release it to EBSA. The agency also is requesting that plan administrators promote the database to retirement plans and their participants and obtain authorization from them to gather the necessary data.
The database is designed to assist “missing participants” in finding and accessing their retirement plan benefits. All too often, workers lose track of their retirement plans when they change jobs, an employer goes out of business, or an employer merges with another company. Retirement plans also may fail to have updated contact information for participants for assorted reasons. This situation results in workers going without retirement benefits that they have earned and retirement plans, spending valuable time and resources searching for missing participants, as required by their fiduciary duty.
EBSA has already assisted in these efforts by engaging in extensive investigations to locate missing participants. Since 2017, EBSA has obtained over $7 million in retirement benefits for missing participants and beneficiaries.
EBSA is requesting that the current contact information of plan administrators be included in the databases. The agency also requests that plan administrators provide the name and Social Security number of any participant aged 65 or older, separated from service, and owed a benefit from the plan.
Plan administrators should submit the requested information by December 29, 2024, and update it at least annually. However, EBSA strongly encourages plan administrators to update the information more frequently, such as quarterly, to keep the database as up to date as possible. EBSA also asks plan administrators to identify plan participants whom they previously reported are no longer owed benefits, including the date that their benefits were paid in full.
EBSA has created the Retirement Savings Lost & Found Database Intake Portal for plan administrators to submit the requested information using a Login.gov account. An Excel/CSV template exists on the site, which administrators can complete and then upload to the site to simultaneously submit information on multiple plans.
Finally, EBSA assures plan participants that if they voluntarily provide the requested data using this method of data transmission, they will fulfill their duty under ERISA section 404 to appropriately mitigate cybersecurity risks. Plan fiduciaries will not be liable under ERISA in case of a future security failure involving the database.
HBL has experience in all areas of benefits and employment law, offering a comprehensive solution to all your business benefits and H.R./employment needs. We help ensure you are in compliance with the complex requirements of ERISA and the IRS code, as well as those laws that impact you and your employees. Together, we reduce your exposure to potential legal or financial penalties. Learn more by calling 470-571-1007.
Hall Benefits Law, LLC
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