For FY 2024, the Department of Labor’s (DOL) Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA) agency closed 729 compliance investigations with 514 of them (an astonishing 71%) resulting in $742 million of total enforcement actions. This sum is nearly half of the EBSA’s nearly $1.4 Billion recovered due to plan non-compliance.
Employers found non-compliant with ERISA paid, on average, $2.7 million each in fines, penalties and plan restitution.
For the most egregious non-compliant acts, 68 individuals were indicted and another 161 individuals plead guilty or were convicted of crimes related to employee benefit plans. These included plan officials, corporate officers, and service providers for offenses related to employee benefit plans. 177 criminal investigations were closed during the 2024 fiscal year.
The biggest takeaway from the 2024 metrics
Last year, the EBSA received a total of 199,094 inquires from participants and beneficiaries via their Informal Compliant Resolution program. Participants can simply call a toll-free number or message a Benefit Advisor via the EBSA’s website with a complaint about benefits that the participant believes are due. Sometimes, it’s simply a misunderstanding between the participant and employer/plan sponsor, but when a complaint appears to have merit, a EBSA Regional Office will contact the plan sponsor to better understand the matter and, if appropriate, escalate the matter. Many employers/plan sponsors are unprepared when these situations arise.
With more and more data being reported to (and shared) electronically between agencies, it should be presumed that any DOL audit (including common Wage and Hour audits), OSHA audits, EEOC audits, IRS audits, HHS audits, or any other Federal agencies examinations, can trigger an investigation into other areas of employer non-compliance.
How this impacts you in 2025 (and beyond)
Those who believed the last Trump administration would scale back the Obama-era Department of Labor’s (DOL’s) aggressive enforcement of laws may be surprised to learn that the EBSA’s enforcement actions were actually 81% higher during 2017-2020 ($6.8 billion) vs. 2013-2016 ($3.7 billion). Combined with an increased level of participant complaints, plan sponsors need to step up their compliance efforts.
To prepare for an eventual DOL audit (or civil lawsuit) employers should adopt a comprehensive compliance approach that include tools to ensure compliance deadlines are met, risk assessments to identify compliance gaps, and other training and educational resources.
NOW UPDATED FOR 2025
DOL Audit Enforcement Actions Infographic
