DOL Seeks More Data to Launch Retirement Savings Lost and Found Database

In response to public concern, Labor said it has narrowed the collection request from what was previously proposed. The information will help Labor establish and maintain the complete database contemplated by section 523 of ERISA.

Labor is seeking “basic information about individuals of a certain age who may be owed benefits under ERISA retirement plans.”

Specifically, EBSA states that it’s asking for the name and Social Security number of any participant who:

• separated from service;
• is owed a benefit from the plan; and
• is 65 or older.

“The fundamental purpose of any job-based retirement plan is to pay promised benefits to the workers who participate in those plans and plan beneficiaries,” Lisa Gomez, assistant secretary for Employee Benefits Security, said in a statement.

“Our goal, which we believe plan sponsors and administrators and their service providers share, is to make sure that workers and their beneficiaries receive all the retirement benefits they earned and were promised through their working careers so that they can look forward to a secure and enjoyable retirement,” Gomez said.

The Retirement Savings Lost and Found database “will be another tool to help plans carry out this responsibility.”  

Credit: Mike Scarcella/ALM