Employee Plan ‘Fix-It’ Programs and How to Use Them

Carol Buckmann

Employee benefit plan requirements seem to become more complicated every year, and even vigilant employers make errors. How is a plan sponsor expected to provide useful retirement benefits when compliance is so complex? Furthermore, the probability that the IRS or the Department of Labor (DOL) will catch violations on audit is increasing. New enforcement initiatives and an increase in the DOL’s auditing staff mean that plan sponsors are more likely to be audited than in the past. For example, the DOL’s Philadelphia office has announced an initiative to examine 401(k) plans in which participants pay higher-than-average fees, and the IRS will be focusing on the most common 401(k) plan violations it found when analyzing the results of a questionnaire sent to selected sponsors.