Workforce Bulletin

Financial institutions and advisers that manage retirement plan assets and are subject to the regulations of the Department of Labor (“DOL”) under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974, as amended, (“ERISA”) regarding fiduciary duties (the “Fiduciary Rule”) may also be subject to state law violations for failure to comply with the Fiduciary Rule. The Enforcement Section of the Massachusetts Division of the Office of the Secretary of the Commonwealth (the “Massachusetts Enforcement Section”) filed an administrative complaint (the ...

Featured on Employment Law This Week: The Department of Labor’s Fiduciary Rule will go into effect on June 9th.

The controversial rule will require financial professionals who advise clients on retirement accounts to promote suitable products and act in the best interests of their clients. Secretary of Labor Alexander Acosta announced in a Wall Street Journal op-ed that there is “no principled legal basis” to delay the rule, although full enforcement won’t begin until 2018. The department intends to issue a Request for Information to seek public opinion on revisions and ...

The Department of Labor (“DOL”) previously announced the applicability date for the DOL’s fiduciary rule (the “Fiduciary Rule”) will be June 9, 2017.  On May 22, 2017, in an opinion piece for the Wall Street Journal, Labor Secretary Alexander Acosta disclosed that, despite the Administration’s agenda of deregulation, the regulators are required to following existing law and must enforce the Fiduciary Rule.  On the same date, the DOL announced, in Field Assistance Bulletin 2017-02 (“FAB 2017-2”), that during a transition period from June 9, 2017 until January 1 ...

Advisers and financial institutions that provide fiduciary investment advice have an additional 60 days before having to comply with the final regulations defining who is a fiduciary under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974, as amended (the “Fiduciary Rule”).  On April 4, 2017, the Department of Labor (“DOL”) issued a final rule (the “Final Rule”), which delays the applicability date of the Fiduciary Rule until June 9, 2017 and also extends for 60 days the applicability dates of the Best Interest Contract Exemption (the “BIC Exemption”) and the ...

The Department of Labor (“DOL”) has issued a proposed rule (the “Proposed Rule”) that would delay for 60 days (the “60-Day Delay”) the April 10, 2017 applicability date of the DOL’s new fiduciary rule (the “Fiduciary Rule”). Given the potential change in the applicability date, financial services institutions will need to determine if they will continue their work toward implementation of the Fiduciary Rule or if they will delay their efforts.

The Proposed Rule provides for a 15-day comment period on the proposed 60-Day Delay and then a 45-day comment period ...

As with most aspects of the workplace, employee benefits are going digital.  From online enrollments and administration for all types of benefits, to electronic educational tools, employers are increasingly seeking ways to use new technologies to enhance their benefits programs, increase efficiencies and employee engagement.  Among these innovations is the proliferation of computer-driven, digitally-based investment advisers, or so-called “robo advisers.”  The market for robo-advisers is growing fast with many new companies entering the space with increasing ...