Defined benefit plan

The Department of Labor has published in the Federal Register several inflation-adjusted penalty amounts for certain failures associated with qualified retirement plans.

The Department of Labor’s Pension Benefits Guaranty Corporation (PBGC)—the agency that insures and has primary governance over defined benefit (DB) pension plans—has issued the 2024 plan year version of its Comprehensive Premium Filing Instructions.

The Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC) has indicated they will launch a new and improved e-Filing Portal on February 1, 2024.

The Department of Labor (DOL) Wage and Hour Division has issued a news release and final rule to clarify whether a worker qualifies as an employee or an independent contractor under the Fair Labor Standards Act.

Representatives Darin LaHood (R-IL), and Linda Sanchez (D-CA) have introduced H.R. 6757 to permit rollover contributions from Roth IRAs to designated Roth accounts in a 401(a), 403(a), 403(b) or 457(b) arrangement.

The IRS has issued Revenue Ruling 2024-1, containing the covered compensation tables for the 2024 plan year. These tables are used in calculations for defined benefit pension plans when permitted disparity, sometimes called integration, is used in determining employer-provided benefits.

The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) has issued Notice 2024-04, which contains updated guidance on factors used in certain defined benefit (DB) pension plan minimum funding and present value calculations. 

The Department of Labor (DOL) has issued a final rule updating the Davis-Bacon Act (DBA) and the Davis-Bacon Related Acts (together “DBRA”) nearly 40 years after the Department last completed a comprehensive revision of the guidelines.

The IRS has released a proposed rule reflecting statutory changes made by the SECURE Act and SECURE 2.0 related to long-term, part-time employees. The SECURE Act of 2019 expanded coverage for 401(k) plans to allow those who had worked at least 500 hours in three consecutive years to participate under a plan’s salary deferral provision – with service required to be counted beginning with plan years on or after January 1, 2021. SECURE 2.0 shortened this wait to two years effective for 2025 and later plan years, and expanded applicability to ERISA-covered 403(b) plans allowing salary deferrals.

The Office of Management and Budget has received a final rule from the Department of Labor (DOL) titled “Proposed Amendment to PTE 84-14 for Plan Asset Transactions Determined by an Independent Qualified Plan Asset Manager”.