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Employee Benefits Security Administration

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Overview:

Pensions are a vital source of retirement income for most Americans. According to the Department of Labor, America's private sector pension and retirement savings system includes approximately 730,000 plans with assets totaling close to $4.9 trillion and covering more than 100 million participants. The Department of Labor's Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA) is the primary agency responsible for protecting private pension plan participants and beneficiaries from the abuse or theft of their pension assets by enforcing the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974. Because private sector pensions are second only to Social Security in providing individuals' retirement income, effective oversight of the private pension industry's management of these assets is critical to ensure the economic security of workers, retirees, and their families. Yet, the ESBA has been criticized for failure in protecting the people from fiduciary interests, as well as for its lack of enforcement in compliance issues.

 
more
History:

 

The EBSA was created in 1974 to administer the provisions of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA). The ERISA is a federal statute that establishes standards for pension plans in private industry and provides for rules on the federal income tax effects of transactions associated with employee benefit plans. The provisions of Title I of ERISA were enacted to address public concern that funds of private pension plans were being mismanaged and abused. The EBSA was first known as the Pension and Welfare Benefits Program, until its name was changed in January 1986 to the Pension and Welfare Benefits Administration. Its final name change occurred in February 2003. 

 

 

 

more
What it Does:

 

According to its official website, the EBSA’s goal is to provide workers with the information they need to exercise their benefit rights. They are supposed to develop policies and regulations that encourage the growth of employment-based benefits. They are also supposed to deter and correct violations of benefit statutes through administrative, civil, and criminal enforcement.
 
According to Expectmore.gov, the program's mission is to protect and foster employee pension, health, and other benefit plans in the private sector through education, information, regulation, enforcement, and compliance assistance, and it is committed to educating and assisting Americans covered by private retirement, health and welfare plans. EBSA administers the laws related to private sector employee benefit plans including:
  • COBRA: Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act
  • HIPAA: Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act
  • ERISA: The Employee Retirement Income Security Act
 
A goal of the EBSA is to return money to plans and participants. According to Expectmore.gov, the program improved its ratio of closed cases with results from 69% in 2003 to 74% in 2006. During this same period, total monetary results (money returned to plans and participants or protected from risk) were in excess of $7 billion.
 
 
Compliance Assistance

 

more
Controversies:

 

Excess Information Required
In the summer of 2007, the EBSA posted a request for extra information in the Federal Register regarding 401(k) plan fees. “EBSA is collecting information from retirement industry stakeholders as part of a three-pronged approach to improve fee disclosure to plan participants, enhance reporting of fees and expenses to the government and increase disclosure to plan fiduciaries by service providers.” Some said that while they support transparency, the agency shouldn’t require so much information. These opponents were concerned that the extra information may create confusion for the ordinary person. On the other hand, the chairman of the House Committee on Education and Labor, George Miller (D-California), explains the necessity of this extra information, "Hidden fees are eating into the retirement savings of millions of American workers without them knowing it. Workers and employers need better information about fees in order to make well-informed decisions about basic things, like which plans and investment options will give them the best deal."
Retirement plans under scrutiny (by Doug Halonen, Investment News)
Congress Goes After Retirement Plan Fees (by Doug Halonen, Pensions & Investments)
 
Not Enough Audits and Investigations
Some argue that the EBSA’s current work of launching investigations chiefly based on complaints of alleged wrongs, is not enough. The The Government Accountability Office report, released February 20, 2007, recommended that EBSA supplement its current enforcement program with the same sort of routine audits used by other federal agencies, including the Internal Revenue Service and the Securities and Exchange Commission.
Pensions overseer urged to act more like SEC, IRS (by Doug Halonen, Pensions & Investments)
 
Fiduciaries and Conflicts of Interest
A fiduciary is a person to whom property or power is entrusted for the benefit of another. The EBSA announced in the summer of 2007 that it will propose regulations soon that would require pension consultants and other plan service providers to disclose all of their financial arrangements, including indirect compensation and fees, to plan fiduciaries. George Miller (D-California) is considering legislation that would require pension consultants to disclose possible conflicts of interest, because he is concerned that the conflicts are hurting plan participants. This legislation is spurred by a Government Accountability Office report recommended by the previous Assistant Secretary, Ann Combs. The key finding in the GAO report, which looked at 24 consultants, was that defined benefit plans using the 13 consultants that failed to disclose significant conflicts of interest had annual returns 1.3% lower than plans with 11 consultants that disclosed the conflicts. The GAO study lasted four years and ended December 31, 2004.
Retirement plans under scrutiny (by Doug Halonen, Pensions & Investments)
 
GAO Criticism
The Government Accountability Office has criticized many aspects of the EBSA. Although EBSA has conducted and continues to generate some statistical studies to measure noncompliance in the pension and health care industries, its pension compliance data remain limited, focusing on information such as the timeliness and full remittance of employee contributions to defined contribution plans. As of June 2006, EBSA officials could not provide an estimated time frame for results of its timeliness and remittance study. Although EBSA has taken steps, the agency still did not know the nature and extent of noncompliance within the pension industry, and its ERISA Compliance Assessment Committee had not yet planned any additional pension compliance baseline studies. EBSA’s limited noncompliance information may also prevent EBSA from effectively measuring the overall performance of its enforcement program.
 
Statutory Obstacles May Limit Ability to Oversee Pensions Plans Effectively
Certain statutory obstacles may limit EBSA’s effectiveness in overseeing private sector pension plans. First, the restrictive legal requirements of the 502(l) penalty under ERISA have limited EBSA’s ability to assess penalties and restore plan assets. According to EBSA officials, the penalty discourages parties from quickly settling claims of violations, thereby impeding the restoration of plan assets. Further, EBSA officials stated that in some instances, the penalty can also reduce the amount of money restored to plan participants when a plan sponsor is unwilling to or cannot fully restore assets and pay the penalty. Finally, investigators’ access to timely plan data for targeting new case leads is limited by ERISA filing deadlines. As a result, the data can be several years old. In some cases, investigators were relying on data up to 3 years old to target potential violators.

Report to the Ranking Minority Member, Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions, U.S. Senate

(GAO) (PDF)

 

more
Suggested Reforms:

Benefits Groups Call For Certain Changes In EBSA’s Proposed Regs On 401(k) Plan Fee Disclosure (Spencer's Benefits Reports)

 

 

more
Congressional Oversight:

Senate Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies; Committee on Appropriations

 

more
Former Directors:

Ann Combs 2001-2006

Ann L. Combs obtained her B.A. from the University of Notre Dame, followed by a J.D. from George Washington University in Washington D.C. She is a member of the D.C. Bar, as well as the National Academy of Social Insurance. Combs is the former chair of the Secure Retirement Coalition. Prior to 1993 Combs served six years as Deputy Assistant Secretary of Labor for the Pension and Welfare Benefits Administration during the administrations of Reagan and Bush Sr. During this time she served on President Bush’s White House Health Policy Working Group. In 1993 she was a principal of a consulting firm, William M Mercer’s Washington Resource Group. From 1994-1996 she served on the advisory council on social security. She also served as Vice President and Chief Council for pensions and retirement at the American Council of Life Insurers. 
 
After leading the EBSA for five years, Combs stepped down in October 2006 in order to return to the private sector, where she is currently working for the Vanguard Group. The Vanguard Group is the nation’s second largest mutual fund firm, managing $1.1 trillion in U.S. fund assets. According to Workforce Management magazine, while Combs was Assistant Secretary, she was involved on behalf of the Bush administration in the negotiations that led to the passage of a comprehensive pension funding reform legislation, as well as the recovery of more than $220 million for Enron Corp. pension plan participants. Before she stepped down, Combs guided the development of proposed regulations to help shield employers from liability for offering automatic enrollment in their 401(k) and other participant-directed defined-contribution plans.
 
more

Comments

Jeanette Andrea Larson 4 years ago
My husband worked for Allied Signal/ Bendix Corp. for 37 years, The company now is Honeywell , he was an engineer that was contracted out to work for NASA. He was employed 37 years, He passed away in April 2019, he had made provisions - elected a pension plan that included spousal benefits. I am 79 years old, so I enlisted the help from a family member as my Power of Attorney; we filed first notice with Honeywell Aug. 2019, to date there has been only emails that they opened a case on the claim. They have done absolutely nothing to process the pension after documentation was provided showing what pension plan my husband had opted for which clearly indicated that spousal benefits were covered. There has to be a Govt. agency that will step in and make them comply with the laws covering retirement pensions.
Ronda Meyers 5 years ago
Does the department of labor read this comments? I would like to post something about how I was treated by SEIU in applying for my pension. But I would like to know if these comments go anywhere. Thank you.
Russell L.Bowers 5 years ago
I received a letter from the social security administration about a private pension benefit that was reported in the year of 2003 to them in the amount of $15,,045. called deferred vested benefits reported to them by the IRS.I have the plan number and ID number and pension plan number and plan administrator and address. When I tried to contact them there was so such office at that address Merrill Lunch Trust Company of Medina, MN,55435-5969. How can I apply for these benefits? Russell Bowers
James Ziebell 7 years ago
What good are laws that can't be enforced. I worked for Tonka Toys in Mound MN. I started in 1974 and left in 1983. I was told and have documentation saying I would receive a pension upon reaching retirement. I also was led to believe that I had over $60,000 contributed on my behalf. Tonka was involved with the pension Guarantee System of the Federal Government but withdrew. Now there are no records to be obtained and the parties that are paying some of the Tonka participants say they do not have any records for me. I believe Prudential Insurance purchased the Tonka plan but they say they have no records for us. How is it that some people employed by Tonka claim they are getting their checks from Prudential!
Mike Jones 7 years ago
I worked for American Airlines for 18 years. Was laid off 9/27/01. I was eligible for receiving my pension on 1/9/17 as I had the option of taking at 55 or waiting until 65. I started looking into it in November when they advised me I didn't have the required 15 years to withdrawal my pension at 55. I asked for an appeal and it appears they are not going to act right. I cannot get a person to speak with and some third party company answers questions. I am disabled and in need to these funds immediately. Who oversees corporate pension plans for retirees? How can I get the benefits and pension I signed on to receive when I hired in 1984?
Gary free 7 years ago
Is it legal for a 401k administrator to make up their own derivatives of mutual funds to invest employee;s funds into. Have been posting this on different sites for about five years, without any answers, except from securities exchange commission, who said this was not under their control.
Dennis Bingham 10 years ago
I was employeed at a foundry in Fort Atkinson, WI back in the 70's. I will be 62 in November and I am trying to get my pension information. I was told you could help me find information on this pension. The name of the foundry is Jamesway. Any help you can give me in this matter would be greatly appreaciated. Thank you, Dennis Bingham
Robert Wright 11 years ago
I just received my first pension check from a not for profit hospital in an amount that was lower and does not agree with the paperwork they provided and I signed off on. What recourse do I have?
Betty Greene 11 years ago
Hi, my name is Betty I have a concern about my 401k . There are many employees at the company that I have work for have 401k plans and has a loans through the plan. We have money taken out of our checks weekly to pay back our loans. Our company is not putting our money in for our loans in a timely manner, the last deposit was sometime in Sept.2012 .We all have received 1099 s because our company has let our loans go in default. We are trying to find out what we can do and what our rights are and try to find out what our company owes us since they have been taking it from our checks.i hope you can give us some advise employees having been trying to ask HR but it seems like they don't have time to call a meeting an let us know what's going on! Thanks, Betty Greene

Leave a comment

Founded: 1974
Annual Budget: $139 million
Employees: 385
Official Website: http://www.dol.gov/ebsa/
Employee Benefits Security Administration
Borzi, Phyllis
Previous Assistant Secretary
As head of the Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA) in the U.S. Department of Labor, Phyllis C. Borzi not only oversees issues related to pensions and retirement plans, but also will help enforce part of the health care reform law as it pertains to businesses. She was confirmed by the Senate on July 10, 2009, and sworn in three days later..
 
A Democrat with pro-employee sympathies, Borzi is said to be respected by Republicans and employer groups, including the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. She is also the nation’s leading expert on the law that governs workplace benefits, the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA).
 
A native of New York state, Borzi earned her Bachelor of Arts in 1968 from Ladycliff College in Highland Falls, New York, her Master of Arts degree in English in 1970 from Syracuse University and her JD in 1978 from Catholic University Law School, where she was editor-in-chief of the law review.
 
She began her professional life as a high school English teacher.
 
From 1979 to 1995, Borzi served as pension and employee benefit counsel for the House Subcommittee on Labor-Management Relations (part of the Committee on Education and Labor). In 1993, she served on working groups dealing with insurance reform, workers’ compensation and employer coverage Hillary Clinton's Presidential Task Force on Health Care Reform.
 
From 1995 to 2009, Borzi was a research professor in the Department of Health Policy at George Washington University Medical Center’s School of Public Health and Health Services. In that position, she was involved in research and policy analysis involving employee benefit plans, the uninsured, managed care, and legal barriers to the development of health information technology. She was also co-director of the university’s Hirsch Health Law and Policy Program.
 
During this same time, she also worked at the Washington, DC, law firm of O’Donoghue & O’Donoghue LLP, specializing in ERISA and other legal issues affecting employee benefit plans, including pensions and retirement savings, health plans, and discrimination based on age or disability.
 
Following the 2008 presidential election, Borzi led the EBSA review for President Barack Obama’s transition team.
 
Borzi is a charter member and former president of The American College of Employee Benefit Counsel and served on its board of governors from 2000-2008; former member and former co-chair of the advisory board of the Pensions and Benefits Reporter; former member of the advisory committee of the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation; former member of the advisory board of the Boettner Center for Pensions and Retirement Research at the Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania; and former member of the board of the Women’s Institute for a Secure Retirement. In 2008, she was appointed by the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Ohio and served as a public member of the administrative committee for the Goodyear retiree health trust.
 
Borzi has published numerous articles on ERISA, health care law and policy and retirement security issues and has been a frequent speaker to legal, professional, business, consumer and state and local governmental organizations. An active member of the American Bar Association, she is the former chair of the ABA’s Joint Committee on Employee Benefits.
 
Assistant Secretary Biography (U.S. Department of Labor)
Lifting the Fog: Face to Face with Phyllis C. Borzi (by Doug Halonen, Pensions and Investments)
Obama Health Team Turns to Carrying Out Law (by Robert Pear, New York Times)
more
Campbell, Bradford
Former Assistant Secretary
Bradford P. Campbell grew up in Virginia. He received his A.B. from Harvard University in 1995, where he was the President-Elect of the Harvard-Radcliffe Republican Club. He then went on to receive his J.D. from Georgetown University while serving as the Deputy Assistant Secretary for Policy. Prior to joining the Department of Labor, Campbell worked on Capitol Hill as Legislative Director for then-Congressman Ernest Fletcher (R-Kentucky) and prior to this he was the Senior Legislative Assistant to former Congressman, and current SEC Chairman, Christopher Cox (R-California). Joining the Department of Labor in 2001, Campbell represented the Department of Labor to the Congress on issues pertaining to ERISA and the Employee Benefits Security Administration as the Senior Legislative Officer in the Office of Congressional and Intergovernmental Affairs. Campbell previously held the position of Deputy Assistant Secretary for Policy since March 5, 2004, until he stepped up to acting Assistant Secretary, October 30, 2006, and was confirmed as Assistant Secretary by the US Senate on August 3, 2007.

 
 
more

Table of Contents
Bookmark and Share
Overview:

Pensions are a vital source of retirement income for most Americans. According to the Department of Labor, America's private sector pension and retirement savings system includes approximately 730,000 plans with assets totaling close to $4.9 trillion and covering more than 100 million participants. The Department of Labor's Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA) is the primary agency responsible for protecting private pension plan participants and beneficiaries from the abuse or theft of their pension assets by enforcing the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974. Because private sector pensions are second only to Social Security in providing individuals' retirement income, effective oversight of the private pension industry's management of these assets is critical to ensure the economic security of workers, retirees, and their families. Yet, the ESBA has been criticized for failure in protecting the people from fiduciary interests, as well as for its lack of enforcement in compliance issues.

 
more
History:

 

The EBSA was created in 1974 to administer the provisions of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA). The ERISA is a federal statute that establishes standards for pension plans in private industry and provides for rules on the federal income tax effects of transactions associated with employee benefit plans. The provisions of Title I of ERISA were enacted to address public concern that funds of private pension plans were being mismanaged and abused. The EBSA was first known as the Pension and Welfare Benefits Program, until its name was changed in January 1986 to the Pension and Welfare Benefits Administration. Its final name change occurred in February 2003. 

 

 

 

more
What it Does:

 

According to its official website, the EBSA’s goal is to provide workers with the information they need to exercise their benefit rights. They are supposed to develop policies and regulations that encourage the growth of employment-based benefits. They are also supposed to deter and correct violations of benefit statutes through administrative, civil, and criminal enforcement.
 
According to Expectmore.gov, the program's mission is to protect and foster employee pension, health, and other benefit plans in the private sector through education, information, regulation, enforcement, and compliance assistance, and it is committed to educating and assisting Americans covered by private retirement, health and welfare plans. EBSA administers the laws related to private sector employee benefit plans including:
  • COBRA: Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act
  • HIPAA: Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act
  • ERISA: The Employee Retirement Income Security Act
 
A goal of the EBSA is to return money to plans and participants. According to Expectmore.gov, the program improved its ratio of closed cases with results from 69% in 2003 to 74% in 2006. During this same period, total monetary results (money returned to plans and participants or protected from risk) were in excess of $7 billion.
 
 
Compliance Assistance

 

more
Controversies:

 

Excess Information Required
In the summer of 2007, the EBSA posted a request for extra information in the Federal Register regarding 401(k) plan fees. “EBSA is collecting information from retirement industry stakeholders as part of a three-pronged approach to improve fee disclosure to plan participants, enhance reporting of fees and expenses to the government and increase disclosure to plan fiduciaries by service providers.” Some said that while they support transparency, the agency shouldn’t require so much information. These opponents were concerned that the extra information may create confusion for the ordinary person. On the other hand, the chairman of the House Committee on Education and Labor, George Miller (D-California), explains the necessity of this extra information, "Hidden fees are eating into the retirement savings of millions of American workers without them knowing it. Workers and employers need better information about fees in order to make well-informed decisions about basic things, like which plans and investment options will give them the best deal."
Retirement plans under scrutiny (by Doug Halonen, Investment News)
Congress Goes After Retirement Plan Fees (by Doug Halonen, Pensions & Investments)
 
Not Enough Audits and Investigations
Some argue that the EBSA’s current work of launching investigations chiefly based on complaints of alleged wrongs, is not enough. The The Government Accountability Office report, released February 20, 2007, recommended that EBSA supplement its current enforcement program with the same sort of routine audits used by other federal agencies, including the Internal Revenue Service and the Securities and Exchange Commission.
Pensions overseer urged to act more like SEC, IRS (by Doug Halonen, Pensions & Investments)
 
Fiduciaries and Conflicts of Interest
A fiduciary is a person to whom property or power is entrusted for the benefit of another. The EBSA announced in the summer of 2007 that it will propose regulations soon that would require pension consultants and other plan service providers to disclose all of their financial arrangements, including indirect compensation and fees, to plan fiduciaries. George Miller (D-California) is considering legislation that would require pension consultants to disclose possible conflicts of interest, because he is concerned that the conflicts are hurting plan participants. This legislation is spurred by a Government Accountability Office report recommended by the previous Assistant Secretary, Ann Combs. The key finding in the GAO report, which looked at 24 consultants, was that defined benefit plans using the 13 consultants that failed to disclose significant conflicts of interest had annual returns 1.3% lower than plans with 11 consultants that disclosed the conflicts. The GAO study lasted four years and ended December 31, 2004.
Retirement plans under scrutiny (by Doug Halonen, Pensions & Investments)
 
GAO Criticism
The Government Accountability Office has criticized many aspects of the EBSA. Although EBSA has conducted and continues to generate some statistical studies to measure noncompliance in the pension and health care industries, its pension compliance data remain limited, focusing on information such as the timeliness and full remittance of employee contributions to defined contribution plans. As of June 2006, EBSA officials could not provide an estimated time frame for results of its timeliness and remittance study. Although EBSA has taken steps, the agency still did not know the nature and extent of noncompliance within the pension industry, and its ERISA Compliance Assessment Committee had not yet planned any additional pension compliance baseline studies. EBSA’s limited noncompliance information may also prevent EBSA from effectively measuring the overall performance of its enforcement program.
 
Statutory Obstacles May Limit Ability to Oversee Pensions Plans Effectively
Certain statutory obstacles may limit EBSA’s effectiveness in overseeing private sector pension plans. First, the restrictive legal requirements of the 502(l) penalty under ERISA have limited EBSA’s ability to assess penalties and restore plan assets. According to EBSA officials, the penalty discourages parties from quickly settling claims of violations, thereby impeding the restoration of plan assets. Further, EBSA officials stated that in some instances, the penalty can also reduce the amount of money restored to plan participants when a plan sponsor is unwilling to or cannot fully restore assets and pay the penalty. Finally, investigators’ access to timely plan data for targeting new case leads is limited by ERISA filing deadlines. As a result, the data can be several years old. In some cases, investigators were relying on data up to 3 years old to target potential violators.

Report to the Ranking Minority Member, Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions, U.S. Senate

(GAO) (PDF)

 

more
Suggested Reforms:

Benefits Groups Call For Certain Changes In EBSA’s Proposed Regs On 401(k) Plan Fee Disclosure (Spencer's Benefits Reports)

 

 

more
Congressional Oversight:

Senate Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies; Committee on Appropriations

 

more
Former Directors:

Ann Combs 2001-2006

Ann L. Combs obtained her B.A. from the University of Notre Dame, followed by a J.D. from George Washington University in Washington D.C. She is a member of the D.C. Bar, as well as the National Academy of Social Insurance. Combs is the former chair of the Secure Retirement Coalition. Prior to 1993 Combs served six years as Deputy Assistant Secretary of Labor for the Pension and Welfare Benefits Administration during the administrations of Reagan and Bush Sr. During this time she served on President Bush’s White House Health Policy Working Group. In 1993 she was a principal of a consulting firm, William M Mercer’s Washington Resource Group. From 1994-1996 she served on the advisory council on social security. She also served as Vice President and Chief Council for pensions and retirement at the American Council of Life Insurers. 
 
After leading the EBSA for five years, Combs stepped down in October 2006 in order to return to the private sector, where she is currently working for the Vanguard Group. The Vanguard Group is the nation’s second largest mutual fund firm, managing $1.1 trillion in U.S. fund assets. According to Workforce Management magazine, while Combs was Assistant Secretary, she was involved on behalf of the Bush administration in the negotiations that led to the passage of a comprehensive pension funding reform legislation, as well as the recovery of more than $220 million for Enron Corp. pension plan participants. Before she stepped down, Combs guided the development of proposed regulations to help shield employers from liability for offering automatic enrollment in their 401(k) and other participant-directed defined-contribution plans.
 
more

Comments

Jeanette Andrea Larson 4 years ago
My husband worked for Allied Signal/ Bendix Corp. for 37 years, The company now is Honeywell , he was an engineer that was contracted out to work for NASA. He was employed 37 years, He passed away in April 2019, he had made provisions - elected a pension plan that included spousal benefits. I am 79 years old, so I enlisted the help from a family member as my Power of Attorney; we filed first notice with Honeywell Aug. 2019, to date there has been only emails that they opened a case on the claim. They have done absolutely nothing to process the pension after documentation was provided showing what pension plan my husband had opted for which clearly indicated that spousal benefits were covered. There has to be a Govt. agency that will step in and make them comply with the laws covering retirement pensions.
Ronda Meyers 5 years ago
Does the department of labor read this comments? I would like to post something about how I was treated by SEIU in applying for my pension. But I would like to know if these comments go anywhere. Thank you.
Russell L.Bowers 5 years ago
I received a letter from the social security administration about a private pension benefit that was reported in the year of 2003 to them in the amount of $15,,045. called deferred vested benefits reported to them by the IRS.I have the plan number and ID number and pension plan number and plan administrator and address. When I tried to contact them there was so such office at that address Merrill Lunch Trust Company of Medina, MN,55435-5969. How can I apply for these benefits? Russell Bowers
James Ziebell 7 years ago
What good are laws that can't be enforced. I worked for Tonka Toys in Mound MN. I started in 1974 and left in 1983. I was told and have documentation saying I would receive a pension upon reaching retirement. I also was led to believe that I had over $60,000 contributed on my behalf. Tonka was involved with the pension Guarantee System of the Federal Government but withdrew. Now there are no records to be obtained and the parties that are paying some of the Tonka participants say they do not have any records for me. I believe Prudential Insurance purchased the Tonka plan but they say they have no records for us. How is it that some people employed by Tonka claim they are getting their checks from Prudential!
Mike Jones 7 years ago
I worked for American Airlines for 18 years. Was laid off 9/27/01. I was eligible for receiving my pension on 1/9/17 as I had the option of taking at 55 or waiting until 65. I started looking into it in November when they advised me I didn't have the required 15 years to withdrawal my pension at 55. I asked for an appeal and it appears they are not going to act right. I cannot get a person to speak with and some third party company answers questions. I am disabled and in need to these funds immediately. Who oversees corporate pension plans for retirees? How can I get the benefits and pension I signed on to receive when I hired in 1984?
Gary free 7 years ago
Is it legal for a 401k administrator to make up their own derivatives of mutual funds to invest employee;s funds into. Have been posting this on different sites for about five years, without any answers, except from securities exchange commission, who said this was not under their control.
Dennis Bingham 10 years ago
I was employeed at a foundry in Fort Atkinson, WI back in the 70's. I will be 62 in November and I am trying to get my pension information. I was told you could help me find information on this pension. The name of the foundry is Jamesway. Any help you can give me in this matter would be greatly appreaciated. Thank you, Dennis Bingham
Robert Wright 11 years ago
I just received my first pension check from a not for profit hospital in an amount that was lower and does not agree with the paperwork they provided and I signed off on. What recourse do I have?
Betty Greene 11 years ago
Hi, my name is Betty I have a concern about my 401k . There are many employees at the company that I have work for have 401k plans and has a loans through the plan. We have money taken out of our checks weekly to pay back our loans. Our company is not putting our money in for our loans in a timely manner, the last deposit was sometime in Sept.2012 .We all have received 1099 s because our company has let our loans go in default. We are trying to find out what we can do and what our rights are and try to find out what our company owes us since they have been taking it from our checks.i hope you can give us some advise employees having been trying to ask HR but it seems like they don't have time to call a meeting an let us know what's going on! Thanks, Betty Greene

Leave a comment

Founded: 1974
Annual Budget: $139 million
Employees: 385
Official Website: http://www.dol.gov/ebsa/
Employee Benefits Security Administration
Borzi, Phyllis
Previous Assistant Secretary
As head of the Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA) in the U.S. Department of Labor, Phyllis C. Borzi not only oversees issues related to pensions and retirement plans, but also will help enforce part of the health care reform law as it pertains to businesses. She was confirmed by the Senate on July 10, 2009, and sworn in three days later..
 
A Democrat with pro-employee sympathies, Borzi is said to be respected by Republicans and employer groups, including the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. She is also the nation’s leading expert on the law that governs workplace benefits, the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA).
 
A native of New York state, Borzi earned her Bachelor of Arts in 1968 from Ladycliff College in Highland Falls, New York, her Master of Arts degree in English in 1970 from Syracuse University and her JD in 1978 from Catholic University Law School, where she was editor-in-chief of the law review.
 
She began her professional life as a high school English teacher.
 
From 1979 to 1995, Borzi served as pension and employee benefit counsel for the House Subcommittee on Labor-Management Relations (part of the Committee on Education and Labor). In 1993, she served on working groups dealing with insurance reform, workers’ compensation and employer coverage Hillary Clinton's Presidential Task Force on Health Care Reform.
 
From 1995 to 2009, Borzi was a research professor in the Department of Health Policy at George Washington University Medical Center’s School of Public Health and Health Services. In that position, she was involved in research and policy analysis involving employee benefit plans, the uninsured, managed care, and legal barriers to the development of health information technology. She was also co-director of the university’s Hirsch Health Law and Policy Program.
 
During this same time, she also worked at the Washington, DC, law firm of O’Donoghue & O’Donoghue LLP, specializing in ERISA and other legal issues affecting employee benefit plans, including pensions and retirement savings, health plans, and discrimination based on age or disability.
 
Following the 2008 presidential election, Borzi led the EBSA review for President Barack Obama’s transition team.
 
Borzi is a charter member and former president of The American College of Employee Benefit Counsel and served on its board of governors from 2000-2008; former member and former co-chair of the advisory board of the Pensions and Benefits Reporter; former member of the advisory committee of the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation; former member of the advisory board of the Boettner Center for Pensions and Retirement Research at the Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania; and former member of the board of the Women’s Institute for a Secure Retirement. In 2008, she was appointed by the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Ohio and served as a public member of the administrative committee for the Goodyear retiree health trust.
 
Borzi has published numerous articles on ERISA, health care law and policy and retirement security issues and has been a frequent speaker to legal, professional, business, consumer and state and local governmental organizations. An active member of the American Bar Association, she is the former chair of the ABA’s Joint Committee on Employee Benefits.
 
Assistant Secretary Biography (U.S. Department of Labor)
Lifting the Fog: Face to Face with Phyllis C. Borzi (by Doug Halonen, Pensions and Investments)
Obama Health Team Turns to Carrying Out Law (by Robert Pear, New York Times)
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Campbell, Bradford
Former Assistant Secretary
Bradford P. Campbell grew up in Virginia. He received his A.B. from Harvard University in 1995, where he was the President-Elect of the Harvard-Radcliffe Republican Club. He then went on to receive his J.D. from Georgetown University while serving as the Deputy Assistant Secretary for Policy. Prior to joining the Department of Labor, Campbell worked on Capitol Hill as Legislative Director for then-Congressman Ernest Fletcher (R-Kentucky) and prior to this he was the Senior Legislative Assistant to former Congressman, and current SEC Chairman, Christopher Cox (R-California). Joining the Department of Labor in 2001, Campbell represented the Department of Labor to the Congress on issues pertaining to ERISA and the Employee Benefits Security Administration as the Senior Legislative Officer in the Office of Congressional and Intergovernmental Affairs. Campbell previously held the position of Deputy Assistant Secretary for Policy since March 5, 2004, until he stepped up to acting Assistant Secretary, October 30, 2006, and was confirmed as Assistant Secretary by the US Senate on August 3, 2007.

 
 
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