Tuesday, February 2, 2021
On February 1, 2021, the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) formally proposed delaying the implementation of its final rule, entitled “Strengthening Wage Protections for the Temporary and Permanent Employment of Certain Aliens in the United States.” This rule was scheduled to go into effect on March 15, 2021. The rule, which was published during the last days of the Trump administration, was an updated version of the rule originally published as an interim final rule on October 8, 2020. The rule revises how the existing four-tiered wage structure of the Occupational Employment Statistics (OES) wage survey is calculated for purposes of determining prevailing wages. The updated wage structure would impact H-1B, H-1B1, and E-3 temporary work visas, as well as the permanent labor certification program (PERM) that supports many employer-based green card applications.
Department of Labor DOL Field Assistance Bulletin 2021-01, blesses PBGC’s Missing Participant Program as an additional method of addressing a perennial issue in 401k terminations – the problem of missing participants and beneficiaries with remaining account balances.
Wednesday, January 6, 2021
Background
As ESG (environmental, social and governance) investing recently has drawn the attention of governmental agencies that oversee the administration of qualified retirement plans and their trillions of dollars in assets. This is unsurprising given that focus and interest in ESG investing has picked steam at a rapid pace in recent years. On October 30, 2020, the Department of Labor (DOL) finalized amendments to the Employee Retirement Income Security Act’s (ERISA) “investment duties” regulation (the Final Investment Duties Rule). The Final Investment Duties Rule, which becomes effective on January 12, 2021, revises prior proposed amendments to the regulation that were published in June 2020.