Plan administrators of 401(k) and other participant-directed plans must provide participants with information about the fees associated with the plan (fee disclosures) at least annually. When the rules were first released, the Department of Labor (“DOL”) required plan administrators to provide the fee disclosures no later than 12 months after the prior fee disclosure was mailed. This rule created practical difficulties and caused each plan’s fee disclosure deadline to move over time.

Yesterday, the DOL released a revised rule that corrects these issues. The revised rule, which plan administrators can rely on immediately, allows plan administrators to satisfy the “at least annually” requirement by providing fee disclosures once every 14 months, rather than once every 12 months.

For a general overview of the retirement plan fee disclosure rules, please review our client alert on fee disclosures. If you have any questions about this new rule, please contact one of the attorneys listed below.