Employee Benefits Security Administration: Enforcement Improvements Made but Additional Actions Could Further Enhance Pension Plan Oversight

摘要

The Department of Labor's (DOL) Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA) enforces the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA), which sets certain minimum standards for private sector pension plans. On the basis of GAO's prior work, the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions asked GAO to review EBSA's enforcement program. Specifically, this report assesses (1) the extent to which EBSA has improved its compliance activities since 2002; (2) how EBSA's enforcement practices compare to those of other agencies; and (3) what obstacles, if any, affect ERISA enforcement. To do this, we reviewed EBSA's enforcement strategy and operations, and interviewed officials at EBSA, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) and the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), among others. In March 2002, we identified weaknesses in EBSA's enforcement program, despite the agency's actions to strengthen it. Since that time, EBSA has, among other things, promoted coordination among regional investigators and increased participation in its voluntary correction programs.