|
|
On
This Page |
|
|
|
The Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA) is committed to educating and assisting over 200
million pension, health and other employee benefit plan participants and
beneficiaries and more than 3 million plan sponsors and members of the
employee benefit community. EBSA promotes voluntary compliance and
facilitates self-regulation, working diligently to provide quality
assistance to plan participants and beneficiaries. It is the policy of EBSA
to provide the highest quality of service to its customers.
|
|
|
EBSA's goal in providing direct assistance is to
raise the knowledge level of plan participants and beneficiaries,
service providers and other interested parties and to ensure that they
have access to available plan documents filed with the Department of
Labor.
|
This enables participants to better understand and exercise
their rights under the law and, when possible, to recover any benefits
to which they may be entitled. This also allows practitioners the
opportunity to better understand and comply with the law.
|
If you telephone our
office, you can expect:
|
If you write our
office, you can expect:
|
You will always receive straightforward information
on how the law applies to your circumstances, information about options
that may be available, respect for your privacy and the name of the EBSA
employee assisting you. |
|
|
Individualized participant assistance is offered by
our national and field offices. When you write, call or visit our
offices in search of assistance, you will receive information that will
inform you of your rights and help you seek benefits. We are available
to explain how the relevant statutes EBSA enforces apply to you and, in
appropriate cases, the agency will make inquiries on your behalf. Such
inquiry will be informal and generally will not include litigation on
your behalf or provision of legal advice. We will be vigilant in
identifying and acting upon patterns of complaints.
|
|
|
Complaints involving alleged violations of ERISA are
handled by our national and field office technical assistance staff and
investigators. Those who file complaints with us can expect a prompt and
courteous response from our staff. While we cannot ensure that every
complaint will result in an investigation, at the conclusion of
enforcement activity, if requested, we will furnish an understandable
explanation of the outcome of our review and investigation.
|
When you write, call, or email our offices for assistance or with a complaint,
we need certain information to help you. It would be helpful to have
this information available when your contact us by telephone. If you
write us, you should include the following information in your letter:
-
Your name and daytime telephone number
-
A brief explanation of your problem
-
Evidence that you have filed a claim for benefits
-
Name, address and telephone number of your employer or plan
official to be contacted
-
Your permission to inquire on your behalf, if necessary
-
Employment dates, birth date, social security number, policy
number or other identification numbers
|
For technical assistance and complaints, you should
call EBSA's toll free number at 1.866.444.EBSA
(3272). Please note: The law is not all-encompassing and you may not always be
pleased with the remedy or with the explanation you receive. Also, some
actions of employers may not always seem fair or honorable yet may be
legal. We will be sensitive to your situation but may not always be able
to provide you with a solution. |
|
|
Requests for pension plan documents on file with the
Department of Labor are handled by the EBSA Public Disclosure staff. Our
employees are available during regular office hours to process your
requests. You should expect your request to be handled in a timely,
courteous and efficient manner.
|
Our policy is to fill all requests for:
|
All large special requests will be acknowledged
within 5 working days. At that time, our staff will provide an estimated
date for completion and will keep you apprised of any problems arising
during the processing stage.
|
All requests for documents submitted under the Freedom of Information
Act will be filled or acknowledged within 20 days after receipt by the
disclosure officer.
|
All document requests will be processed on a first-come, first-served basis.
|
We will inform requestors of any backlog. We need certain information to
help you when you contact our disclosure office for assistance, either
by telephone or by mail:
|
More information about requesting documents from the
Employee Benefits Security Administration is available on our Forms
& Document Requests page.
|
Send requests for copies of documents to:
U.S. Department of Labor
Employee Benefits Security Administration
Public Disclosure Room
200 Constitution Avenue, NW,
Suite N-1513
Washington, DC 20210
Tel 202.693.8673
|
|
|
EBSA's goal in responding to requests for
interpretations and other rulings is to facilitate compliance with ERISA,
and the department's regulations through useful and
timely interpretive guidance to plan participants, plan sponsors and
other members of the employee benefits community.
|
Such requests under Title 1 of ERISA are handled by EBSA's Office of
Regulations and Interpretations under the provisions established by
ERISA Procedure 76-1 (41 Federal Register 36281, August 27, 1976). The
office generally answers inquiries from individuals and organizations in
the form of advisory opinions, which apply the law to a specific set of
facts, or information letters, which merely call attention to well
established principles or interpretations.
|
Requests for interpretations and other rulings will be acknowledged
within 2 weeks of receipt. Each acknowledgment letter will identify the
pension law specialist to whom the request has been assigned and a
telephone number for directing questions concerning the request. EBSA's
goal is to provide a response or assessment of the request within 180
days of receipt. Applicants will be kept informed of the status of their
request on a periodic basis. Applicants will be treated courteously and
with respect.
|
Send requests for interpretations and other rulings
to:
U.S. Department of Labor
Employee Benefits Security Administration
Office of Regulations and Interpretations
200 Constitution Avenue, NW,
Suite N-5669
Washington, DC 20210
Tel 202.693.8500
|
|
|
Applications for exemptions under Title I of ERISA
are handled by EBSA's Office of Exemption Determinations (OED). OED
staff will advance the protections of ERISA by timely processing of
exemption requests under Title I of ERISA, ensuring establishment of
effective conditions and safeguards to protect plans, participants and
beneficiaries, and facilitating meritorious transactions that would
otherwise be prohibited. In processing exemptions, we will minimize
regulatory and administrative burdens to the extent feasible, while
protecting the rights of plan participants and beneficiaries.
|
All applicants for exemptions will be acknowledged and assigned to an
analyst within 2 weeks of receipt. The analyst will provide a
preliminary reaction to the application within 30 days. The name and
telephone number of the analyst will also be provided as the contact
person for information concerning the status of the application.
|
Applicants will be kept informed of any significant developments in the
processing of the request and any change to the estimated completion
date. Applicants will be treated courteously and with respect.
|
Send applications for exemptions to:
U.S. Department of Labor
Employee Benefits Security Administration
Office of Exemption Determinations
200 Constitution Avenue, NW,
Suite N-5649
Washington, DC 20210
Tel 202.693.8540
|
|
|
The Employee Benefits Security Administration wants
to give all of our customers the best service possible. You may email
the national office or contact the EBSA office nearest you. We will continue to
evaluate and improve our service and will survey our customers from time
to time to determine whether we are meeting your needs.
|
We care about what you think of our services and
welcome your comments and suggestions. Please feel free to let us know
what you think of the service you received.
|
Send your comments to:
U.S. Department of Labor
Employee Benefits Security Administration
200 Constitution Avenue, NW, Suite N-5625
Washington, DC 20210
Attn: Customer Service Representative
|