DOL Provides COVID-19 Relief For Retirement Plans

On April 28^th, the Employee Benefits Security Administration ("EBSA") of the Department of Labor ("DOL"), together with the Department of the Treasury, issued helpful guidance for retirement plans that extends certain deadlines and provides other relief in light of the national coronavirus outbreak. The guidance is set forth in three separate pieces -

• EBSA Disaster Relief Notice 2020-01 ("EBSA Notice 2020-01"),
• A final rule for publication in the Federal Register that contains a joint notice issued by both the DOL and the Department of the Treasury (the "Joint Notice"), and
• A list of FAQs entitled COVID-19 FAQs for Participants and Beneficiaries ("COVID-19 FAQs").

The guidance will significantly affect ERISA-covered retirement plans, plan sponsors, fiduciaries, plan participants and beneficiaries and plan service providers. The guidance comes in the aftermath of the CARES Act's amendment to section 518 of ERISA, which expressly permits the DOL to