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ARTICLE · 26 JANUARY 2018

ERISA, Other DOL Penalties Increased For 2018

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Maximum penalties for violating many employment and benefits laws were increased as part of an inflation adjustment rule published January 2 (83 Fed. Reg. 7) by the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL).

United StatesEmployment and HR
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Maximum penalties for violating many employment and benefits laws were increased as part of an inflation adjustment rule published January 2 (83 Fed. Reg. 7) by the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL).

This department-wide rule represents the second annual adjustment made to implement the Federal Civil Penalties Inflation Adjustment Act Improvements Act of 2015. This law directed agencies to adjust their penalties for inflation each year using a much more straightforward method than previously available, and required agencies to make "catch up" increases as well.

Prior law also had required that penalties be adjusted for inflation, but imposed various caps and rounding rules that, in practice, kept them from doing so, according to the DOL. As a result, some of the increases made by the agency in a July 2016 interim rule were significant.

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