The Employee Benefits Security Administration of the Department
of Labor (the "DOL") announced today, that tomorrow it
will be publishing information regarding a new "safe
harbor" that ERISA plan administrators can use for providing
certain required disclosures through electronic media. If the
proposal is adopted, it would allow plan administrators to notify
participants and beneficiaries that certain disclosures may be
found online. This would greatly enhance the efficiency of ERISA
disclosures and reduce the expenses to employers for paper
mailings.
Rather than sending lengthy paper documents through the mail,
the new safe harbor would allow plan administrators to post legal
disclosures on a website and notify plan participants and
beneficiaries that the information is available on the website,
including instructions on how to access the disclosures and their
right to receive paper copies of the disclosures. The proposal
includes standards for the website where the
