Department of Labor August 2007 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

This document contains a direct final rule amending the civil penalty regulation under section 502(c)(7) of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA or the Act) to reflect recent amendments to this section in the Pension Protection Act of 2006, Public Law 109-280, 120 Stat. 780 (PPA). These amendments authorize the Secretary of Labor to assess civil penalties not to exceed $100 per day for each violation of section 101(m) of ERISA. Section 101(m) of ERISA requires plan administrators of individual account plans to notify participants and beneficiaries of their right to sell the company stock in their accounts and reinvest the proceeds into other investments available under the plan. The notice must also inform the recipients of the importance of diversifying the investments in their accounts.

The Department of Labor amends the regulations governing the employee protection (``whistleblower'') provisions of Section 211 of the Energy Reorganization Act of 1974, as amended (``ERA''), to implement the statutory changes enacted into law on August 8, 2005, as part of the Energy Policy Act of 2005. The regulations also make the procedures for handling retaliation complaints under Section 211 of the ERA and the environmental whistleblower statutes listed in Part 24 as consistent as possible with the more recently promulgated procedures for handling retaliation complaints under other employee protection provisions administered by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (``OSHA''), see 29 CFR parts 1979-1981.

The Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP) is publishing a new set of regulations to implement the amendments to the affirmative action provisions of the Vietnam Era Veterans' Readjustment Assistance Act of 1974 (``VEVRAA'') that were made by the Jobs for Veterans Act (``JVA'') enacted in 2002. The JVA amendments raised the threshold dollar amount of the Government contracts that are subject to the affirmative action provisions of VEVRAA, changed the categories of veterans protected by the law, and changed the manner in which the mandatory job listing requirement is to be implemented. The final regulations published today apply only to covered Government contracts entered into or modified on or after December 1, 2003. The existing VEVRAA implementing regulations found in 41 CFR part 60-250 will continue to apply to Government contracts entered into before December 1, 2003.

The Department of Labor (DOL or Department) is publishing an e-mail address for the receipt and processing of reports of potential violations of its recently published Final Rule seeking to protect the integrity of the permanent labor certification program and reduce incentives for fraud and abuse.

This document contains exemptions issued by the Department of Labor (the Department) from certain of the prohibited transaction restrictions of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA or the Act) and/or the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 (the Code). A notice was published in the Federal Register of the pendency before the Department of a proposal to grant such exemption. The notice set forth a summary of facts and representations contained in the application for exemption and referred interested persons to the application for a complete statement of the facts and representations. The application has been available for public inspection at the Department in Washington, DC. The notice also invited interested persons to submit comments on the requested exemption to the Department. In addition the notice stated that any interested person might submit a written request that a public hearing be held (where appropriate). The applicant has represented that it has complied with the requirements of the notification to interested persons. No requests for a hearing were received by the Department. Public comments were received by the Department as described in the granted exemption. The notice of proposed exemption was issued and the exemption is being granted solely by the Department because, effective December 31, 1978, section 102 of Reorganization Plan No. 4 of 1978, 5 U.S.C. App. 1 (1996), transferred the authority of the Secretary of the Treasury to issue exemptions of the type proposed to the Secretary of Labor.