Washington, D.C., April 29, 2025 – Today, The ERISA Industry Committee (ERIC) praised the recent introduction of two bills aimed at reforming the practices of the Employee Benefit Security Administration (EBSA), a subagency of the Department of Labor (DOL). Under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA), EBSA has significant enforcement responsibilities for workers, retirees, and their families who rely on these plans.
The first bill, introduced by Congresswoman Lisa McClain, the EBSA Investigations Transparency Act, would help Congress fulfill its critical oversight responsibilities and ensure that EBSA’s enforcement activities and priorities are transparent and efficient.
“ERIC applauds the introduction of the EBSA Investigations Transparency Act. Regulators should see plan sponsors as key partners in enhancing health care and retirement security. Unfortunately, too many employers report never-ending audits and investigations relating to their benefit plans. These fishing expeditions have shifting scope, moving goalposts, and burdensome demands for irrelevant information,” said ERIC President and CEO James Gelfand. “After spending thousands of dollars and countless hours cooperating with enforcement personnel, these burdensome investigations often find no wrongdoing but may morph into new inquiries. Congresswoman McClain’s bill would end these “Sword of Damocles” actions and bring needed transparency to ensure efficient, predictable enforcement of the laws governing worker benefits.”
The second bill, introduced by Congressman Michael Rulli, the Balance the Scales Act, focuses on coordination between the DOL and plaintiffs’ lawyers. Last year, it was revealed that the DOL secretly uses “common interest agreements” to share information from EBSA investigations with plaintiffs’ attorneys who are suing employee benefit plans.
“Plan sponsors work hard to provide valuable health and retirement benefits to their workforces. The idea that DOL is sharing findings from its investigations with the plaintiffs’ bar is like throwing chum in the water to create a feeding frenzy of frivolous litigation. The action itself is alarming, and so are its potential consequences,” said Gelfand. “These lawsuits are costly and time-consuming to defend. And even if the claim is dismissed, the lawsuits incinerate money that would have been spent on benefits for workers and families.”
Gelfand continued, “Plan sponsors deserve to know if the federal government is colluding with the plaintiff’s bar and supplying confidential information to trial lawyers suing benefits plans. If these activities are occurring, they should be documented and transparent. ERIC applauds the introduction of the Balance the Scales Act and encourages Congressman Rulli and the Education and Workforce Committee to pursue aggressive oversight of these agreements.”
ERIC is a national advocacy organization exclusively representing the largest employers in the United States in their capacity as sponsors of employee benefit plans for their nationwide workforces. With member companies that are leaders in every economic sector, ERIC is the voice of large employer plan sponsors on federal, state, and local public policies impacting their ability to sponsor benefit plans. ERIC member companies offer benefits to tens of millions of employees and their families, located in every state and city across the country.