DOL’s Civil Penalty/Monetary Penalty (tied to the Federal Civil Penalties Inflation Adjustment Act)
| 2024 Maximum Penalty | 2025 Maximum Penalty | |
| Failure or refusal to file Form 5500 | $2,670 per day | $2,739 per day* |
| Failure to furnish employee benefit plan documents to the DOL during an audit (including plan and trust documents, SPD, SMM, collective bargaining agreement) | $190 per day | $195 per day |
| (but no greater than $1,906 per request) | (but no greater than $1,956 per request) | |
| Failure by employer to inform employees of Medicaid/CHIP coverage opportunities | $141 per day per failure | $145 per day per failure |
| Failure of MEWA to file required report (M-1) | $1,942 per day | $1,992 per day |
* The Secretary of Labor can impose the maximum penalty if they so choose
Adjustment: Annual inflation adjustments are based on the percent change between the October Consumer Price Index (CPI-U) preceding the date of the adjustment, and the prior year’s October CPI-U. The cost-of-living adjustment multiplier for 2024, based on the Consumer Price Index (CPI–U) for the month of October 2023, not seasonally adjusted, is 1.03241.
Source: https://public-inspection.federalregister.gov/2024-31602.pdf
Other Penalties
| TABLE II: EBSA’s Enforcement Manual Penalties (Applied During an Audit) | Amount |
| The penalty for significant reporting errors such as financial reporting items; examples: errors on Schedule H or missing Schedule of Assets | $100/day capped at $36,500 |
| The penalty for non-critical missing or deficient reporting items | $10/day capped at $3,650 |
| For Non-Filers of the Form 5500 not using the DFVC Program (Group was notified in writing by the Department of a failure to file a timely annual report under Title I of ERISA) | A penalty of $780 per day, up to $78,000 per year, may be assessed on a plan administrator until a complete Form 5500 is filed. |
| For Late-Filers of the Form 5500 not using the DFVC Program (Group was notified in writing by the Department of a failure to file a timely annual report under Title I of ERISA) | A penalty of $130 per day, for each day an annual report is filed after the date on which the annual report was required to be filed, without regard to any extensions of time for filing |
Who is the EBSA:
The Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA) promotes and protects the pension, health, and other benefits of the over 150 million participants and beneficiaries in over 6 million private sector employee benefit plans. Within the EBSA is the Office of the Chief Accountants and they run the audits on the 5500s. Wrangle nicknames this division as “the police” for the DOL.
| TABLE III: ERISA Law | Amount |
| Under ERISA § 501, criminal penalties can be applied to any person who is convicted of willfully violating any portion of Part 1 of Title I of ERISA (which includes the Form 5500 reporting requirement) | Can include a fine of up to $100,000 and/or imprisonment up to 10 years.
Source: https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/29/1131 |
| Failure to provide the SPD within 30 days to plan participant who submitted a written request | $110 per day
Source: https://www.law.cornell.edu/cfr/text/29/2520.102-3 |
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