Compliance August 26, 2015

Whistleblowers Remedied Following ERISA Challenge

The DOL says officials at Cement Masons Southern California Trust Funds illegally retaliated against a whistleblower who flagged ERISA violations.
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Three whistleblowers will receive $630,000 in lost wages and damages following accusations of impropriety at a Southern California fund company.

According to the Department of Labor (DOL), as director of the Cement Masons Southern California Trust Funds’ audit and collections department, Cheryle Robbins spoke up when she believed a trustee was breaking federal law protecting the firm’s retirement and benefit plans.

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Robbins later cooperated with federal investigators examining the firm’s management of its retirement plans, and the board of trustees responded by placing Robbins on administrative leave. Next, according to the DOL, when the company outsourced Robbins’ department to a third-party administrator, Robbins was the only employee not retained by the new employer. 

This resulted in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California ordering 12 trustees of the Los Angeles-based firm and its service provider, Zenith American Solutions, to pay $630,000 in lost wages and damages to Robbins and her co-workers, Cory Rice and Louise Bansmer. The pair “supported Robbins’ whistleblowing efforts,” according to the DOL.

Assistant Secretary of Labor for Employee Benefits Security Phyllis Borzi commented directly on the enforcement collection.

“There are no good stories about retirement savings crimes, but this case was particularly galling because three people were all punished for doing the right thing,” Borzi says. “Robbins, Rice and Bansmer suffered serious financial consequences because they stood up for what was right. This resolution ensures that they’ll finally get the compensation they deserve.”

Prior to her termination, Robbins complained internally that Scott Brain, a trustee and business manager for Cement Masons Local Union 600, was violating the federal Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA). In 2011, she cooperated with a federal criminal investigation into Brain’s activities. Upon learning of her cooperation, the joint board of trustees voted to place Robbins on administrative leave, until such time that her department was outsourced.

Rice and Bansmer were also allegedly fired because of their participation in Robbins’ internal whistle-blowing activities or because they refused to cease communicating with her after she was placed on leave.  

Data & Research August 26, 2015

Retirement Readiness Still Dogs Employers

Nearly four in ten employers surveyed say fewer than half their workers are financially equipped to meet retirement head-on.
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Employers continue to express concern about their staffers’ finances, with retirement readiness the top measure. According to the LIMRA Secure Retirement Institute, 80% of employers in its 2015 401(k) Plan Sponsor Survey said an important success measure of their company’s retirement benefit is employee retirement readiness.

Nearly all employers (96%) in their role as retirement plan sponsors measure employee retirement readiness. More than half use an evaluation tool supplied by their plan provider, and 42% use employee surveys as a measure.

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Employer concerns over retirement preparedness are right in line with findings from a national survey that shows just over half of working families are “at risk” of not having enough saved to maintain their lifestyle in retirement. That particular survey does not even factor in health care, LIMRA notes. Other research finds that nearly half of all working-age U.S. households do not own any retirement account assets. 

Nearly all employers (92%) have discussed retirement readiness with their advisers and plan providers. Two-thirds of the time, plan providers initiated this discussion.

The LIMRA Secure Retirement Institute recommends plan providers keep initiating retirement readiness discussions with employers and encourage advisers to do the same. Through a constant dialogue, both parties can better understand what solutions will work best to improve employee retirement readiness.

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