Labor & Employment Law Daily Wrap Up, DOL NEWS—EBSA issues ‘limited interpretive guidance,’ solicits input on pooled employer plans, (Jul 28, 2025)
Organizations Mentioned:Employee Benefits Security Administration
By Brandi O. Brown, J.D.
The Labor Department seeks public input on how to help smaller employers that want to offer retirement benefits choose a high-quality, low-cost option known as a pooled employer plan.
The Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA) of the Department of Labor is issuing “limited interpretive guidance” intended to help small employers select high-quality, low-cost “pooled employer plans” or “PEPs.” Operated by entities known as pooled plan providers, PEPs are retirement savings plans adopted by two or more unrelated employers to provide retirement benefits to employees. According to the Labor Department, they can result in lower costs for employers and increased retirement savings for employees.
The document, which is scheduled to be published in the Federal Register tomorrow, also solicits information about prevailing pooled employer plan market practices. According to the Labor Department, the agency will consider the responses as “part of a process aimed at developing a potential regulatory safe harbor or safe harbors that comprehensively encourage market participants to offer and employers to join such plans.”
What’s included. The document includes:
a general description of the ERISA framework applicable to PEPs;
limited observations of the PEP marketplace made by the Department based on reports filed with the agency;
“limited interpretive guidance” intended to help small employers understand their responsibilities as fiduciaries in connection with joining a PEP; and
a set of “tips” to assist small employers in selecting a PEP.
Information sought. The document solicits information about “prevailing PEP practices, responses to which will be considered as a possible basis for a regulatory safe harbor that encourages market participants to offer and employers to join such plans.”
The document also seeks input on information to assist the Department in developing the report to Congress required by section 344 of SECURE 2.0.
According to a statement released today, the Labor Department’s RFI builds upon previous requests related to pooled employer plans, which were created by the Setting Every Community Up for Retirement Enhancement Act of 2019. The request provides interpretive guidance about an employer’s responsibilities when joining a PEP and offers advice on selecting a plan. It also solicits information about prevailing market practices related to PEPs, which could serve as the basis for a future regulatory safe harbor that would encourage employers to join PEPs and motivate entities to offer strong and sound plans.
“The Department of Labor remains committed to helping American workers save for a secure retirement. This request for information is a key step toward identifying ways to help smaller employers lower costs and improve retirement outcomes for their employees,” said Deputy Secretary of Labor Keith Sonderling. “We’re working to deliver on President Trump’s promise to provide price relief for American families.”
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