EP Examinations dedicates staff resources to ensure consistency in its compliance activities relating to certain plan specialties. Compliance planning groups on each plan specialty include representatives from each of the EP Examinations area offices along with representatives from other EP offices. Each group coordinates regularly in the planning of compliance activities to achieve a consistent approach to customers, uniform application of pension law and EP Examination procedures by EP Employees, information sharing and the leveraging of EP's resources for the greatest impact on compliance.
Below are the specialties for which compliance groups currently exist, including links to helpful information.
Large Employee Plans Employee Plans Team Audit (EPTA) is responsible for the examination of plans with 2,500 or more participants. At the link above you will find useful tools in understanding the EPTA Program and the issues found during examinations of large employee plans.
Other Programs and Initiatives
Although we have not set up a compliance program for small business retirement plans, we are currently taking a look at compliance levels among such plans, including SEPs, SARSEPs and SIMPLEs. Below are links to helpful information and valuable tools that can be used to help employers stay in compliance with pension laws.
Many problems and questionable items involving retirement plans can be resolved through telephone or mail contact rather than a field office exam. To accomplish more of these “soft contacts,” EP Examination established an Employee Plans Compliance Unit (EPCU).
The EPCU is de-centralized and managed out of Chicago. This unit will focus on some of the most high profile projects affecting EP. In addition, the unit will investigate new ways of using available data and analytical techniques.
The initial projects that the EPCU will focus on include: