Organization Chart

Assistant Secretary | Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary | Office of Health Plan Standards and Compliance Assistance | Office of Regulations and Interpretations | Office of Exemption Determinations | Deputy Assistant Secretary National Office | Office of Enforcement | Office of the Chief Accountant | Office of Outreach, Education and Assistance | Office of Program Planning, Evaluation and Management | Deputy Assistant Secretary Regional Offices | Regional Offices

Assistant Secretary

As Acting Assistant Secretary, Ms. Wilson serves as agency head for the Employee Benefits Security Administration at the Department of Labor. Ms. Wilson has served at EBSA since her initial appointment in November 2017. Since that time she has served as Acting Assistant Secretary (from June 2020 to now, and previously from November 2017 to January 2018). She also served as EBSA’s Deputy Assistant Secretary for Policy (November 2017 to May 2019), and Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary (May 2019 to May 2020).

Before her appointment, Ms. Wilson served as counsel to plan sponsors and fiduciaries for over fifteen years. Prior to her graduation from law school, Ms. Wilson worked for seven years at a national accounting firm where she audited employee benefit plans and provided employee benefit plan compliance advice.

Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary

Deputy Assistant Secretary for National Office Operations

Timothy D. Hauser is the Deputy Assistant Secretary for National Office Operations and as such is the chief operating officer of the agency. Mr. Hauser closely coordinates with the Assistant Secretary, Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary, and Deputy Assistant Secretary for Regional Office Operations in the formulation and development of EBSA policies, objectives, and goals to ensure comprehensive, integrated, and effective regulatory, compliance assistance, education, reporting, and enforcement programs.

Mr. Hauser joined the Department of Labor in 1991 as a trial attorney for the Plan Benefits Security Division (PBSD), where he represented the Department in federal district court and appellate litigation. From November 2000 until November 2013, Mr. Hauser was the Associate Solicitor of the Division. As the head of PBSD, he was responsible for all of the Department's legal work under ERISA.

Before joining the Department of Labor, Mr. Hauser worked as a trial attorney for six years at Legal Aid of Western Missouri. As a Legal Aid attorney, he represented indigent clients in civil litigation in ten rural counties in Missouri.

Mr. Hauser graduated from Harvard Law School in 1985. He is also a graduate of the University of Illinois.

Deputy Assistant Secretary for Regional Office Operations

Amy J. Turner is the Deputy Assistant Secretary for Regional Office Operations. She oversees EBSA’s ten Regional Offices and three District Offices. Ms. Turner closely coordinates with the Assistant Secretary, Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary, and Deputy Assistant Secretary for National Office Operations in the formulation and development of EBSA policies, objectives, and goals to ensure comprehensive, integrated, and effective regulatory, compliance assistance, education, reporting, and enforcement programs.

Prior to her current appointment, Ms. Turner was the Director of the Office of Health Plan Standards and Compliance Assistance, where she managed regulations, interpretive guidance, and implementation activities for group health plans, in coordination with the Departments of HHS and the Treasury and other Agencies.

Ms. Turner graduated from the George Washington University Law School in 1996. She earned her B.S. in Industrial and Labor Relations from Cornell University in 1993.

Office of Enforcement

The Office of Enforcement promotes the protection of pension and welfare benefits under ERISA by ensuring a strong and effective national and field office enforcement program through: (1) Policy formulation; (2) Project identification and program planning; (3) Guidance development and implementation; (4) Field liaison; (5) Field and project evaluation; (6) Coordination of investigations to detect and correct violations of Title I of ERISA and related criminal laws conducted by the investigative staff in EBSA's field offices.

The Office of Enforcement is composed of the Division of Financial Investigations and the Division of Health Investigations, which formulate national enforcement policy, oversee major investigations and provide technical assistance to EBSA field offices; the Division of Criminal Investigations, which coordinates national criminal enforcement policy with EBSA field offices and with other government agencies such as the Department of Justice; the Division of Field Operations and Support, which coordinates national compliance projects and targeting efforts, conducts program and project evaluation, and provides administrative assistance to EBSA field offices; and the Division of Economic Research and Analysis, which produces research related to employee benefits and provides statistical and economic analysis of data related to enforcement targeting, investigations, and compliance assistance.

Office of Exemption Determinations

The Office of Exemption Determinations is responsible for processing requests for individual and class exemptions from ERISA's prohibited transaction provisions.

The Office of Exemption Determinations is comprised of two divisions, the Division of Individual Exemptions and the Division of Class Exemptions. The Division of Individual Exemptions is staffed by a division chief and three teams of analysts each of which is headed by a supervisor or team leader. The primary responsibilities of the Division of Individual Exemptions include analyzing individual exemption applications which involve a wide array of financial transactions, preparing interpretive letters and Federal Register notices, and reviewing petitions for good faith waivers of section 502(l) penalties.

The primary responsibilities of the Division of Class Exemptions include analyzing applications for class exemptions, and major individual exemptions related thereto, preparing Federal Register notices, reviewing petitions for good faith waivers of section 502(l) penalties, drafting advisory opinions and information letters regarding class exemptions, and handling special projects.

Office of Health Plan Standards and Compliance Assistance

The Office of Health Plan Standards and Compliance Assistance (OHPSCA) is the primary source of regulations and interpretive guidance related to group health plans under ERISA and provides education, compliance assistance, and other technical support to group health plans, their service providers, participants and beneficiaries, other EBSA offices, and other government agencies on health coverage-related matters.

OHPSCA is responsible for implementing various provisions of law affecting group health plans, including the Affordable Care Act market reforms, the HIPAA portability and nondiscrimination provisions, the mental health parity provisions, the group health plan provisions of the Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act (GINA), the Newborns' and Mothers' Health Protection Act, Women's Health and Cancer Rights Act, and the COBRA continuation health coverage provisions included in ERISA, among other laws.

Section 104 of HIPAA requires the Secretaries of Labor, the Treasury, and Health and Human Services (HHS) to ensure that shared health coverage provisions be administered so as to have the same effect at all times. As a result of this shared jurisdiction, OHPSCA works closely with the Departments of the Treasury and HHS to promulgate joint regulations and other subregulatory interpretive guidance, such as frequently asked questions and technical releases.

Through these efforts, OHPSCA works to ensure that the group health plan requirements of ERISA and other related laws are implemented so that ERISA plan participants and beneficiaries receive the benefits to which they are entitled.

Office of Regulations and Interpretations

The Office of Regulations and Interpretations is primarily responsible for carrying out the Agency's regulatory agenda and interpretive activities. The Office also plays a major role in the development, analysis and implementation of pension and health care policy issues by providing technical assistance and support to the Assistant Secretary, external groups and other offices within EBSA. In addition, the Office coordinates regulatory and interpretive activities with other Federal agencies such as the Department of Treasury, the Internal Revenue Service and the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation.

The Office is comprised of three divisions, the Division of Regulations, the Division of Fiduciary Interpretations and the Division of Coverage, Reporting and Disclosure. The Division of Regulations is responsible for managing and implementing the Agency's regulatory priorities under Title I of ERISA and coordinating regulatory activities with other Federal agencies. The general interpretive responsibilities of the Office are allocated on a subject matter basis between the Division of Fiduciary Interpretations and the Division of Coverage, Reporting and Disclosure. The Division of Fiduciary Interpretations is responsible for interpretive matters including the fiduciary responsibility, prohibited transaction, qualified domestic relations order and qualified medical child support order provisions of Parts 2, 4, and 6 of Title I of ERISA, as well as related provisions of the Internal Revenue Code and FERSA. The Division of Coverage, Reporting and Disclosure is generally responsible for interpretive matters relating to the coverage, reporting, disclosure, suspension of benefits, preemption, claims procedure, multiple employer welfare arrangements (MEWA), COBRA and other provisions of Parts 1, 2, 5 and 6 of Title I of ERISA.

Office of the Chief Accountant

The Office of the Chief Accountant is concerned with annual reporting and audit requirements by employee benefit plans, and enforcement of those provisions through the imposition of civil penalties against a plan administrator whose annual report is rejected, as provided in Part 1, Sections 103 and 104, and Part 5, Section 502, of Title I of ERISA. The Office of the Chief Accountant also operates under the broad authority to conduct investigations and to inspect records, under Part 5, Section 504 of Title I of ERISA. The Office of the Chief Accountant is comprised of two divisions: the Division of Accounting Services and the Division of Reporting and Compliance.

The Division of Accounting Services actively performs numerous liaison and outreach activities with professional groups that service employee benefit plans and ensures that plan audits are done in accordance with industry standards. The Division also conducts fiduciary compliance audits of the Thrift Savings Plan.

The Division of Reporting and Compliance ensures that the ERISA database contains timely, complete and accurate information about the regulated plan community. This division is also responsible for the administration of the Delinquent Filer Voluntary Compliance Program.

Office of Outreach, Education, and Assistance

The Office of Outreach, Education, and Assistance (OEA) administers EBSA's Participant and Compliance Outreach, Education and Assistance Program. This program provides participant and compliance assistance directly to the public through a staff of Benefits Advisors, located in EBSA's field offices, who answer inquiries and complaints received by phone, mail, electronically or in person. OEA coordinates the development of the Agency's Strategic Plan for Outreach, Education and Assistance, establishes policies and operating procedures for the program, provides oversight and support to the Regional Offices in carrying out these activities, and oversees quality reviews and customer satisfaction surveys related to the program.

EBSA's Benefits Advisors responded to over 171,000 telephone, written and electronic inquiries and complaints from plan participants, employers and plan sponsors in Fiscal Year 2020, assisting them in understanding their rights and obligations under the law and in obtaining benefits that may have been denied. The Benefits Advisors obtained $456 million on behalf of participants and beneficiaries through informal dispute resolution. The Office leads the development and publication of a variety of educational materials for consumers and plan officials and is responsible for the Agency's Website. The Office is also responsible for the operation of the nationwide toll free hotline for technical assistance and free publications. OEA coordinates three major education campaigns - the Retirement Savings Education Campaign, the Fiduciary Education Campaign and the Health Benefits Education Campaign. OEA staff provides logistical, clerical and technical support throughout the year to the ERISA Advisory Council and is responsible for the operation of the Agency's Public Disclosure Room and handling Freedom of Information Act requests.

The Legislative division tracks legislative activity and policy trends related to retirement and health plan issues, provides analyses of legislative proposals of interest to EBSA, and screens and distributes clearance requests from the Office of the Solicitor (SOL) and Exec Sec for comment within EBSA. It also supports the Secretary and Assistant Secretary with their Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC) Board responsibilities and international activities. It often serves as project coordinator within EBSA.

Office of Program Planning, Evaluation and Management

The Office of Program Planning, Evaluation and Management provides advice and leadership in the development and implementation of Agency policy, strategic planning and evaluation, financial management, budgeting, human resources and administrative programs designed to assure effective management of Agency operations and resources. The Office provides guidance and support to Agency managers in accomplishment of these responsibilities. The Office also plans and coordinates IT with the OCIO.

Regional Office Directors

District Office Supervisors