AF&PA Disappointed in U.S. Department of Labor’s New “Notice-and-Access” Rule for Retirement Plans
The U.S. Department of Labor put a new rule into effect that allows employee benefit plan administrators to use an electronic “notice-and-access” disclosure system, as a default method, which will make it much more difficult for millions of Americans who received critical, paper-based information about their 401k, pension and retirement plan rules. In a 2019 Pew Research Center survey, 10 percent of U.S. adults said they do not use the internet. American Forest & Paper Association (AF&PA) President and CEO Heidi Brock issued the following statement in response to the rule: “The American Forest & Paper Association is disappointed the Department of Labor’s ‘notice-and-access’ rule will result in fewer Americans receiving critical financial information to help them plan for retirement. “By creating electronic disclosures as the default, U.S. retirement plan holders must now navigate an onerous process to retrieve critical plan and benefit information that would otherwise arrive automatically and reliably by mail."