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A former podcast from Lockton’s ERISA Compliance Consulting team 

You’ve reached the home of ERISA is a Friend of Mine, an informal and informational podcast series that Lockton’s ERISA Compliance Consulting team produced from 2019 to 2022. Scroll down to view and listen to any of the podcast episodes. NOTE: These podcasts have not been updated since their publication dates.

For the latest information and content on ERISA and other employee benefits issues, click below to visit Lockton’s Compliance Consulting webpage, and to learn more about our services and Lockton People Solutions.

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Mar 18, 2019

Employee benefit disclosure obligations were first developed when man battled dinosaurs for control of the Earth. Okay, not really, but they were first imposed when snail mail was the predominant form of employer-to-employee communication ... and the rules haven’t evolved much since then. In this episode, Ethan McWilliams, a former ERISA investigator for the DOL, joins Ed and Scott to dive into the requirements for employers to electronically distribute key benefit disclosures.

  • Can disclosures be sent via email, posted on an intranet, transferred through Vulcan mind-melding?
  • What determines if an employee has adequate access to the employer’s e-information system to permit e-disclosures?
  • What constitutes an affirmative opt-in for employees without that access?
  • Are employers responsible for knowing if the employee reads the disclosure?
  • What’s the worst that happens if employers throw caution to the wind and make e-disclosures outside the rules?