WASHINGTON – The U.S. Department of Labor announced that its Employee Benefits Security Administration today announced updates to its Voluntary Fiduciary Correction Program, providing employers and other plan officials with more efficient ways to voluntarily correct compliance issues in retirement, health and other employee benefit plans. The most significant change is a self-correction tool that employers and other plan officials can use to remedy delays in sending participant contributions, such as employee payroll deductions, and participant loan repayments to retirement plans. Employers and other plan officials can also fix mistakes related to participant loans from retirement plans, as provided by the SECURE 2.0 Act. “The Employee Benefits Security Administration is pleased to provide these improvements to our Voluntary Fiduciary Correction Program so that employers and other plan officials can take advantage of streamlined tools to correct legal violations, and America’s workers get full protection for their hard-earned benefits,” said Assistant Secretary for Employee Benefits Security Lisa M. Gomez. The Voluntary Fiduciary Correction Program encourages employers and other plan officials to avoid potential civil enforcement actions and penalties under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act and the Internal Revenue Code by voluntarily correcting transactions that meet the program’s requirements.EBSA’s 2025 update to the VFCP: Expands the scope of transactions eligible for correction.Clarifies transactions that are already eligible for correction.Simplifies administrative and procedural requirements.Amends the Voluntary Fiduciary Correction Program class exemption, Prohibited Transaction Exemption 2002-51, so plan officials can avoid the imposition of excise taxes.The amendments to the Voluntary Fiduciary Correction Program appear in today’s Federal Register. These updates take effect on March 17, 2025. EBSA has also issued a fact sheet detailing these changes and explaining how to use the new self-correction tool, and how to contact EBSA with questions concerning the program.