Agency Information Collection Activities; Request for Public Comment

Primary source

Metadata and text below are from the Federal Register, a public-domain U.S. government work. Always verify the official published version before relying on it for any legal matter.

Published

July 22, 2022

Issuing agencies

Labor DepartmentEmployee Benefits Security Administration

Abstract

The Department of Labor (the Department), in accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act, provides the general public and Federal agencies with an opportunity to comment on proposed and continuing collections of information. This helps the Department assess the impact of its information collection requirements and minimize the public's reporting burden. It also helps the public understand the Department's information collection requirements and provide the requested data in the desired format. The Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA) is soliciting comments on the proposed extension of the information collection requests (ICRs) contained in the documents described below. A copy of the ICRs may be obtained by contacting the office listed in the ADDRESSES section of this notice. ICRs also are available at reginfo.gov (http://www.reginfo.gov/public/do/PRAMain).

Full Text

<html>
<head>
<title>Federal Register, Volume 87 Issue 140 (Friday, July 22, 2022)</title>
</head>
<body><pre>
[Federal Register Volume 87, Number 140 (Friday, July 22, 2022)]
[Notices]
[Pages 43897-43901]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2022-15680]

=======================================================================
-----------------------------------------------------------------------

DEPARTMENT OF LABOR

Employee Benefits Security Administration

Agency Information Collection Activities; Request for Public
Comment

AGENCY: Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA), Department of
Labor.

ACTION: Notice.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

SUMMARY: The Department of Labor (the Department), in accordance with
the Paperwork Reduction Act, provides the general public and Federal
agencies with an opportunity to comment on proposed and continuing
collections of information. This helps the Department assess the impact
of its information collection requirements and minimize the public's
reporting burden. It also helps the public understand the Department's
information collection requirements and provide the requested data in
the desired format. The Employee Benefits Security Administration
(EBSA) is soliciting comments on the proposed extension of the
information collection requests (ICRs) contained in the documents
described below. A copy of the ICRs may be obtained by contacting the
office listed in the ADDRESSES section of this notice. ICRs also are
available at <a href="http://reginfo.gov">reginfo.gov</a> (<a href="http://www.reginfo.gov/public/do/PRAMain">http://www.reginfo.gov/public/do/PRAMain</a>).

DATES: Written comments must be submitted to the office shown in the
Addresses section on or before September 20, 2022.

ADDRESSES: James Butikofer, Department of Labor, Employee Benefits
Security Administration, 200 Constitution Avenue NW, Room N-5718,
Washington, DC 20210, or <a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#5633342537783926241632393a78313920"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="0c696e7f6d22637c7e4c686360226b637a">[email&#160;protected]</span></a>.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Current Actions

This notice requests public comment on the Department's request for
extension of the Office of Management and Budget's (OMB) approval of
ICRs contained in the rules and prohibited transaction exemptions
described below. The Department is not proposing any changes to the
existing ICRs at this time. An agency may not conduct or sponsor, and a
person is not required to respond to, an information collection unless
it displays a valid OMB control number. A summary of the ICRs and the
burden estimates follows:
Agency: Employee Benefits Security Administration, Department of
Labor.
Title: Class Exemption for Certain Transactions Involving Purchase
of Securities where Issuer May Use Proceeds to Reduce or Retire
Indebtedness to Parties in Interest (PTE 1980-83).
Type of Review: Extension of a currently approved collection of
information.
OMB Number: 1210-0064.
Affected Public: Private sector, Businesses or other for-profits.
Respondents: 25.
Responses: 25.
Estimated Total Burden Hours: 15.
Estimated Total Burden Cost (Operating and Maintenance): $0.
Description: Class exemption PTE 80-83, granted on November 4,
1980, allows employee benefit plans to purchase securities, which may
aid the issuer of the securities to reduce or retire indebtedness to a
party in interest. The principal requirements of the exemption are that
the securities must be sold as part of a public offering, and the price
paid for the securities must not be in excess of the original offering
price. This exemption also provides relief from the prohibited
transaction provisions of Section 4975 of the Internal Revenue Code
(the Code).
This class exemption allows employee benefit plans to purchase
securities that may aid the issuer of the securities to reduce or
retire indebtedness to a party in interest. Without the relief provided
by the class exemption, a standard type of financial/business
transaction between financial service providers and employee benefit
plans would be barred under ERISA's prohibited transaction provisions.
In order to take advantage of the relief provided by this class
exemption, employee benefit plans must comply with all of the
applicable conditions of the exemption, including the requirement to
keep records regarding transactions covered by the exemption that are
sufficient to establish that the conditions of the exemption have been
met. The records must be maintained for a period of at least six years
from a covered transaction and must be made unconditionally available
at their customary location for examination

[[Page 43898]]

during normal business hours by specified interested persons, including
plan fiduciaries, participant and beneficiaries, contributing
employers, and representatives of the Department and the Internal
Revenue Service.
The Department has the authority to request such records from time
to time in the course of performing investigations; however, the
primary purpose of the recordkeeping condition of the exemption is to
ensure access to pertinent records by participants, fiduciaries and
contributing employers and thereby enable oversight of compliance with
section 408(a)(3) of ERISA, which requires that the Department ensure
the protection of participant rights in granting exemptive relief. The
Department has received approval from OMB for this ICR under OMB
Control No. 1210-0064. The current approval is scheduled to expire on
January 31, 2023.
Agency: Employee Benefits Security Administration, Department of
Labor.
Title: Petition for Finding under the Employee Retirement Income
Security Act Section 3(40).
Type of Review: Extension of a currently approved collection of
information.
OMB Number: 1210-0119.
Affected Public: Not for-profit institutions, Businesses or other
for-profits.
Respondents: 10.
Responses: 10.
Estimated Total Burden Hours: 50.
Estimated Total Burden Cost (Operating and Maintenance): $42,695.
Description: The ``multiple employer welfare arrangement'' (MEWA)
is established and maintained under Section 3(40) of the Employee
Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA) for the purpose of
offering or providing [welfare plan benefits] to the employees of two
or more employers, (including one or more self-employed individuals),
or their beneficiaries. Under Section 514(b)(6) of ERISA, an employee
welfare benefit plan that is a MEWA is generally subject to state
insurance law. However, any such plan or other arrangement that is
established or maintained under or pursuant to one or more agreements
that the Secretary of Labor (the Secretary) finds to be collectively
bargained is not subject to state insurance law. Rules, codified at 29
CFR 2570.150, set forth an administrative procedure (``procedural
rules'') for obtaining a determination by the Secretary as to whether a
particular MEWA that is an employee welfare benefit plan is established
or maintained under or pursuant to one or more collective bargaining
agreements for purposes of section 3(40) of ERISA. These procedural
rules set forth specific criteria in 29 CFR 2510.3-40 that, if met,
constitute a finding by the Secretary that a plan is collectively
bargained.
To initiate adjudicatory proceedings, an entity is required to file
a petition for a determination under Section 3(40) of ERISA with an
Administrative Law Judge (ALJ). The petition must identify the parties,
describe the basis on which the petition is being filed and the plan in
question, provide evidence that the plan satisfies the criteria to be a
plan, and include affidavits as to both the competency of the affiant
to testify and the facts that allegedly establish the plan as being
established under or pursuant to agreements that the Secretary finds to
be a collective bargaining agreement.
This collection of information is used by the Department in
connection with proceedings to determine whether a plan or other
arrangement is established or maintained pursuant to one or more
agreements that which the Secretary finds to be a collective bargaining
agreement under Section 3(40) of ERISA. The Department has received
approval from OMB for this ICR under OMB Control No. 1210-0119. The
current approval is scheduled to expire on January 31, 2023.
Title: Notice Requirements of the Health Care Continuation Coverage
Provisions.
Type of Review: Extension of a currently approved collection of
information.
OMB Number: 1210-0123.
Affected Public: Not for-profit institutions, Businesses or other
for-profits.
Respondents: 660,653.
Responses: 18,128,968.
Estimated Total Burden Hours: 0.
Estimated Total Burden Cost (Operating and Maintenance):
$37,133,409.
Description: The Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of
1985 (COBRA) provides that under certain circumstances participants and
beneficiaries of group health plans that satisfy the definition of
``qualified beneficiaries'' under COBRA may elect to continue group
health coverage temporarily following events known as ``qualifying
events'' that would otherwise result in loss of coverage. The Secretary
of Labor (the Secretary) has the authority under section 608 of the
Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA) to prescribe
regulations to carry out the provisions of Part 6 of Title I of ERISA.
The Department has issued regulations implementing the Notice
Requirements of Section 606 of ERISA (regulations) because the
provision of timely and adequate notifications regarding COBRA rights
and responsibilities is critical to a qualified beneficiary's ability
to obtain health continuation coverage. In addition, in the
Department's view, regulatory guidance was necessary to establish
clearer standards for administering and processing COBRA notices.
Under the regulatory guidelines, plan administrators are required
to distribute notices: a general notice to be distributed to all
participants in group health plans subject to COBRA; an employer notice
that must be completed by the employer upon the occurrence of a
qualifying event; a notice and election form to be sent to a
participant upon the occurrence of a qualifying event that might cause
the participant to lose group health coverage; an employee notice that
may be completed by a qualified beneficiary upon the occurrence of
certain qualifying events such as divorce or disability; and, two other
notices, one of early termination and the other a notice of
unavailability. Also included in the ICR are two model notices that the
Department believes will help reduce costs for service providers in
preparing and delivering notices to comply with the regulations.
The provision of timely and adequate notifications is critical for
the effective exercise of COBRA rights. Failure on the part of a plan
administrator to meet notice requirements might result in a qualified
beneficiary's losing out on continuation coverage, assessment of fines
on a plan administrator, or other adverse consequences. The Department
has received approval from OMB for this ICR under OMB Control No. 1210-
0123. The current approval is scheduled to expire on January 31, 2023.
Title: Statutory Exemption for Cross-Trading of Securities.
Type of Review: Extension of a currently approved collection of
information.
OMB Number: 1210-0130.
Affected Public: Not for-profit institutions, Businesses or other
for-profits.
Respondents: 297.
Responses: 2,673.
Estimated Total Burden Hours: 3,104.
Estimated Total Burden Cost (Operating and Maintenance): $13,400.
Description: The Statutory Exemption for Cross-Trading of
Securities regulation (29 CFR 2550.408b-19) implements the content
requirements for the written cross-trading policies and procedures
required under section 408(b)(19)(H) of ERISA, as added by section
611(g) of the Pension Protection

[[Page 43899]]

Act of 2006, Public Law 109-280 (the PPA). Section 611(g)(1) of the PPA
created a new statutory exemption, added to section 408(b) of ERISA as
subsection 408(b)(19), that exempts from the prohibitions of sections
406(a)(1)(A) and 406(b)(2) of ERISA those cross-trading transactions
involving the purchase and sale of a security between an account
holding assets of a pension plan and any other account managed by the
same investment manager, provided that certain conditions are
satisfied.
On October 7, 2008, the Department issued final regulations
regarding cross-trading policies and procedures (73 FR 58450). The
regulation provides that the policies and procedures for cross-trading
under the new statutory exemption must: (1) be written in a manner
calculated to be understood by the plan fiduciary authorizing cross-
trading, (2) be sufficiently detailed to facilitate a periodic review
of all cross-trades by a compliance officer designated by the
investment manager and a determination by the compliance officer that
the cross-trades comply with the investment manager's written cross-
trading policies and procedures, (3) include, at a minimum: (a) a
statement of general policy which describes the criteria that will be
applied by the investment manager in determining that execution of a
securities transaction as a cross-trade will be beneficial to both
parties to the transaction; (b) a description of how the investment
manager will determine the price at which the securities are cross-
traded, in a manner that is consistent with 17 CFR 270.17a-7(b) and SEC
interpretations thereunder, including the identity of sources used to
establish the price; (c) a description of how the investment manager's
policies and procedures will mitigate any potentially conflicting
division of loyalties and responsibilities to the parties involved in
any cross-trade transaction; (d) a requirement that the investment
manager allocate cross-trades among accounts participating in the
cross-trading program in an objective and equitable manner and a
description of the policies and procedures that will be used; (e) the
identity of the compliance officer responsible for reviewing the
investment manager's compliance with 408(b)(19) of ERISA and its
written cross-trading policies and procedures and the compliance
officer's qualifications for this position; (f) the steps to be
performed by the compliance officer during its periodic review of the
investment manager's purchases and sales of securities to ensure
compliance with the written cross-trading policies and procedures; and
(g) a description of the procedures by which the compliance officer
will determine whether the requirements of section 408(b)(19) of ERISA
are met.
The statutory exemption requires, as a condition to exemptive
relief, that an investment manager's policies and procedures regarding
cross-trading be provided in advance to the fiduciary of any plan that
is considering agreeing to allow its assets to be managed under the
investment manager's cross-trading program. The investment manager is
also required, under the statutory exemption, to designate a compliance
officer responsible for periodically reviewing the investment manager's
cross-trading program to ensure compliance with the investment
manager's cross-trading written policies and procedures. The statutory
exemption requires the compliance officer to issue an annual report to
each plan fiduciary describing the steps performed during the course of
the review, the level of compliance, and any specific instances of
noncompliance. The exemption does not require any reporting or filing
with the Federal government
The information will be used by the plan fiduciary to assess the
initial and continued appropriateness of investing plan assets subject
to a cross-trading program. The information will enable the plan
fiduciary to fulfill its fiduciary duties under the plan and to protect
plan assets on behalf of plan participants and beneficiaries. The
Department has received approval from OMB for this ICR under OMB
Control No. 1210-0130. The current approval is scheduled to expire on
January 31, 2023.
Title: Model Employer Children's Health Insurance Program Notice.
Type of Review: Extension of a currently approved collection of
information.
OMB Number: 1210-0137.
Affected Public: Businesses or other for-profits, Farms, Not for-
profit institutions.
Respondents: 6,197,922.
Responses: 198,845,095.
Estimated Total Burden Hours: 721,891.
Estimated Total Burden Cost (Operating and Maintenance):
$17,325,373.
Description: On February 4, 2009, President Obama signed the
Children's Health Insurance Program Reauthorization Act of 2009
(CHIPRA, Pub. L. 111-3). Under ERISA section 701(f)(3)(B)(i)(I), Public
Health Service Act (PHS) section 2701(f)(3)(B)(i)(I), and section
9801(f)(3)(B)(i)(I) of the Internal Revenue Code, as added by
Children's Health Insurance Program Reauthorization Act of 2009
(CHIPRA), an employer that maintains a group health plan in a State
that provides medical assistance under a State Medicaid plan under
title XIX of the Social Security Act (SSA), or child health assistance
under a State child health plan under title XXI of the SSA, in the form
of premium assistance for the purchase of coverage under a group health
plan, is required to make certain disclosures. Specifically, the
employer is required to notify each employee of potential opportunities
currently available in the State in which the employee resides for
premium assistance under Medicaid and CHIP for health coverage of the
employee or the employee's dependents. These notices are referred as
``Employer CHIP Notices.''
ERISA section 701(f)(3)(B)(i)(II) requires the Department of Labor
to provide employers with model language for the Employer CHIP Notices
to enable them to timely comply with this requirement, which is
referred as the ``Model Employer CHIP Notice.'' The model language is
required to include information on how an employee may contact the
State in which the employee resides for additional information
regarding potential opportunities for premium assistance, including how
to apply for such assistance.
The Department has received approval from OMB for this ICR under
OMB Control No. 1210-0137. The current approval is scheduled to expire
on January 31, 2023.
Title: Plan Asset Transactions Determined by In-House Asset
Managers under Prohibited Transaction Class Exemption 96-23.
Type of Review: Extension of a currently approved collection of
information.
OMB Number: 1210-0145.
Affected Public: Not for-profit institutions, Businesses or other
for-profits.
Respondents: 20.
Responses: 20.
Estimated Total Burden Hours: 940.
Estimated Total Burden Cost (Operating and Maintenance): $400,000.
Description: The Department granted PTE 84-14 (49 FR 9494, as
corrected 50 FR 41430), a class exemption that permits various parties
in interest (as defined in ERISA section 3(14)) to employee benefit
plans to engage in transactions involving plan assets if, among other
conditions, the assets are managed by a ``qualified professional asset
manager'' (QPAM), but still did

[[Page 43900]]

not provide relief for transactions involving the assets of plans
managed by an in-house asset manager. The Department granted PTE 96-23
(61 FR 15975), Class Exemption for Plan Asset Transactions Determined
by In-House Asset Managers. The class exemption permits various parties
in interest to employee benefit plans to engage in transactions
involving plan assets if, among other requirements, the assets are
managed by an in-house asset manager (INHAM).
PTE 96-23 contains requirements for written guidelines between an
INHAM and a property manager that an INHAM has retained to act on its
behalf. Because it is a customary business practice for agreements
related to the investment of plan assets or transactions relating to
the leasing of space to be described in writing, no burden was
estimated for this provision. The information collection requirements
included in this paperwork package for which there is a burden estimate
consist of the requirements that the INHAM develop written policies and
procedures designed to assure compliance with the conditions of the
exemption and have an independent auditor conduct an annual INHAM
exemption audit and issue an audit report to each plan.
The written policies and procedures will be used by an independent
auditor to determine the INHAM's compliance with the exemption. An
independent auditor will conduct an annual exemption audit and make a
determination whether the INHAM is in compliance with the written
policies and procedures and the objective requirements of the
exemption. These information collections are designed to safeguard
participants and beneficiaries in plans managed by INHAMS that are
involved in transactions covered by the exemption. The exemption does
not require any reporting or filing with the Federal government. The
Department has received approval from OMB for this ICR under OMB
Control No. 1210-0145. The current approval is scheduled to expire on
January 31, 2023.
Title: Prohibited Transaction Class Exemption for Certain
Transactions Between Investment Companies and Employee Benefit Plans
(PTE 1977-4).
Type of Review: Extension of a currently approved collection of
information.
OMB Number: 1210-0049.
Affected Public: Not for-profit institutions, Businesses or other
for-profits.
Respondents: 846.
Responses: 279,653.
Estimated Total Burden Hours: 23,728.
Estimated Total Burden Cost (Operating and Maintenance): $117,954.
Description: PTE 77-4, which was originally granted on April 8,
1977, exempts from the prohibited transaction restrictions the purchase
and sale by an employee benefit plan of shares from a registered, open-
end investment company (mutual fund) when a fiduciary of the plan
(e.g., an investment manager) is also the investment advisor for the
investment company.
Without the class exemption an open-end mutual fund could not sell
shares to or purchase shares from a plan when the fiduciary with
respect to the plan is also the investment advisor for the mutual fund.
Such purchases and sales may serve the interest of the plans, provided
that procedures designed to protect the interests of participants and
beneficiaries from potential abuse are built into the transactions.
Therefore, the exemption requires disclosure of any redemption fees in
the current prospectus and the disclosure and approval of investment
advisory and other fees by a second fiduciary so that the plan
fiduciary can make informed judgments with respect to the prudence of
the transactions. In the case of changes to the fee structure, the
exemption requires that the second fiduciary be notified of the fee
changes and approve in writing the continued purchase, sale, an
investment in the shares of the mutual fund. The Department has
received approval from OMB for this ICR under OMB Control No. 1210-
0049. The current approval is scheduled to expire on February 28, 2023.
Title: Plan Asset Transactions Determined by Independent Qualified
Professional Asset Managers under Prohibited Transaction Exemption
1984-14.
Type of Review: Extension of a currently approved collection of
information.
OMB Number: 1210-0128.
Affected Public: Businesses or other for-profits.
Respondents: 4,031.
Responses: 4,071.
Estimated Total Burden Hours: 96,774.
Estimated Total Burden Cost (Operating and Maintenance):
$40,311,395.
Description: Prohibited Transaction Exemption 84-14 (49 FR 9494,
March 13, 1984, as corrected at 50 FR 41430, October 10, 1985, and
amended at 70 FR 49305 (August 23, 2005)) (PTE 84-14) permits various
parties who are related to employee benefit plans to engage in
transactions involving plan assets if, among other conditions, the
assets are managed by a ``qualified professional asset manager''
(QPAM). In 2003, the Department published a proposed amendment to the
QPAM exemption and based on comments received many financial
institutions were unaware that the class exemption did not provide
relief for transactions by a QPAM in managing its own plans. On July 6,
2010, the Department adopted a final amendment to PTE 84-14 (75 FR
38837) permitting a QPAM to manage an investment fund that contains the
assets of its own plan or the plan of an affiliate of the QPAM.
The information collection requirements that are conditions of Part
V of the exemption include written policies and procedures and audit
requirements for QPAM-sponsored plans. The written policies and
procedures will be used by an independent auditor to determine the
QPAM's compliance with the conditions of the exemption. An independent
auditor will conduct an annual exemption audit and make a determination
whether the QPAM is in compliance with the written policies and
procedures and that the conditions of the exemption have been met.
These information collections are designed to safeguard participants
and beneficiaries in plans that are involved in transactions covered by
the exemption. The exemption does not require any reporting or filing
with the Federal government. The Department has received approval from
OMB for this ICR under OMB Control No. 1210-0128. The current approval
is scheduled to expire on February 28, 2023.
Title: Employee Benefit Plan Claims Procedure Under the Employee
Retirement Income Security Act.
Type of Review: Extension of a currently approved collection of
information.
OMB Number: 1210-0053.
Affected Public: Not for-profit institutions, Businesses or other
for-profits.
Respondents: 6,223,774.
Responses: 1,465,526,748.
Estimated Total Burden Hours: 1,627,422.
Estimated Total Burden Cost (Operating and Maintenance):
$1,959,351,534.
Description: In November 2000, the Department issued a final
regulation establishing minimum claims procedure requirements that all
employee benefit plans under ERISA must meet in order to satisfy the
requirements of section 503 of ERISA. Section 505 of ERISA authorizes
the Secretary to prescribe regulations as appropriate or necessary to
carry out the provisions of Title I of

[[Page 43901]]

ERISA. The regulation requires plans to provide every claimant who is
denied a claim with a written or electronic notice that contains the
specific reasons for denial, a reference to the relevant plan
provisions on which the denial is based, a description of any
additional information necessary to perfect the claim, and a
description of steps to be taken if the participant or beneficiary
wishes to appeal the denial. The regulation also requires that any
adverse decision upon review be in writing (including electronic means)
and include specific reasons for the decision, as well as references to
relevant plan provisions.
The information collection requirements included in the claims
procedure regulation ensure that participants and beneficiaries
(claimants) receive adequate information regarding the plan's claims
procedures and the plan's handling of specific benefit claims. The
Department has received approval from OMB for this ICR under OMB
Control No. 1210-0053. The current approval is scheduled to expire on
April 30, 2023.
Title: Prohibited Transaction Class Exemption 1992-6: Sale of
Individual Life Insurance or Annuity Contracts by a Plan.
Type of Review: Extension of a currently approved collection of
information.
OMB Number: 1210-0063.
Affected Public: Businesses or other for-profits.
Respondents: 10,853.
Responses: 10,853.
Estimated Total Burden Hours: 2,171.
Estimated Total Burden Cost (Operating and Maintenance): $6,512.
Description: PTE 92-6 exempts from the prohibited transaction
restrictions the sale of individual life insurance or annuity contracts
held by an employee benefit plan to: (1) plan participants insured
under such contracts; (2) relatives of such participants who are the
beneficiaries under the contract, (3) employers, any of whose employees
are covered by the plan; (4) other employee benefit plans that have a
party in interest relationship; (5) owner-employees (as defined in
section 401(c)(3) of the Code), (6) shareholder-employees (as defined
in section 1379 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1954 as in effect on
the day before the enactment of the Subchapter S Revision Act of 1982),
or (7) trusts established by plan participants insured under such
contracts or relatives of such participants who are the beneficiaries
under the contract, for the cash surrender value of the contracts,
provided certain conditions set forth in the class exemption are met.
The disclosure requirement incorporated within this class exemption
is intended to protect the rights of plan participants and
beneficiaries by putting them on notice of the plan's intention to sell
insurance or annuity contracts under which they are insured, and by
giving them the right of first refusal to purchase such contracts.
Without this disclosure requirement, the Department, which may only
grant an exemption if it can find that participants and beneficiaries
are protected, would be unable to effectively enforce the terms of the
class exemption and ensure user compliance. The Department has received
approval from OMB for this ICR under OMB Control No. 1210-0063. The
current approval is scheduled to expire on June 30, 2023.
Title: Notice to Employees of Coverage Options Under Fair Labor
Standards Act Section 18B.
Type of Review: Extension of a currently approved collection of
information.
OMB Number: 1210-0149.
Affected Public: Businesses or other for-profits, Farms, Not for-
profit institutions.
Respondents: 7,850,126.
Responses: 32,068,268.
Estimated Total Burden Hours: 116,421.
Estimated Total Burden Cost (Operating and Maintenance):
$5,238,964.
Description: Since January 1, 2014, individuals and employees of
small businesses have had access to affordable coverage through a new
competitive private health insurance market--Health Insurance
Marketplace or also called ``the exchange''. Section 1512 of the
Affordable Care Act created a new Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA)
section 18B [29 U.S.C. 218b] requiring a notice to employees of
coverage options available through the Marketplace.
Section 18B of the FLSA generally provides that, in accordance with
regulations promulgated by the Secretary of Labor, an applicable
employer must provide each employee at the time of hiring, a written
notice: (1) Informing the employee of the existence of Exchanges
including a description of the services provided by the Exchanges, and
the manner in which the employee may contact Exchanges to request
assistance; (2) If the employer plan's share of the total allowed costs
of benefits provided under the plan is less than 60 percent of such
costs, then the employee may be eligible for a premium tax credit under
section 36B of the Internal Revenue Code (the Code) if the employee
purchases a qualified health plan through an Exchange; and (3) If the
employee purchases a qualified health plan through an Exchange, the
employee may lose the employer contribution (if any) to any health
benefits plan offered by the employer and that all or a portion of such
contribution may be excludable from income for Federal income tax
purposes. The Department has received approval from OMB for this ICR
under OMB Control No. 1210-0149. The current approval is scheduled to
expire on June 30, 2023.

II. Focus of Comments

The Department is particularly interested in comments that:
<bullet> Evaluate whether the collections of information are
necessary for the proper performance of the functions of the agency,
including whether the information will have practical utility;
<bullet> Evaluate the accuracy of the agency's estimate of the
collections of information, including the validity of the methodology
and assumptions used;
<bullet> Enhance the quality, utility, and clarity of the
information to be collected; and
<bullet> Minimize the burden of the collection of information on
those who are to respond, including through the use of appropriate
automated, electronic, mechanical, or other technological collection
techniques or other forms of information technology, e.g., by
permitting electronic submissions of responses.
Comments submitted in response to this notice will be summarized
and/or included in the ICR for OMB approval of the information
collection; they will also become a matter of public record.

Signed at Washington, DC, this 15th day of July, 2022.
Ali Khawar,
Acting Assistant Secretary, Employee Benefits Security Administration,
U.S. Department of Labor.
[FR Doc. 2022-15680 Filed 7-21-22; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4510-29-P

</pre><script data-cfasync="false" src="/cdn-cgi/scripts/5c5dd728/cloudflare-static/email-decode.min.js"></script></body>
</html>

View on FederalRegister.gov →Plain-text source

Indexed from Federal Register on July 22, 2022.

This is legal information, not legal advice. Laws vary by jurisdiction and change frequently. Always verify current law with official sources and consult a licensed attorney in your jurisdiction for advice on your specific situation.