DOL finally delivers proposed SECURE 2.0 e-disclosure rule changes 

March 25, 2026

The Department of Labor (DOL) is proposing modest changes to its two electronic disclosure safe-harbor regulations to reflect the SECURE 2.0 Act of 2022 (Div. T of Pub. L. No. 117-328) requirement that retirement plans give certain pension benefit statements on paper starting with the 2026 plan year. These safe harbors provide the framework for electronic disclosure of documents required to be disclosed under ERISA. Until DOL issues final regulations, plan administrators who comply with a reasonable, good-faith interpretation of the proposal won’t face agency enforcement action for violating the paper statement requirement. Comments are due April 27.

Retirement plan administrators who rely on DOL’s 2002 e-disclosure safe harbor would need to take the following actions for employees who first become eligible to participate after December 31, 2025 (this article refers to these individuals as “new participants”):

• Deliver a new one-time paper notice to new participants before delivering the required benefit statement electronically instead of on paper
• Give new participants the ability to opt out of e-delivery of all required ERISA disclosures

Although the 2002 safe harbor applies to all ERISA-covered employee benefit plans, the proposal won’t affect disclosures for health and welfare plans.

Retirement plan administrators who rely on DOL’s 2020 e-disclosure safe harbor would need to:

• Deliver the required benefit statement on paper, unless participants affirmatively request e-delivery — which the plan would need to provide as an option
• Ensure that participants aren’t charged fees for any paper statements, including duplicate paper copies of statements previously furnished electronically or on paper

• Annually for defined contribution (DC) plans. DC plans that allow participants to direct their investments must furnish benefit statements at least quarterly. Those that don’t permit participants to direct their investments must furnish a benefit statement annually. SECURE 2.0 generally requires at least one of these statements to be provided on paper each calendar year.
• Every three years for defined benefit (DB) plans. DB plans must furnish a benefit statement to active participants with vested accrued benefits every three years. SECURE 2.0 generally requires this benefit statement to be provided on paper. However, many DB plans deliver an annual notice of statement availability in lieu of the benefit statement. The proposal doesn’t explicitly address whether SECURE 2.0’s paper statement requirement also applies to the notice of availability (i.e., whether at least one notice of availability must be provided on paper every three calendar years).

DOL’s 2002 e-delivery safe harbor regulation allows administrators to furnish ERISA disclosures electronically to current employees who are “wired at work” (i.e., those who can effectively access electronic documents at work and have access to the employer's electronic information system as an integral part of their work duties). The regulation also permits e-delivery to participants and beneficiaries who affirmatively consent, provided they receive an advance notice describing the types of covered documents, procedures for withdrawing consent to e-delivery, and certain additional information.

DOL’s alternative 2020 e-delivery regulation allows retirement plan administrators to furnish e-disclosures through email or a “notice-and-access” framework that alerts participants when documents are posted to a website or other digital platform. Before e-delivering documents under this safe harbor, the plan administrator must provide an initial paper notice explaining the e-delivery method, including an explanation of how participants may receive paper copies of any covered document on request or opt out of e-delivery altogether.

The proposal would make a panoply of changes to the 2020 safe harbor in response to SECURE 2.0’s directives. Unlike the updates to the 2002 safe harbor — which would only affect e-delivery to new participants — the changes to the 2020 safe harbor would apply to all participants and beneficiaries regardless of their eligibility dates:

• Paper benefits statements no longer covered. The safe harbor would exclude benefits statements that are subject to SECURE 2.0’s paper delivery requirement from the list of documents that could be furnished electronically by default. Administrators who rely on the 2020 safe harbor would need to begin furnishing the required benefit statement on paper unless participants affirmatively elect e-delivery. However, administrators of participant-directed DC plans could continue to e-deliver the other three quarterly benefit statements.
• Option to request e-delivery of benefit statements. Administrators would need to give participants the option to affirmatively request e-delivery of benefit statements that would otherwise be delivered on paper. For participants who do so, administrators could electronically deliver the benefit statement using either of the safe harbor’s email or notice-and-access delivery methods.
• Additional content for paper statements. Administrators would need to include the following additional content on paper benefit statements:

1. An explanation of how to request e-delivery of paper statements
2. Contact information (including telephone number) for the sponsor, administrator, or other plan representative

• No fees for paper statements. The proposal would implement SECURE 2.0’s direction to prohibit plans that use the 2020 safe harbor from charging participants a fee for any paper benefit statements. The proposal would apply this prohibition to all benefit statements, including when participants request a duplicate paper copy of a benefit statement previously delivered electronically or on paper. The proposal would continue to allow plans to charge participants a fee for duplicate paper copies of other required disclosures.

The proposal wouldn’t change either the 2002 or 2020 safe harbor to require a heightened “access in fact” standard for e-delivery. In a request for information issued in August 2023, DOL suggested it was also considering requiring plan administrators to monitor whether participants affirmatively access e-disclosures and revert to paper disclosures or take some other action for those who “forsake such access,” even though this was outside the scope of SECURE 2.0’s directives. 

While SECURE 2.0 directed DOL to update the e-disclosure safe harbors a year in advance of the paper statement requirement’s initial applicability, the agency failed to meet this deadline. Until DOL issues final regulations, administrators who comply with a reasonable, good-faith interpretation of the proposal won’t face agency enforcement action for violating SECURE 2.0’s paper statement requirement. However, this enforcement policy is only binding on DOL and wouldn’t prevent participants and beneficiaries from pursuing claims under ERISA’s civil enforcement provisions, which provide for penalties up to $110 per day per affected participant for an administrator’s failure to deliver benefit statements.

DOL requests comments on all aspects of the proposal by April 27, including the following specific items to help assess the proposal’s costs and benefits:

• The prevalence of electronic disclosure prior to SECURE 2.0
• The prevalence of use of the 2002 safe harbor vs. the 2020 safe harbor
• Whether the paper benefit statement requirement may encourage plans to switch from the 2020 safe harbor to the 2002 safe harbor for wired-at-work participants
• How often plans rely on service providers for preparing and mailing benefit statements and other required disclosures

• Proposed regulations (Federal Register, February 25, 2026)

• User’s guide to SECURE 2.0 (periodically updated)
• DOL starts tackling SECURE 2.0 reporting and disclosure updates (September 19, 2023)
• DOL finalizes electronic delivery rule for retirement plan notices (June 1, 2020)