The Department of Labor (DOL) and Pension Benefit Guaranty Corp. (PBGC) have published their 2022 inflation-adjusted civil monetary penalties for retirement plans.
The chart below shows DOL’s maximum penalties relevant to single-employer defined benefit (DB) and defined contribution (DC) plans for 2022 and 2021. The increased amounts apply for penalties assessed after Jan. 15, 2022, for violations occurring after Nov. 2, 2015.
PBGC’s 2022 maximum penalty under ERISA Section 4071 for single-employer DB plans is $2,400 a day (up from $2,259 in 2021) for each day a filing, notice, or other information is overdue. The higher rate applies to penalties assessed after Jan. 14, 2022.
The $2,400 maximum daily penalty could apply to virtually any late PBGC information or premium filing for a single-employer plan, including:
In practice, PBGC rarely assesses the maximum penalty. The agency's current penalty policy calls for much smaller penalties, especially when a delinquent filing is made soon after the due date or the plan is small. However, depending on the facts and circumstances, PBGC might assess the maximum penalty in two situations:
Africa