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Open Recommendations (76 total)

Cloud Computing: Agencies Need to Address Key OMB Procurement Requirements

GAO-24-106137
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1 Open Recommendations
Agency Affected Recommendation Status
Department of Labor The Secretary of Labor should ensure that the CIO of Labor develops guidance to put a cloud SLA in place with every vendor when a cloud solution is deployed. The guidance should include language that addresses OMB's four required elements for SLAs, including: continuous awareness of the confidentiality, integrity, and availability of its assets; a detailed description of roles and responsibilities; clear performance metrics; and remediation plans for non-compliance. (Recommendation 19)
Open
When we confirm what actions the agency has taken in response to this recommendation, we will provide updated information.

401(k) Retirement Plans: Department of Labor Should Update Guidance on Target Date Funds

GAO-24-105364
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1 Open Recommendations
Agency Affected Recommendation Status
Department of Labor The Secretary of Labor should ensure that the Assistant Secretary of the Employee Benefits Security Administration updates the 2013 guidance for plan sponsors, "Target Date Retirement Funds—Tips for ERISA Plan Fiduciaries," to provide information that reflects recent TDF developments. This should include the use of collective investment trusts and differences between "to" and "through" TDF glide paths. (Recommendation 1)
Open
DOL officials disagreed with this recommendation, stating that they believe the guidance document is balanced and provides basic information that plan fiduciaries can use to improve retirement outcomes, regardless of whether the TDF is structured as a mutual fund or collective investment trust. Our recommendation is also aimed at improving retirement outcomes and we believe that providing updated information on fundamental features of TDFs, which are the most widely used investment option in 401(k) plans, would help DOL meet this goal. For example, DOL could add targeted references to collective investment trust disclosures and include links to OCC resources to complement the specific references to mutual funds and mutual fund disclosures and help ensure that plan fiduciaries understand the applicable disclosures to inform their TDF selection and monitoring process. DOL officials also stated that this guidance notes the issue of investment risk when discussing the significance of differences between "to" and "through" TDF glide paths based on substantial evidence that many plan sponsors and participants had not understood the extent to which TDFs were exposed to this risk, including during market turbulence in 2008. While we understand DOL's focus on investment risk at the time it published this guidance document, we believe that a targeted update to add inflation risk to the discussion of the differences of "to" and "through" TDF glide paths would help plan sponsors improve retirement outcomes for their participants.

401(k) Retirement Plans: Department of Labor Should Update Guidance on Target Date Funds

GAO-24-105364
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1 Open Recommendations
Agency Affected Recommendation Status
Department of Labor The Secretary of Labor should ensure that the Assistant Secretary of the Employee Benefits Security Administration, in consultation with the SEC and OCC as appropriate, updates the 2010 guidance for plan participants, "Investor Bulletin: Target Date Retirement Funds," to provide information that reflects recent TDF developments. This should include the use of collective investment trusts. (Recommendation 2)
Open
DOL officials disagreed with this recommendation, stating that they believe the guidance document is balanced and provides basic information that plan participants can use to improve their retirement outcomes, regardless of whether the TDF is structured as a mutual fund or collective investment trust. Our recommendation is also aimed at improving retirement outcomes, and we believe that providing updated information on fundamental features of TDFs, which are the most widely used investment option in 401(k) plans, would help DOL meet this goal. For example, DOL could add targeted references to collective investment trust disclosures and include links to OCC resources to complement the specific references to mutual funds and mutual fund disclosures and help ensure that participants are able to identify and understand disclosures for collective investment trust TDFs in which their retirement savings are invested, particularly since even seemingly small fees can significantly reduce 401(k) plan retirement savings.

Service Members Transitioning to Civilian Life: Agencies Can Improve Warm Handovers for Additional Assistance

GAO-24-106248
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1 Open Recommendations
Agency Affected Recommendation Status
Department of Labor The Secretary of Labor should ensure that the Assistant Secretary for Veterans' Employment and Training Service coordinates with DOD through the Transition Assistance Program interagency partnership to identify criteria and standards for ENPP to determine whether and how to scale the piloted approach into the overall warm handover process. (Recommendation 8)
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DOL agreed with this recommendation. In June 2024, the agency emphasized its commitment to leveraging its resources and services along with its interagency partners to ensure transitioning service members and their spouses receive the support they need. To fully implement this recommendation, DOL will need to identify criteria and standards for ENPP to determine how and whether to scale it into the overall warm handover process.

401(k) Plans: Additional Federal Actions Would Help Participants Track and Consolidate Their Retirement Savings

GAO-24-103577
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2 Open Recommendations
Agency Affected Recommendation Status
Department of Labor The Secretary of Labor should take action to implement the ERISA Advisory Council's 2016 recommendation by issuing a Request for Information to explore how the agency can encourage and support the adoption of secure electronic data standards to facilitate the processing of plan-to-plan rollovers. (Recommendation 2)
Open
DOL stated that it may be premature to assess whether or how it should act on this recommendation before Treasury issues its guidance on rollovers by January 1, 2025, as required under the SECURE 2.0 Act. We note in our report that Treasury's upcoming guidance can help standardize rollovers. However, if Treasury's guidance does not address the development of a system based on secure electronic data standards to facilitate efficient plan-to-plan rollovers, DOL should take action. DOL also stated that as part of its current work to implement a statutory prohibited transaction exemption for "automatic portability providers" under the SECURE 2.0 Act, it is considering proposing possible standards for such providers of IRA-to-plan rollovers to safeguard portability data and remedy potential security breaches. We commend this approach and believe that an initiative to develop secure standards to safeguard data for automatic IRA-to-plan rollovers would be enhanced if conducted alongside a Request for Information for secure electronic data standards for plan-to-plan rollovers. Without continued progress towards developing secure electronic standards to facilitate efficient plan-to-plan rollovers, participants will likely continue to find the process challenging and may avoid consolidating their savings altogether. We will monitor the agency's progress on this recommendation.
Department of Labor The Secretary of Labor should ensure that plan participants, at the time they leave their job and become eligible to take a retirement plan distribution, receive easily-understandable information about all four distribution options and their associated tax consequences. Actions that could be taken include implementing the ERISA Advisory Council's 2015 recommendation, exploring a joint-agency effort with Treasury to update the 402(f) Notice, or other steps that would help plans develop clear and concise communications to inform participants. (Recommendation 4)
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DOL stated that it would consider two actions to address this recommendation. DOL stated that it is engaged in joint agency efforts and that it would be appropriate for them to consider our recommendation as part of such efforts with Treasury, IRS, and PBGC, as required under the SECURE 2.0 Act. Under the act, the agencies are to study, analyze, and report to Congress on the effectiveness of their reporting and disclosure requirements before the end of 2025. We agree that the forthcoming joint-agency study can lead to improvements in reporting and disclosure requirements for plans and participants across a range of retirement issues and encourage DOL to continue these efforts. In addition, DOL noted that the SECURE 2.0 Act directs them to issue regulations requiring plans to provide advanced notice to participants who are permitted to take lump sum distributions with specified information to help them compare other distribution options and the potential consequences of taking a lump sum. DOL stated that it will consider our recommendation to ensure participants receive easily understandable, timely, and comprehensive information as part of that work. By doing so, DOL can help ensure participants understand all their distribution options and make more informed decisions about their retirement savings after separating from their employer. We will monitor the agency's efforts.

Artificial Intelligence: Agencies Have Begun Implementation but Need to Complete Key Requirements

GAO-24-105980
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1 Open Recommendations
Agency Affected Recommendation Status
Department of Labor The Secretary of Labor should ensure that the department updates its AI use case inventory to include all the required information, at minimum, and takes steps to ensure that the data in the inventory aligns with provided instructions. (Recommendation 22)
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Labor did not state whether the department agreed or disagreed with our recommendations. As of July 2024, we have not received any updates on agency efforts to address this recommendation. When we confirm what actions the agency has taken to address this recommendation, we will provide updated information.

Employee Benefits Security Administration: Systematic Process Needed to Better Manage Priorities and Increased Responsibilities

GAO-24-105667
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1 Open Recommendations
Agency Affected Recommendation Status
Department of Labor The Secretary of Labor should direct EBSA to develop and document a systematic decision-making process for oversight responsibilities and allocating staff in a changing budget environment, which could be incorporated within current planning documents. (Recommendation 1)
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EBSA agreed with our assessment of the agency's mission and its budgetary challenges, but disagreed with our conclusion that the agency had not adequately documented its decision-making process. However, EBSA also said it would take further steps to enhance its formal documentation of that process, in accordance with this recommendation. The agency also agreed it could better document the resource planning process to increase transparency-and that it will review its current documentation processes and implement appropriate changes. In addition, EBSA specifically noted that it plans to document the operation, maintenance, and decision-making process associated with employee training in a way that is consistent with our recommendation. We will monitor the agency's progress on these efforts.
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