On May 27, 2026, the DOL announced that it will not increase civil monetary penalties for benefit-related violations in 2026. Under the federal inflation adjustment rules, these penalties are normally updated each year using the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U) for the prior October. Because the Bureau of Labor Statistics did not publish October 2025 CPI-U data following the federal government shutdown, the government could not calculate the required adjustment. As a result, the Office of Management and Budget directed agencies to continue using the 2025 penalty amounts in 2026.
Accordingly, the unchanged 2025 penalty amounts will continue to apply to a wide range of ERISA and group health plan compliance failures, including late Form 5500 filings, Form M-1 filing failures, failures to provide a summary of benefits and coverage (SBC), GINA violations, and failures to provide required Medicaid or CHIP notices. Please review our prior article on the 2025 penalty amounts.
Employer Takeaway
Employers should recognize that although these penalties did not increase in 2026, the 2025 penalty amounts are significant and will continue to apply. For example, under the 2025 guidance, the penalty for failing to file Form 5500 can reach $2,739 per day, and the penalty for failing to provide an SBC can reach $1,443 per failure. Therefore, employers should continue to monitor and timely satisfy applicable compliance obligations, including required reporting and participant disclosures, to reduce the risk of costly penalties.
More information regarding the civil penalties inflation adjustments is available in the DOL Federal Register.