On January 30, 2026, the Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA), the DOL agency responsible for enforcement of ERISA, reported monetary recoveries totaling over $1.4 billion in its report on enforcement activities for fiscal year (FY) 2025. The EBSA oversees approximately 2.8 million health plans, as well as welfare benefit plans and private pension plans. These ERISA-covered plans cover over 150 million workers, retirees, and dependents who participate in private-sector pension and welfare plans.
The EBSA closed over 870 civil investigations in 2025, resulting in $714 million in recoveries. The agency also closed 253 criminal investigations, resulting in 62 indictments and 42 convictions under provisions of ERISA and the Code.
Notably, the EBSA reported that it closed 222,246 inquiries and recovered $468.7 million in benefits on behalf of workers and their families through informal resolution of individual complaints. These complaints were generally submitted through EBSA's toll-free number or online at askebsa.dol.gov. Nearly 300 investigations were opened in response to individual complaints regarding service providers, plans, and employers. In addition, the EBSA handled over 27,000 No Surprises Act (NSA) complaints, resulting in benefit payments of $67 million. The NSA provides cost-sharing and balance billing protections for claimants and prescribes an independent dispute resolution process for medical providers and group health plans to resolve payment disputes.
Finally, the EBSA received 797 Voluntary Fiduciary Correction Program (VFCP) applications in 2025 and 24,513 Delinquent Voluntary Correction Program (DVCP) reports. The VFCP allows plan fiduciaries who have identified certain ERISA violations to remedy the breaches and voluntarily report the violations without becoming the subject of an enforcement action. For example, many plan sponsors use the VFCP process to address missed or late Form 5500 filings.
Employer Takeaway
While the EBSA’s total monetary recoveries for 2025 were largely the same as 2024, plan sponsors should remain aware of these recovery totals and be prepared for ongoing EBSA enforcement activity and oversight moving into 2026.
As highlighted by the 2025 enforcement statistics, leads from plan participants are a key source of information regarding ERISA violations. Plan participants who feel that they were wrongfully denied benefits or were otherwise aggrieved by a current or former employer may contact the EBSA to report perceived irregularities in plan practices. Accordingly, employers should pay attention to participant complaints and ensure their service providers, such as TPAs, are properly addressing participant complaints on the plan’s behalf.
The EBSA also recently released its list of national enforcement priorities for the 2026 fiscal year, which we covered in our January 27, 2026, article. Removing barriers to mental health and substance use disorder benefits and enforcing the NSA protections for participants remain priorities, so employers may want to review their compliance practices in these areas.
For more information, read the U.S. Department of Labor’s announcement EBSA Restores Nearly $1.4 Billion to Employee Benefit Plans, Participants, and Beneficiaries.