Department of Labor (“DOL”) Audit Defense Service Agreement
Introduction
The following are terms of an enforceable contract between you and Human Interest, Inc. (“HII”) for HII’s DOL Audit Defense services (“DOL Audit Defense”). Your use of DOL Audit Defense constitutes your acceptance of these terms.
HII will provide DOL Audit Defense for qualifying plans (“Plans”) conditioned on your compliance with these terms and, to the extent applicable, the HII Terms of Service.
Defined Terms
In this agreement, “you” and “your” refer to the entity(ies) shown on your Order Form with HII.
“Active Status”: A Plan is in active status if it is making regular contributions and the customer is in regular contact with HII, including but not limited to responding to outreach from HII in a reasonable period of time. A Plan not making contributions for any reason (including plan freeze or termination) is inactive.
“Audit” means a formal audit initiated by the DOL (Employee Benefits Security Administration or EBSA) to audit a Plan for compliance with the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA). HII will only pay expenses or provide services related to a formal DOL Plan Audit, not a DOL investigation of a specific issue. In this context, “Audit” does not mean the annual audit that large plans are required to perform and file with their Form 5500.
“Audit Defense” means reimbursement of Qualified Expenses up to fifty thousand dollars ($50,000) per Audit. Audit defense does not cover expenses that are not Permissible Plan Expenses under ERISA, and HII does not take any liability related to the advice provided by outside service providers.
“Period of the Audit” means the period from the date of the initial DOL audit letter through the date you receive the DOL Closing Letter.
“Permissible Plan Expenses Under ERISA”: Permissible plan expenses may be paid from plan assets under ERISA. These include fees for professional plan support, such as attorneys and CPAs. Fines, penalties, the cost of any required correction, and attorney fees incurred after an allegation of error or wrongdoing are not permissible plan expenses under ERISA. Time spent by internal resources of the Plan sponsor, even if related to the Audit, are not permissible plan expenses under ERISA.
“Qualified Expenses”: Attorney or CPA fees necessary to support the Plan during the DOL Audit are qualified to the extent they are Permissible Plan Expenses under ERISA.
Audit Defense Prerequisites
The initial DOL audit letter must be dated on or after April 1, 2024.
The Plan must be on the Concierge package as of the date of the initial DOL audit letter.
For new Plans set up at HII, the initial DOL audit letter must be dated after the Plan launch date.
For Plans that converted to HII from another provider, the DOL audit letter must be dated at least 180 days (six months) after the Plan converted to HII. A plan is considered converted on the date the plan assets are transferred to HII.
Audit Defense only covers periods when the Plan is in Active Status.
Audit Defense Exclusions and Limitations
Audit Notification Timing: You must notify HII within sixty (60) days of the date of the initial DOL audit letter. Failure to notify within 60 days of the date of the initial DOL audit letter will result in disqualification for DOL Audit Defense for that Audit.
Expense Report Requirements and Timing: A copy of the DOL Closing Letter, copies of itemized invoices for Qualified Expenses, and a certification from the billing attorney that the Qualified Expenses were for services provided prior to an allegation of error or wrongdoing. These must be submitted to HII within ninety (90) days of the date of the DOL Closing Letter in order to qualify for reimbursement.
Expense Payment Timing: Qualified Expenses will be paid within 90 days of HII’s receipt of all required documentation.
Concierge Service Plan Required: The Plan must be on an active Concierge service package before the initial DOL audit letter is received and throughout the entire Period of the Audit.
Active Status: To be eligible, the Plan must be in an Active Status on the date of the initial Audit letter and for the entirety of the Audit.
Delinquent invoices: Plans for customers with past due HII or Human Interest Advisors (HIA) invoices at the time of the initial DOL audit letter are ineligible for DOL Audit Defense. If any invoices become past due during the Period of the Audit, DOL Audit Defense reimbursement will not be made until all past due invoices are paid in full.
No legal advice: HII does not provide legal advice. If a Plan needs legal advice, it must hire a qualified attorney.
Criminal Investigation (CI) – If the Plan or Plan sponsor is under CI, the Plan is ineligible for Audit Defense. If the CI begins after the initial DOL audit letter, no expenses incurred on or after the start date of the CI will be reimbursed.
Termination
HII reserves the right to terminate DOL Audit Defense upon the breach of any provision of this agreement, if an Audit fails to meet any of the prerequisites, exemptions, or limitations, or if a condition renders the completion of HII’s responsibilities unreasonably difficult to fulfill. Conditions that can render completion of HII’s responsibilities unreasonably difficult include, but are not limited to, your failure to reasonably fulfill requests made by HII or repeated use of abusive, inappropriate, or unprofessional language when communicating with any staff members or representatives of HII.
Other Limitations
HII reserves the right to modify these terms and conditions or terminate this offer at any time, including as needed to comply with applicable law.
This offer is not valid for non-US residents, employees of HII, and its affiliates.
This program is administered and offered by the recordkeeper, Human Interest Inc. ("HII").
