The U.S. Department of Labor's newly revised interim policy on electronic disclosure clarifies that plan administrators and their service providers will not be out of compliance with the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) if they use continuous access websites to impart required disclosure information.

The Department issued its initial interim policy on electronic disclosure on Sept. 13, 2011. That technical released confused plan administrators and their service providers even more, eliciting questions about whether the interim policy was intended to apply to continuous access Web sites and whether, and under what circumstances, the release permits investment-related information, specifically comparative chart information, to be furnished as part of a pension benefit statement.

"With regard to pension plans that provide participants continuous access to benefit statement information through one or more secure Web sites, the Department will view the availability of pension benefit statement information through such media as good faith compliance with the requirement to furnish benefit statement information, provided that participants and beneficiaries have been furnished notification that explains the availability of the required pension benefit statement information and how such information can be accessed by the participants and beneficiaries," according to the interim policy.