Labor Department News Releases Update

U.S. Secretary of Labor Thomas E. Perez today announces a grant competition that will award an estimated 24 or more Homeless Veteran Reintegration Program grants totaling approximately $6 million to provide an estimated 2,000 veterans with occupational, classroom and on-the-job training, as well as job search and placement assistance, to help them succeed in the civilian labor market.

Iowa-based investment advisor Donald Gene DeWaay Jr. has paid $341,487 to 68 pension plans covered by the Employee Retirement Income Security Act. The payments were made as part of a settlement agreement following an investigation by the U.S. Department of Labor's Employee Benefits Security Administration. The investigation found that DeWaay, entities he owns and former employees violated federal law when they recommended certain investments to clients participating in ERISA-covered employee benefit plans between May 2007 and November 2011. EBSA investigators also found that DeWaay's companies and advisors charged higher fees than those agreed to by their clients. Recommendations made to clients also resulted in DeWaay, his companies and former employees receiving commissions from third parties. DeWaay has also agreed to pay up to an additional $212,727 over the next five years to other ERISA plans he managed.